The first webcam aimed at a coffee pot to equalize coffee access

Evidence

Jennifer Ringley was not the Web’s first star. Five years before the JenniCam went live, computer scientist Quentin Stafford-Fraser had a resource problem. Fifteen staffers at Cambridge University shared a smallcapacity, first-come-first-served coffeepot, and those close enough to smell the fresh-brewed coffee had an advantage over those on other floors. In an attempt to level the playing field, Stafford-Fraser pointed a small camera at the coffee machine and sent the images to the staff’s computer network for remote viewing. — Theresa M. Senft, Camgirls, 136

Categorization

• CANDY: The first webcam was pointed at a shared coffee pot at Cambridge University — a fun, self-contained conversation tidbit.
• SEED: Possible angle: how the practical, equitable problem-solving origins of surveillance/fame infrastructure get buried under later spectacle.