Webcams: Positive, negative

They’re increasingly ubiquitous (many computers come with them built in), and people are using webcams for everything from face-to-face conversations with distant relatives to conducting live television interviews to documenting their love lives. WebProNews reports that Facebook receives some 260,000 video uploads per day, with 155,000 of them from webcams,” which works out to about 59.6%. Here’s a good example of the technology’s upside that doesn’t as readily come to mind: The Washington Post tells the story of how using a Webcam allows 7-year-old leukemia patient Becky “to join her first-grade class almost every morning in solving math problems, listening to poetry and working on group projects.” She’s one of six patients in Georgetown University Hospital’s pediatric oncology program who are using a Webcam to keep up with school, and Becky’s first-grade teacher told the Post that the Webcam has exceeded her expectations as an academic tool.