Term Exploration: FaceTime

The term I chose to explore was "FaceTime," which is a rather new term that was introduced only a few years ago. Considering the fact that it is an app that I myself use very regularly to keep in touch with friends and family, I thought it would be interesting to learn more about it. As I'm sure all of you know, FaceTime is video chat application for Apple products such as the iPhone, iPads, and Apple computers. The creation of FaceTime was first announced in June 2010 for the iPhone 4, and later that year for the Mac OS X. In 2011 FaceTime was a standard feature in the newly released iPad 2 as well. The oldest article I found was in the New York Times when they announced the creation of FaceTime in 2010. The article raves about the new and impressive application to the iPhone 4, saying that, "video chat is going to be something that really differentiates the iPhone from other devices" (New iPhone 4 Adds a Camera for Video Chats, 2010). I found it interesting that even today the FaceTime application remains exclusively available for Apple products. However, similar applications such as Skype and ooVoo have been created to mimic the function of FaceTime for other non-Apple products. Another article I found emphasizes the predicted changes that FaceTime will bring to communication, saying how "with technology like FaceTime, mobile devices will place a billion flies on as many walls" and how "every phone will become a window into someone else's point of view" (About FaceTime, 2010). I found this to be fairly accurate, as the application does provide effortless face-to-face communication among its users. Since its creation in 2010, there have only been a few slight changes to the FaceTime app, primarily the expansion of its usage. In June of 2012 Apple announced that FaceTime users were free to use the application through the use of cellular data, rather than being restricted to using it only when there was available wifi connection. This of course only led to an expansion of the applications popularity and usage throughout the world.