A technology whose time as come (more or less)

I just had a very interesting experience. I have an amazing collection of images of W.S. Maugham taken by his nephew (and bibliographer) Robin Maugham. They are, largely, very personal and wonderfully annotated at the rear by Robin. Oh, and there are 110 of them. While it is a remarkable collection, they are very hard to describe well in a reasonable catalogue entry. Enter the iSight.

I just spent about an hour using iChat video conferencing with a potential buyer on the "Wrong" Coast (as opposed to the "Right" Coast (look at a map, it makes sense)), and was able to show them each image. It did reverse the image, making showing them the notations at the rear a bit of a challenge. Overall, however, it worked extremely well. Given the alternative of sending the entire collection across the country for review, it was a tremendous success.

While there is still no way to actually "feel" a book (or collection of images) from afar...the examination aspect appears to have been well covered. I highly recommend trying it when the circumstances warrant it.

ADDENDUM: The client contacted me today and the deal is done...with more slick Apple tech clinching the deal. There will be a follow-up post about this in a bit. Great tech and great books, an unbeatable combinations.