Web cams have been around since 1991, when the first known web cam was pointed at a coffee maker in the kitchen of the computer lab at Cambridge University in England. This creative web cam was actually utilitarian: users all over the computer lab kept an image of the web cam transmission on their desktop computers, so they could see when the coffee pot was full of freshly brewed coffee. When the pot was full, they would make their way to the kitchen to refill their coffee mugs.

Other Early Web Cams

The first "lifecast" web cam was the creative brainchild of Jennifer Ringley, a Pennsylvania woman who decided in 1996 to broadcast images on the Internet of her living her everyday life in her apartment. The JenniCam continued online until it went dark at the end of 2003.

Creative Business Web Cam Applications

The earliest web cams were a far cry from the streaming media we see on the Internet today. Early web cams transmitted still images of their subjects, refreshed at regular intervals.

As web cam technology advanced, streaming video without the need for browser plugins became available to the masses. Business developers that had dismissed web cams as a novelty began to do some creative thinking about web cam applications that could increase efficiencies. We take these web cams for granted today, but this technology was unavailable just 20 years ago:

Traffic cams: Live traffic web cams transmit images of busy freeways and intersections so users can plan their trips and commutes to avoid the traffic. These are still images, but they do the job of conveying traffic density. These web cams are usually installed and maintained by the transportation department of regional government.

Videoconferencing: Large companies use ISDN and fiber optic telecommunication lines to transmit their video conferences, but the use of creative web cams made videoconferencing available to small businesses as well. With an investment of a couple hundred dollars for a video cam and a Skype subscription, VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) technology made it possible for a business of virtually any size to host video conferences, saving potential thousands of dollars in travel or in rental fees for traditional telecommunication videoconference rooms. Moreover, untold numbers of families and friends today make creative use of web cam technology to stay in touch, wherever they may be.

Technology and creativity go hand in hand. One never knows what the next creative web cam use will be, so stay tuned!