Use of webcams

Use of webcams at work and home has become a world wide web cultural revolution or change in how we communicate with each other. It can be broken down into positve, negative, freedom of expression or speech and what the future of webcam internet technology may hold.

General information

In approximately 1996, webcam software and related technology was being born for general public use, as the JenniCam website could attest to in 1996. At this early stage the software being used was in its earliest stages of development, even though earlier references place it in 1991 with the Trojan room coffee cup project, the first attempt to broadcast a live digital image on the internet. What came with your home PC was not exactly what it had become today in 2008. Larger companies, corporations and some businesses were just learning how useful being able to communicate instantly via the internet live in real time was becoming useful and cost affective.With the advent of broadband and high speed DSL connections it became clear how useful the webcam and streaming video feeds had become. At the same time the technology behind seeing, communicating and hearing people instantaneously using their, cam or camera software was being developed at an alarming pace, much like the computer, making it easier and easier for people of all ages at home to start using the technology.

Effects on modern society

As the webcam became more and more popular internet based companies began to see the potential of this emerging media format after years of using regular text chat sites and e-mail as the best way for ordinary people to communicate and begin to meet online-live. People could finally see and listen to each other instantly, this being a huge plus to the online dating industry and creating thousands of sites specifically targeted to men and women wanting to see who they were actually talking to online. With this breakthrough, text chat was soon overshadowed by webcam chat also known as video chat. Also, this created a certain degree of online safety such as that provided by a United Kingdom- based campaign called Get Safe Online established in October 2005. Before regular chat rooms people never knew who they were actually interacting with. Communication via the internet using the webcam medium had come to such extent that one would be hard pressed not to find live webcams broadcasting from every major city in the world covering every imaginable topic or news [http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/at2000/stories/webcams/index.html] event as it happened at CNN in 1999 for the 2000 millennium celebrations around the world.

Positive uses

This technology is now available on thousands of websites world wide, making it easier for people of all ages to connect online and Communicate from anywhere in the world. People can broadcast or web cast their opinions, interests and stories whenever and as often as they wish. This new advance in technology had finally empowered the average individual to express his or her own views as do the larger internet media giants such asMicrosoft [http://pcworld.about.com/news/Jun132006id126072.htm] using webcams as outlined by "Agam Shah, IDG News Service" and stand on equal footing with them. A person only needs to plug their webcam in to their own computer, find a web host or server to carry the live feed and instant electronic media, something you could only have seen in the past when you turned on your TV at home. The regular internet user began setting up their own webcams in their own homes and broadcasting live, something previously only seen on news channels such as CNET [http://news.com.com/A+social+site+where+Webcams+rule/2100-1026_3-6161505.html] . As more and more men and women catch on to this webcam revolution, the world using the internet truly becomes a global community, where you can see your friend or business associate in seconds and talk to them live from anywhere in the world. Every type of internet search engine, ie: Yahoo and or its Yahoo messenger service integrated the webcam as did MSN Messenger. News websites such as the BBC, run their own [http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/webcams/bbclondon_studio_webcam.shtml Live radio studio webcams] . Web service such as AOL and their online messaging service, all smoothly integrated the webcam into their site and format. New future technologies abound such as webcam headgear [http://www.cnn.com/TECH/9604/08/computer_head] where you actually wear your webcam and transmit it to the internet live and weather webcams [http://www.weathermatrix.net/wxcam] , the possibilities seem endless. Youtube is another example of people using their own webcams to express whatever they feel as "Time" magazine posted the [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570816,00.html Power to the People] article in 2006 to illustrate the point.

Possible negative uses

Negative uses of the webcam do enter into our everyday lives. With every home computer purchased the option to have a webcam integrated into the PC is as easy as plugging into a computer port. One can buy computers with built in webcams. Internet privacy is another concern and brings thousands of strangers into our homes, some possibly with criminal intent toward children. Children and teens under the legal age of consent have easy access to this webcam software as it comes with all the latest online instant messaging programs installed with your computer or are easily downloaded from various sites as freeware or software upgrades. Adult webcam related material is also a large portion of the webcam related sites on the internet and can be easily accessed through search engines if no parental control is enforced. On 2007-03-23, a man named Kevin Whitrick, committed cyber suicide using his own webcam from his home live on the internet in front of viewers in a chat room website [http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article1560877.ece] supporting webcam use.

References

# [http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/12/14/web.history.emails/index.html/ Most significant development of the World Wide Web in the past 15 years] . Wednesday, December 28,2005
# [http://www.time.com/time/2006/techguide/bestinventions/inventions/youtube2.html Best inventions revolutions] .2006
# [http://pcworld.about.com/news/Jun132006id126072.htm Microsoft gets chatty with new webcams] . June 12, 2006
# [http://www.cnn.com/TECH/9604/08/computer_head Head gear to transmit video to your computer] . April 8, 1996
# [http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/coffee/qsf/cacm200107.html Coffee Cup project] COMMUNlCATlONS OF THE ACM July 2001/Vol.44, No.7 pp.25-26
# [http://www.weathermatrix.net/wxcam Weather on webcam]
# [http://www.maximnet.com/info Webcam revolution Article] . Webmaster at maximnet.com, May 23, 2007
# [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570816,00.html Power to the People] . Sunday, December 17, 2006 By LEV GROSSMAN
# [http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/webcams/bbclondon_studio_webcam.shtml Live in BBC London Radio Studio] . BBC - London - In Pictures. Tuesday, June 12, 2007
# Joanna Bale (March 24, 2007) [http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article1560877.ece Get on with it, said net audience as man hanged himself on webcam] . Times Online. Times Newspapers Ltd.

External links

* [http://www.maximnet.com Maximnet] , Created in late 2002, [http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.maximnet.com] at the initial stages of videoconferencing and mainstream personal home webcam use. The site has been involved in the personal use and freedom of speech offered by the use of the webcam as an alternative lifestyle choice to mainstream or (mass media) and is an example of freedom of communication between people.