The Houston Webcam Cache #1 geocache (GC21DF) plunges you into the origins of the game. Published on 11 October 2001 in Texas, it is a page of history, since it is the very first webcam cache.
Back then, capturing your own picture without a smartphone took a fair amount of technical effort: to sign that virtual logbook, you had to stand in front of the lens, then phone a friend. That accomplice had to log on from their computer to the website of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, refresh the web page and save the image at exactly the right moment to validate the visit. Archived today, it has nonetheless collected a great many visits and favorite points in memory of its pioneering status.
The answer : webcam
To sign that virtual logbook without a smartphone, you stood in front of the lens then phoned a friend, whose job was to refresh the museum page and save the image at the right moment.