[able9]

Hello,
(this is for a friend who is considering getting a apple system to video conference with his father in law out of state)
the big issue for these 2 people being able to use such a system, is simple, very simple - neither know anything about computers. So the question becomes, if they had two systems (2 ibooks for example - right now they have nothing), could they simply turn the power on, click on a really big icon in the middle of the screen, and then have it auto connect to the one and only buddy in the list. Thus they could be up and taking and watching the video with one power on and one click. Is this possible, is it possible to watch a demo of this in an apple store (is this something that I would have to do or could an apple person do such a thing; keep in mind I have never programmed a apple)? Is there an example of this somewhere? Both parties could/would have an DSL/Cable internet connection. The only other issue would be, could you hook up an external mike so that you could put it on a large table so that many people could talk w/o having to lean over the Isight camera/mike?
Thank you for your time and help, I appreciate it.
David

[lkalliance]

It might actually be even easier than that.
You could have iChat set as a login launch item. You could subsequently have iChat preferences set to automatically log in to AIM upon launch.
As far as setup, if you've got an iSight it's easy. And the mic is pretty good...I know in the chats I have that people standing further back in my home office come in OK on the other end.

[able9]

hmmm, I didn't know you could do that. I'll try and contact a local apple store and see if they can try and setup something like that for a simple demo. Thank you.
David

[Tom_Diola]

It's sooooo easy to set up... One thing is both would probably want to get an AIM account (it's FREE!).
www.aim.com

[able9]

I called a local apple store and mentioned what I was trying to do and the suggestions that have been offered here and they said that to the best of their knowledge, that the problem is how to auto connect to a given buddy. You can auto start the ichat but then you still have to click and select a person, etc. Both of the people who want to use the system have no computer experience and one is quite elderly. It was hoped that we could find something as simple as a one click and go...thanks, I appreciate your time and help.
David

[Tom_Diola]

Sounds to me like you should be using another type of communication: Cell Phone buy them a couple Cells off your plan (the kind that you can talk for free from cell to cell). All done.

[able9]

they both have nextel's and can and do talk; they just wanted to be able to see each other via a computer to computer connection. Right now the big hangup is the once started (ichat/isight), is how to auto connect to someone w/o having to do a bunch of clicks/selections...thanks.
David

[lkalliance]

Well, define a bunch. It can be down to one:
--Start up your mac. Have it auto-login and have iChat auto-launch and auto-login.
--On the buddy list, click the green camera icon next to the buddy.

That's all there is to it.

[able9]

ok, I'll try calling a different local apple store and see if we can ge this set up for a demo. Thanks to everyone for their time and help, its much appreiciated. Thanks.
David

[lkalliance]

Here's some step-by-step instructions:
(0) Make sure you've got an AIM account set up; have your account and password ready.
(1) Launch iChat. If it's the first time you're launching it on said computer, it will walk you through entering your account information. If not, go to Preferences and add the new account if it's not already there. Set up the AIM account from step (0).
(2) Go to iChat's preferences. Select the "Accounts" pane, and select the account you set up in (1). Check both "Use this account" and "When iChat opens, automatically log in."
(3) Quit iChat.
(4) Open System Preferences and go to the "Accounts" pane. Select the account of the user (likely the only one on the machine, if it's a single-user environment). Select the "Login Items" chiclet. Add iChat to the Login Items (click the plus sign button, browse to iChat).
(5) Optionally set up that user account to automatically log in on startup.

That's all there is. When the user boots the computer, his user account automatically logs in. When it logs in, iChat automatically launches. When it launches, it automatically logs in to AIM. When it launches the buddy list will automatically pop up, and if you set up your two parties on each other's buddy list, they'll be there (if they're logged in). Then just have either initiate the video chat by clicking on the green camera (or double-click on the name of the buddy, and choose what kind of chat you want: video, audio or text).

Good luck!