Web Cams
One of the first things people think about in connection with video chatting is a webcam. Many new devices come with a web cam or video cam integrated into their hardware, especially mobile devices such as laptops, palmtops and even some mobile cell phones.
However, people using many desktop PCs and older Apple Macs will still need to buy a separate web camera, either to mount atop their monitor or a free-standing version that has its own legs rto sit on the desk itself.
The best places to buy a webcam online are eBay or Amazon
Whether you have an inbuilt webcam or a separate stand alone webcam they are all basically a real time camera whose images can be accessed using the World Wide Web, or Internet. Generally a digital camera delivers images to a web server, either continuously or at regular intervals.
Initially intended for personal videoconferencing, it was quickly realised that internet users enjoyed viewing images from cameras set up by others elsewhere in the world.
Today there are millions of webcam users that provide views into homes, offices and other buildings as well as providing panoramic views of cities (Metrocams) and the countryside. Images from satellites are frequently posted on the internet. Webcams are also used to monitor traffic with TraffiCams, the weather with WeatherCams and even volcanos with VolcanoCams.
As with many new technologies, web cams and web cam chat found their earliest commercial adoption and most aggressive technology advancement through use by the adult industry. This soon spread to more of a grass-roots use on instant messaging based chat rooms such as Yahoo Chat, AOL Chat and MSN Chat, where thousands of individuals communicate in real time video teleconferencing around the clock.