Webex at a Distance

The internet is rapidly outmoding television, giving us a more versatile, interactive, and information-driven media tool. Television is still great for getting a message out to lots of people at once. But it is expensive, invasive, and exclusive.

The great thing about the internet is that it allows the customer-company relationship to become quickly intimate. Skype, Google, and a whole host of web companies give users great products for free, and even others give us the ability to try something before buying it – like Webex. So why is Webex making it so hard for me to like something I already want?

Though it seems to be the leading choice when it comes to web conferencing solutions, Webex's stiff-arm promotional efforts made me run to look for other options, and I found some.

This "demo video" alienates me from any true value Webex may have for me. Everything about Webex's promotional push is distant, from the emotionally distant actress, to my attempts to try out the product, to an increasingly elaborate pricing system that reveals its web as I try to get closer. When I tried to join in on a live demo, I just got this creepily slick video again. But since I gave them my info to try the live demo I got an unwelcome call from a Webex sales agent. I told him Webex lied to me about a live demo and I wasn't interested anymore.

And what I've heard from users of Webex is that it's not simple at all, but rather complicated. Webex, you've lost me.