So, a webcam, as we all know, is that thing that sits on top of your computer that records your pretty face and sends it shooting across the interwebs to various chosen (and some unchosen) destinations. In our office it's used as a mirror that peaks over our head to let us know who's walking around behind us (we live in cubes), necessary as it's good feng shui to always have your entrances visible.
As with many things in the early tech world, the webcam started as an in-house tool for computer engineers. A regular camera's feed was sent over the local network at the University of Cambridge and provided a little 128x128 live update to monitor a coffee pot in what was deemed the "Trojan Room". The Trojan Room was far away (probably two doors down or so) from some programmers and the web cam provided a quick way to see if the pot had coffee or not to determine if a trip would be worthwhile. Read some more about it here.
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