The Oldest Operating Internet Webcam Will Shut Down
FogCam is a time capsule from the cusp of the internet revolution
FogCam
• less than 3 min read
This month, the oldest operating internet webcam will shut down, the site’s administrators said Saturday. FogCam started as a student project at San Francisco State University (go Gators) and, barring a few location changes and maintenance updates, has faithfully broadcast campus images since 1994.
FogCam was inspired by the first internet webcam, a coffee pot livestream created by scientists at the University of Cambridge.
By today’s standards, FogCam’s pretty simplistic. But in 1994, when the internet was pay-per-minute, it was cutting edge. FogCam's basically a lock for the Smithsonian Guggenheim Museum of Internet History.
Zoom out: Early webcams gave internet users their first taste of streaming. In the decades since, they’ve sped up, streamlined, and democratized video communications.
FogCam co-founder Jeff Schwartz said Adam Curry used it as a model for his website (something called “MTV”). And another early webcam of a fish tank—created by Netscape’s founding engineer Lou Montulli—served as a testbed for internet improvements that laid the foundation for e-commerce, GIFs, and uploaded photos.
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