[ih] Proof of the date of first use of term "webcam"

[Barrow, Zach]

Here is the definition from OED:

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Brit. /wbkam/, U.S. /wbkæm/ Forms: 19- web cam, web-cam, webcam. Also with capital initial(s). [< WEB n. + cam- (in CAMERA n.).]

A video camera which is connected to a computer so that its output may be viewed on a network, esp. the Internet.
A proprietary name in the United States.
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So, I think web cam, web-cam, or webcam, or any capitalized versions of such would be legitimate.

-Zach

-----Original Message-----
From: Lars Eggert [mailto:lars.eggert at netlab.nec.de]
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2005 10:37 AM
To: Barrow, Zach
Cc: internet-history at postel.org
Subject: Re: [ih] Proof of the date of first use of term "webcam"


Barrow, Zach wrote:
> 
> I have an interesting question.  It pertains to the first use of the word "webcam."  The OED has it as 1995, first used in an Arizona Republic article.  My friend is fairly certain that the term was in use before that, but is trying to find a source that can stand up to OED scrutiny to have the definition corrected.  We're both fairly certain it had to be after 1990 since that is about the time WWW came into usage.  Does anyone have or know of a reliable citation or some citable text where the term was used?  My friend posted his question at http://www.the-ethic.blogspot.com/

Google Groups has a usenet post about a webcam dated Sep 12 1994:

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/comp.infosystems.www.providers/browse_thread/thread/c38f97b59e131ca9/e4e64fdb4efbf879?q=webcam#e4e64fdb4efbf879

    ANNOUNCE: AIR FORCE SUPER LAB SERVER
    Sep 12 1994, 10:02 am

    Rome Laboratory, the US Air Force Super Lab for Command, Control,
    Communications and Intelligence (C3I) would like to announce its WWW
    information service.

    A sample of the RL WWW's offerings include:

         * Interactive Air Force WWW map
         * On-line Touts
         * Technology Transfer Databases
         * and of course the "Web Cam"

    The URL for the Rome Laboratory WWW is:
                          http://www.rl.af.mil:8001/

    Thank you.
        Scott

-- 
Lars Eggert                                     NEC Network Laboratories