Connectix QuickCam (1994)

How techie were you in the mid-1990s? Found at your desk--typically astride a huge 17-inch CRT monitor--this fist-size grey globe signified connectedness. You were part of the QuickCam generation, embracing Internet video in its infancy, sending short, choppy, and highly pixelated greyscale moving images over (most likely) the office or college LAN. The QuickCam's image quality left much to be desired, but its low price and unique design--a spheroid "eye" set in a pyramid-shaped base (which, despite appearances, worked surprisingly well as a tripod substitute)--made it a popular starter Webcam for video-crazy, pioneer digerati. Much more advanced QuickCams are still available from the line's current owner, Logitech. For more, read what one user had to say about it. Photo courtesy of Rodger Carter, DigiCamHistory.com.