« Month of birthdays drawing to a close | Main | Illiterate writing story »
May 31, 2004
Webcam
Apparently, webcams work by repeatedly uploading JPEG photos to a website, and having the client browser refresh repeatedly. I imagined they'd instead have a directory for peer-to-peer connection. Does instant messaging work by upload/download as well?
I guess the upload/download way of doing things makes sense, however, from a design point of view. I was imagining two peers with webcams having a videoconf conversation, but probably 99% of the webcam traffic is porn, with some lonely guy watching canned or (more expensively) live sex videos. The model for that is broadcasting, and handling all the peers would be too much. If you want high quality video, get a faster connection.
I also looked quickly at webcams, on Amazon.com for the reviews. For $40, you can buy a webcam at Amazon, one that reviewers claims works fairly well. Finally we have wireless telephones that don't require you to stand still next to wall outlet, and along come webcams. Pretty soon, you'll have to sit still in good lighting with the processor and main fans whirling in the background.
Posted by Mark at May 31, 2004 02:06 PM