Forgive me if this sounds like both a ramble and a rant. I sit here in my office in Angola, thunderstorm raging outside, and I'm thinking of heading home in two weeks - a two day journey.

I got my N800 almost exactly a year ago now. I couldn't wait for it to come out, and I was happy to pay full price when it did. I saw the integrated camera, the promise of Skype and the ability of so much flash storage as something that would make those long lonely trips back and forth to Africa more bearable.

I had a vision, a dream. I would take out my new N800, pop a bluetooth headset on my ear and the camera out the side. I'd call my friends on Skype from those WIFI equipped airport lounges and we would have cool video chats. What a dream!

After a few months, Skype finally came out. Alas, no video, but I was still happy to make calls. No bluetooth headset either, but hey, the wired headset wasn't too bad...

Finally, OS2008 came out, and bluetooth headsets were now possible. Now, there's progress! Alas, even the simple beta video chat tool that Nokia released was withdrawn, and still no video Skype.

Two weeks ago, my 80 year old mother got her first computer - a laptop. My dad also got her a webcam to go with it, as she was having so much fun seeing us on the video when we would call from our own webcam equipped laptops. Now, she can make video calls using Skype anytime she wants.

As I was heading out on this trip, I thought about calling her from the airport, using my N800. I stopped myself. Why? I could imagine her saying, "Honey, what's wrong with your computer? I can't see you!".

What do you think, guys, do you think we'll see video Skype on our N8x0s in our lifetimes?

No.
_______

It sure doesn't seem likely. The N8x0's unofficial motto is: "A Dream Deferred"

Switch to Gizmo.

Skype is gross and proprietary, anyway.

Plus, you get to use the wonderful built-in SIP client with Gizmo!

Right....

And the world is going to switch from gross and proprietary Windoze to Linux any time now...

The lack of usable webcam support on the N8x0 is the single most embarrassing fault of these models. I hate showing the webcam to people! The first thing they ask is "Can you use it to make Skype video calls?"

Once again: Gizmo Gizmo Gizmo.

today I have been using the built-in Internet call using Google ID. This had video and audio and worked pretty well.

Is Gizmo better than this?

(edit) I was going from an N810 to an N800 - maybe I need Gizmo to go to a PC?

Yes, I'm sure his grandmother, on her first computer ever, will get right on switching herself and her entire family over to Gizmo.


I've got a better idea: Nokia should get Skype Video to work.

Everyone uses Skype!