No one is surprised anymore by video calls or video meetings. This would not have been possible without the advent of webcams. It all started thirty years ago with pictures of a coffee pot.
We hebben het aan gefrustreerde computerwetenschappers te danken dat de webcam nu bestaat. In de jaren negentig stond op de University of Cambridge alleen in het computerlab een koffiezetapparaat. Medewerkers moesten van andere afdelingen komen om de drank uit de pot te halen. Maar de koffie was vaker dan hen lief was net op als ze aankwamen.
“Een groep dorstige onderzoekers richtte in 1991 een camera op een koffiepot”, schrijft Quentin Stafford-Fraser op de website van de universiteit. “Ze schreven software waarmee de beelden op hun schermen kwamen te staan.” Stafford-Fraser was een van die dorstige onderzoekers die daardoor wisten wanneer er nog koffie in de kan zat.
Op dat moment was de camera nog geen webcam, omdat hij nog niet op het internet was aangesloten. Dat gebeurde twee jaar later. Onderzoekers Dan Gordon en Martyn Johnson bouwden het originele systeem van de wetenschappers om, zodat het op internetaanvragen reageerde. Vanaf dat moment kon iedereen met een internetverbinding naar livebeelden van de koffiepot kijken.
Oldest active webcam broadcasting for 29 years
The stream remained online for years. The camera was not turned off until August 22, 2001 at 10:54 AM. Throughout those years, millions of people have seen the pictures. At the last minute, Stafford-Fraser, Gordon and Johnson can be seen turning off the camera together.
After the first webcam went online, more followed. The oldest webcam that is still broadcasting continuously is Fog camera. That camera was connected in 1994 as a student project at San Francisco State University. Twenty-nine years later, the camera is still focused on the university grounds, with images updated every twenty seconds.
The first commercial webcam was Connectix’s QuickCam. It was initially released exclusively for Apple Macintosh devices in 1994. The camera can display sixteen different shades of gray to create images with a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. The device can transmit fifteen images per second and costs $100. Connectix technology has been sold over the years to companies such as Logitech, Sony, and Microsoft. Connectix has been no more since 2003.
YouTubers and surveillance footage
At the turn of the 20th century, webcams were integrated into many laptop computers and monitors. A separate device that must be connected to the computer via a USB connection is no longer necessary. Nowadays, cameras are still standard in laptops. The resolution has become much higher and the image is updated more often, so you can use it for video calls and meetings.
YouTubers and gamers use webcams to address their audience directly. Individual webcams are still in circulation as well. These are used, for example, as a surveillance camera.
In these cases, webcams are a particularly useful solution for those who want to watch live in a place where the user cannot be present. But the rise of webcams also has a downside, because vulnerabilities in systems are sometimes exploited.
Malicious parties are looking for access to webcams
For malicious parties, accessing webcams is a way to spy on people. For example, years ago, there was an American who infected thousands of computers with malware so that he could monitor the victims and record images.
Such things are also known in the Netherlands. For example, in the case of Aydin C, a Tilburg citizen who gained access to all kinds of webcams and blackmailed his victims. In 2017, he was sentenced to ten years and eight months in prison in the Netherlands on charges of encouraging dozens of girls and a number of men to perform sexual acts in front of the camera.
At the end of last year, he was convicted again in Canada in the Amanda Todd case. This Canadian student committed suicide in 2012 when she was fifteen years old, after “C” blackmailed her with nude photos she sent him.
Be careful and buy sliders
If you want to keep bad people away, you can do several things. Protecting your camera when not in use is easiest. For example, there are sliders for this that you can stick over the lens.
Moreover, it is better to buy webcams from well-known brands. Cheap cameras from obscure brands are not always well secured and are very easy to hack. It is also wise to always install the latest software updates and not click on suspicious links.
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