Telephone users down through the recent ages have shunned video phones despite technology companies that seem to love the idea. The latest to try and sell the feature: Apple, via its hyper popular iPhone. In a recent unveiling of the latest version of the phone, Apple CEO Steve Jobs touted the unit’s new capability for video calls to a generally receptive audience of developers at Apple Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco.

This doesn’t mean iPhone users are going to be quite so enthusiastic.

Jobs seems pretty enamored of the technology and even invoked his childhood hero, George Jetson, whose video phone appears to have been an early influence on Jobs’ dreams of face time via technology.

Those dreams are beginning to come true with the official unveiling of his fourth version of the iPhone.

Jobs cited Jetson’s prescient video chatting in his announcement and also provided a target date for the new phone’s availability: June 24.

That’s three days before existing iPhone owners will get their free upgrade to Apple’s mobile operating system, OS4, on June 21.

For customers who are annoyed with AT&T (which would be a lot of customers, in the face of recent changes to data plans and continuing spotty service by the carrier), a bone of sorts is being tossed. Anyone with an AT&T contract who’s eligible for a phone upgrade in 2010 can get the upgrade price for the iPhone right away.

Which is probably a smart move. Plenty of iPhone users have been frustrated by AT&T’s unreliable service and death grip on the popular phone. In fact, during Jobs’ demo, when there was a problem loading a page, an audience member shouted “Verizon” when Jobs asked for suggestions resolving the problem. (He was, in fact, using a WiFi connection, but you get the point.)

As further evidence of AT&Ts disappointing infrastructure provisions, that video chat feature Jobs likes so much won’t be supported initially using the carrier’s network. It will only be available between iPhone users, both of whom have to be using a WiFi connection.

George would be so disappointed.

But then maybe a lot of iPhone users won’t be. How many of us really want folks on the other end of the call to know that we’re eating string cheese, playing solitaire or cleaning out a desk drawer while we’re talking on the phone?