{
  "id": 2760500,
  "title": "The world's first webcam was switched off 25 years ago today — 128x128 grayscale feed predated the World Wide Web to monitor a Cambridge coffee pot",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/23/the-worlds-first-webcam-was-switched-off-25-years-ago-today-128x128",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-08-23T09:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Tom's Hardware",
    "slug": "tom-s-hardware",
    "url": "https://www.tomshardware.com/peripherals/webcams/the-worlds-first-webcam-was-switched-off-25-years-ago-today-128x128-grayscale-feed-predated-the-world-wide-web-to-monitor-a-cambridge-coffee-pot"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Twenty-five years ago, on August 22, 2001, the world's first webcam was officially decommissioned. Named the Trojan Room Coffee Pot, this humble device had served a practical purpose for ten years at Cambridge University. Its final image was of its own switch-off, captured by the diligent hands of Daniel Gordon, Martyn Johnson, and Quentin Stafford-Fraser. Stafford-Fraser, who played a key role in the webcam's creation, explains that the team faced a common challenge: they all shared a single coffee filter machine, and the excitement of a fresh brew often led to rushed consumption. To prevent disappointment, XCoffee was born, allowing team members to monitor the coffee pot's status from any part of the building. The webcam's origins, however, predate the World Wide Web by several years. Launched in 1991, it was connected to the science lab's LAN using a frame capture card and operated on an Acorn RISC computer. Even before the World Wide Web existed, the webcam transmitted a low-resolution, 128x128 grayscale image of the coffee pot every three minutes, demonstrating the innovative spirit of its creators.",
  "summary": "It has been a quarter century since the world’s first webcam was turned off for good. The Trojan Room Coffee Pot was retired on Wednesday, August 22, 2001, after 10 years of service at Cambridge University.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}