A Webcam That Was Set Up In 1994 Is Still Streaming
The World Wide Web has been around since 1989. The first webcam came along two years later. It was the Trojan Room Coffee Pot Cam at the University of Cambridge in the UK. According to the BBC, it was created to simply monitor whether or not the computer science research department’s pot had any coffee in it. Sadly, it was retired in 2001. However, that means that the U.S. currently holds the title for longest running webcam.
Golden Gate Express reports that Jeff Schwartz and Dan Wong built a webcam for a master’s thesis project in the Department of Instructional Technologies at San Francisco State University. It was a way of capturing student life. The San Francisco FogCam has been taking a snapshot of the campus every twenty seconds since 1994, making it the oldest continuously streaming webcam, as well as one of the oldest websites on the internet.
The FogCam hasn’t always been aimed at the same spot on campus. According to the creators, they had to change the location a few times over the years in order prevent being shut down by the university. It almost did come to an end 2019 but the school decided to keep it going.
The current view is of a courtyard and, yes, it’s often foggy. The San Francisco FogCam website still has a delightfully ’90s look to it. I’m glad Jeff and Dan never gave in to any temptation to slick it up. You can see it here. The FogCam even has its own Twitter account.
We have fog today for continued Fall '22 welcome activities @SFSU š pic.twitter.com/TflKXmWKgB
— FogCam! (@FogCam) August 23, 2022
