Happy Birthday, Webcam
The webcam was a mirror that made you look at yourself in the worst possible light, catching every angle you weren’t ready to see. Low resolution didn’t help—it just made you worse in a more honest way. But it also let you step into someone else’s space without leaving yours, or have them step into yours. That was the whole invention. Not the technology, but the possibility of it. The idea that you could put your face somewhere you weren’t and have someone put theirs where you were.