he market was cold; when it added videoconferencing to Video Communications: The Whole Picture its IM product, the market adopted the product with open arms. IM's symmetric, or real-time nature is allowing it quickly edge out email as the preferred communication mean. It is also an ideal means to initiate a video communication. Personal conferencing, after repeated false starts and years of over-optimistic predictions has taken hold. The huge installed base of Internet-connected PCs ensures its success. Other factors include: Abundance of multimedia-capable PCs and workstations Sophistication of even low end-users Proliferation and adoption of broadband Internet Dispersed enterprises, outsourcing, and acceptance of tele-work Advancements and deployment of wireless networking Acceptance and advancement of converged PDA/phones. Modern PCs and mobile communications devices are giving workers more choices about how, when, and where they work. Success is attributable in part to ease of use. One of the most useful innovations in desktop computing was the introduction of the applications suite. Products such as Microsoft's Office offer a similar look and feel (and, arguably, similar logic) across applications. This sameness has led to an improved mastery of computing. Perhaps the greatest evidence of this collective expertise is the amazing growth of the Web. It took the GUI-based browser to make the Web accessible; now Web-based applications are supplanting PC-based ones. As people gain familiarity with computers, they get a better return on the time they invest learning to use them. The homogeneity of the user experience has made the learning process more cumulative. The days in which the technical burden of personal computing was too great for the average user are gone. Mastering a new application is no longer difficult. Video communications are just one example of a family of applications that GUIs and browser-based interfaces are simplifying. The other major piece of the puzzle is connectivity. Local telephone comp