In the case of 2001, it also made the assumption that the futuristic video call would be made from... a phone booth as opposed to a mobile device networked to the station's computer.
I suspect many of us would be more inclined to just use video if we were sitting in a video booth--or, as is actually the case, from a place we've arranged to made video call from using a computer. As it is though, when I'm casually chatting with someone, I'll often be multitasking with making dinner or I'll be pausing the video I was watching on the TV. I'm not really setup for video and they're probably in the same boat.
But we know what each other look like anyway. Video is often better for a group call for various reasons but for a 1:1 chat voice is fine.
I suspect many of us would be more inclined to just use video if we were sitting in a video booth--or, as is actually the case, from a place we've arranged to made video call from using a computer. As it is though, when I'm casually chatting with someone, I'll often be multitasking with making dinner or I'll be pausing the video I was watching on the TV. I'm not really setup for video and they're probably in the same boat.
But we know what each other look like anyway. Video is often better for a group call for various reasons but for a 1:1 chat voice is fine.