What is a "hot shoe"?

What is a "hot shoe"?

Mark Comon (Vice President, Paul's Photo, Torrance, CA) gives expert video advice on: What are some helpful features my digital camera could have?; What are features of some digital cameras that I don't need?; What is the difference between an "optical zoom" and "digital zoom"? and more...

One special feature on digital camera is a hot shoe. A hot shoe allows you to add an external flash. Most of our compact digital cameras today don't have that hot shoe special feature. However, virtually all of the SLRs do. Hot shoe is a great special feature to enable a big flash to be added, to shoot the flash a further distance, or to eliminate the red-eye.