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Comment by rdl | Hacker News Reader

I might care more if I'd ever actually observed someone using FaceTime. I have 3 MacBooks, an iPad, an iPhone 4, my coworkers and girlfriend and friends have FaceTime compatible devices too, but I've never seen anyone use it. Maybe they don't open it because it is a dead product.

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Of course of course, because if our own circle of friends are all [x] then everyone everywhere must also be.

Ever since Facetime came to the iPod Touch, I have used it routinely with my parents on the other side of an ocean, and it remains the only video solution I've seen that actually WORKS. Skype video and Fring video on the iphone are just horrifyingly bad in comparison, occasionally comically bad, with seconds per frame blobs of color that vaguely resemble heads). Facetime just works, with quality that matches the output when you record an HD video on the device.

My family uses it a lot, but only between family, and mostly at home. It's a more personal form of communication, so I feel like it's more likely to be used in a private space.

Pretty much my entire company has iPhone 4s and a handful of Macbook Airs, and I know that other than the first couple of weeks when it was still novel, nobody uses Facetime.

All those pronouncements about videochat being something nobody really uses are more or less true.

However, I've heard from some other folks that they use it purely for inter-family communications, where appearances don't matter nearly as much.

I've used it a few times (for international video calls, easier and more reliable than Skype). My anec-data is that many people don't know what it is or what it does. I've introduced it to about half a dozen iPhone 4 users.

There's also the anec-data for me that video chat is just meh. I'm about to jump onto a skype call with an international colleague - do I want him to see me in my t-shirt on the couch? No. Do I want to shave, suit up, and head to me home office? No. So voice call it is for me in a majority of situations - only I believe FaceTime is either video or nothing, with no voice-only option.

They don't use it probably because it's too damn hard to find. From the Mac, Facetime is another app, double-click in your dock or application folder. From the iphone, not nearly as simple. First you have to open the phone app then select a contact, then select Facetime.

Unlike Skype, you have no indication that this person has a facetime compatible phone. Just to get it to call the desktop is problematic because my phone has my phone number as the username and my PC has my email as the username so your never sure where a facetime call is going to end up, and that is if it picks up.

My cell reception at home and work is flaky at best (thanks, AT&T!), so when I call my parents (both of whom also have iPhones), I'll usually do it over Facetime, which uses the much stabler WiFi.

If people did use it, it would be a competitive advantage. "FaceTime, an enchanted service that changes your life. Only on iStuff."

Its great to keep in touch with family when travelling. I use it a lot that way.

I use it when I need to speak with my parents (them being in the UK and me in US). Skype is a bit over the top for them so Facetime works great.

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