IChat Product in the world of Information and Communications Technology - Case Study Example

iChat from Mac O/S Student’s Name Course Title Instructor’s Name Date of Submission Introduction The world of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has seen into the development of several social and communication platforms (Shelly & Vermaat, 2010, p. 17). The initial phase began with the establishment of the two famous social networking sites- Facebook and Twitter. These enabled free internet conversation and general interaction among people all over the world. In addition, it has been possible for people to share multimedia files over these conversation platforms. Recently, there have been more social interaction platforms developed to facilitate faster and more efficient interaction among the people involved. Three of these are Watsapp, Skype and iChat, all products of different companies or individuals (Safko, 2010, p. 37). In this analysis, the iChat is analysed from various perspectives to determine its standards of acceptability and use among its potential users. In addition, market analysis is used to establish the potential of this product comparative to its potential competitors in the world of social networking. Topic Choice Internet communications is a current issue that most of people, irrespective of age, are involved in. It is for this reason that the topic was selected for critical analysis. In addition, there are issues, both positive and negative, that have been raised due to the use of social networking platforms. These concerns have, in most cases, been addressed to the young people. By taking iChat as an example in this analysis, most of the internet interaction platforms and websites would be taken into consideration. Proper analysis of the benefits, disadvantages, challenges and possible solutions facing these platforms would help in creating a way forward for the common ICT challenges realized with them. In addition, possible future trends in this technology would also be taken into account through this critical analysis. About iChat iChat is an included application that come with the Mac Operating System from Apple Company. This feature is mainly included in the MacBook and facilitates multiple forms of interaction among the users. Some of the most common functions that are enabled through the use of iChat include internet text messaging, audio communication or internet calls, video communication and sharing of multimedia files and documents. At the moment, this feature comes along not only with the MacBook, but a wide variety of Apple’s products. There are iPhones that have this feature installed in them and users do not have to make separate installations upon the purchase of Apple’s products. iChat has been designed only to run on the Mac Operating System in order to prevent piracy for use by other operating systems that are not genuine products from Apple Company. The speed of operation of iChat is dependent in the internet connection in use. The faster the bit-rate, the faster a user gets to interact with his or her online ‘buddies.’ Unlike in the case of email communications, iChat was set up to facilitate instant sending and reception of information over the internet. Real-time reception of information and delivery of feedback is enabled and this has benefited the users in cases where urgent communication is required. Initializing and Using iChat The product is only for use by genuine customer of Apple products, especially those using gadgets that run on Mac OS. To initialize this feature, one is first required to set up a mac.com account (Bell, Garza &Trimble, 2013, p. 01). There are registration details that are used to verify the credibility of users in signing up for this account. Upon successful creation of a Mac account, the user is required to set up an iChat account. There are multiple dialogue boxes that are used to guide the new user in setting up this account. Successful registration only exists once one has a working user ID and a personal password for logging in any time one wants to use the application. iChat displays the ‘buddy list’ upon successful registration and logging into the account. The diagrammatic representation below is used to illustrate the kind of display for ‘buddy list’ used in iChat Apple (no date, p. 01). The friends’ list is classified into various categories, and these are customizable by the user to enabele efficient use. Communication is only possible from an iChat user to another iChat user. One can add members into the ‘buddy’ list or the OS will automatically generate similar users from the contact list. Audio and Video Chat Feature Next to the iChat profile picture that is set by the user, there is a green “phone” icon as illustrted in the above diagram. In the event that a user’s computer device has an inbuilt mic, or there is an external one plugged in, the phone icon is usable (Apple Inc., 2008, p. 02). This is automatically signalled to all the buddies in the list. In additon, if the computer device has a FireWire or a compatible USB camera connected to the device, a movie camera icon will be displayed to alert all the other iChat users that you are available for video calls. Adding a Buddy New contacts can be created by a user in the course of using iChat. Only those users that have working iChat applications can be successfully added to the list (Fraizer, 2012, p. 02). The ‘add-buddy’ window will be displayed as shown below (Apple, no date, p. 02), and one is required to fill in the details indicated. Text Chat with a Buddy Sending text messages through iChat, like all its other operations, requires stable internet connection. By double-clicking a buddy’s name, the messaging window will automatically be displayed (Anderson, 2010, p. 02). The keyboard or keypad is automatically activated for keying in the message details and content. One can activate the delivery feedback option to determine whether the message has been received by the receiver. The main benefit of sending text messages through this platform is that it is relatively cheap compared to the normal text messaging applications that come installed in the mobile phones. In addition, the messages occupy the least possible storage space the devices being used. The speed of operating iChat is also far much ahead of that with which the normal messaging applications are run. One is also in a position to converse with as many buddies at the same time using this application. With the release of the iChat application, Apple Company has had to put in place relevant business and marketing strategies to ensure that the product successfully meets the objectives for which it was developed. iChat Market Analysis Through making it compulsory for a user to have Mac account in order to operate iChat, the number of users can be monitored by Apple Company. Through this close supervision, the company has attracted more users into the platform. This has made Apple products to sell at higher rates compared to the past. Promotional Strategy By making it an inbuilt feature in the current Mac OS gadgets, the company is actively involved in the promotion of this feature. This in return saves on marketing costs that would have been incurred through media advertisements. In addition, it is relatively cost effective and most users consider it to be a ‘free’ product from Apple Company. All they have to acquire is the Mac OS after which they would download and install the product. The cost of operation is also lowered and the product is tailor-made to suit the needs of all the users. Pricing Strategy Apple designed this feature to enable free communication among users of its products. There are no operational costs that are charged on users by the company. All that users are required to have are sufficient data bundles to facilitate real-time communication among the users. There are no subscription fees levied on the users. This has given it a competitive advantage over its key competitor products such as Watsapp where users are required to pay 0.99 USD per annum of active usage. Market Positioning/ Place The ‘place’ option for the marketing Ps is diversified for iChat. Users willing to install and operate the feature can obtain it from anywhere, provided there is stable internet connection to download the setup files. By making the product available at customers’ disposal, the marketing strategy by Apple has increased the rate of use of the application among the customers. Product Market In order to ensure that as many people as possible get to use the product, it has been made very easy to use. With an attractive Graphical User Interface, the users are in a position to effectively make use of all the features included in the application package. In order to make it more appealing and favourable to the users, Apple frequently develops updates for this product that users are required to run on a regular basis to upgrade most of the features that come along with the software application. Benefits of iChat There are multiple advantages, both to the users and to the developers, which have been derived from the use of iChat. To the users, the application has facilitated fast and efficient communication through text messaging, audio and video chats. Quick feedback can be generated from the receivers, provided there is stable internet connection. In addition, the operating costs are far much reduced as compared to the initial text messaging and telephone operations. This has given it an upper hand in gaining a stronger market cover over the other related applications. To the developers, in this case Apple Company, the sales volume for the products has increased (Pogue, 2009, p. 29). Given the fact that iChat has been included as a feature that comes along with the Mac OS in the current products, more Apple items have been sold in the market. This has increased the profitability of the organization and improved its customer goodwill. In addition, the sales and promotion expenses have reduced by large extents. Disadvantages of iChat Despite the several benefits that have been realized with this application, there are limitations as well. To begin with, all users require stable internet connection. This limits places that are hardly covered with any form of network (Hindle & Klyver, 2011, p. 156). As a result, the users may not be in a position to successfully install and run the feature. The number of users is also limited by Apple Company. Given that the feature is only designed to run on Mac OS, users that have installed other operating systems such as Windows, Android, or Ubuntu OS may not be in a position to use the application. To the users, there is also the disadvantage of time wastage through chatting features. This has been a major social concern with the advent of social networking. Challenges associated with iChat One of the main challenges that face iChat and its popularity among users is competition. There are several internet communication programs that have been developed in the 21st Century (Griffiths, 2011, p. 241). Facebook chat is still one of the leading of these applications. It becomes challenging to divert users from their current preferences in order to use this application. In terms of Audio and Video communication, Skype is a major competitor. iChat is mainly designed to run on Mac OS, but Skye has no OS restrictions. There are users that run it on Windows OS just as there are those that have installed the package on their Android OS. This poses potential competitive threat to iChat and has driven several users away from it. The other notable competitor is Watsapp feature that has gained a wider popularity among mobile phone operators, especially those that run on Windows and Android OS. In fact, there are versions of the Watsapp applications that run on Mac OS. This is likely to give it a competitive advantage and more popularity among the users as compared to iChat. Conclusion The use of iChat, despite facing substantial challenges, especially with competition, is constantly increasing. This is especially due to the benefits and the marketing strategies put forward by Apple Company. In addition, the simplicity with which it was designed has improved its acceptability among the users. Recommendation It is also possible that the manufacturer of iChat can add additional features to facilitate operation of this program on other operating systems so as to increase its acceptance among the users. This would help in solving the challenge of competition. Bibliography Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Anderson, P, 2010, ‘Instant Messaging with Apple Computer’s iChat’ extract viewed 02 September 2014, Apple (no date), ‘iChat’ extract viewed 02 September 2014, Apple Inc. 2008, ‘Hosting a Video Conference with iChat’ Apple Inc., New York, viewed 02 September 2014, Bell, M., Garza, M. &Trimble, J, 2013, ‘Getting Started with iChat’ Apple Support Team, New York, viewed 02 September 2014, Fraizer, M., Murray, K., Greg, C., Neufeld, J., Mason, N. & Gray., T, 2012, ‘iChat 3.0 or Above’ London, extract viewed 02 September 2014, Griffiths, R. 2011. Mac OS X Power Hound, Panther edition. 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