OVER THE PAST DECADE, the proliferation
of camera-enabled devices and free
video calling platforms has made video
conferencing accessible to all. Even your
grandparents have probably been getting
in on the act. Of course, the pandemic
really kicked things up a gear but, even as
life slowly returns to normal, we’re still
heavily reliant on the technology. Whether
it’s business meetings, remote working, or
family gatherings, video conferences kept
our lives going during a tricky couple of
years. And now we’ve gotten used to it, that
doesn’t look like it’s going to change.
Video conferencing is nothing new, and
the concept has been around for a while.
At the 1964 World’s Fair in New York, Bell
Labs introduced its new invention, the
Picturephone. This device was a 5-inch
black and white screen paired with a
camera. For $16, you got three minutes
in a public booth in New York, Washington
DC, or Chicago and the ability to connect
with another Picturephone user. Of course,
at nearly $145 in today’s money, the
technology was far too costly to catch on.
It wasn’t until AT&T’s Videophone 2500
in 1992 that video calling became feasible.Two video conferencing services, which is better?
The color video was transmitted over a
regular phone line and didn’t cost the
user any more than a typical phone call.
However, it was the arrival of the internet
that was the real driver behind the video
calling boom.
Skype was one of the first applications,
becoming so popular during the past
decade that it is now a byword for video
calling. As the technology snowballed,
many similar applications were created
that we still use today—the likes of
FaceTime, which brought portable video
calling to the mainstream, plus Google
Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, and many
more. Two of the most popular video
conferencing services are Google Meet
and Zoom. These two have been most
prevalent in the last few years and both
have personal and commercial uses. But
the question is, which should you choose?
While our first impressions of software
are usually formed on the basis of the user
interface, there are two major differences
between Google Meet and Zoom. The
former is browser-based, while Zoom is
application-based. There are pros and
cons to each when it comes to design.Typically, a dedicated application makes
the experience feel more polished. Zoom
has more scope for the user to tweak the
size of the window, for example, while its
application homepage is well laid out,
making it easy to start or join a video call.
However, Google Meet has a clean
aesthetic across the board. Keeping
things clear and easy to navigate, while
avoiding the user interface looking boring
is a strong point. This also applies to the
design of the calls—Zoom’s interface looks
cluttered in comparison, as everything is
labeled extensively. This makes it easier
for newcomers or first-time callers, but
once you know your way around the layout,
it looks messier than Google’s offering. In
a Meet call, Google uses a clever range
of icons for a cleaner look. The icons are
self-explanatory, but you can hover your
mouse over them to find out what they do.
We would give Google the edge in terms of
user-friendliness and overall design.
One of the main reasons for the
popularity of these two video conferencing
services is the number of features they
both offer. Zoom leaped to prominence
during the first lockdowns at the startZoom vs. Google Meet
Zoom took video calling by
storm during the pandemic
and it continues to be one of
the leading platforms today.© ZOOMHEAD
TOHE
AD92 MAXIMU MPC APR 2022
in the lab