# Internet Coke Machine > Internet Coke Machine is a 1982 internet-connected vending machine at Carnegie Mellon University's CS Department, recognized as one of the earliest IoT devices and foundational internet folklore. The Internet Coke Machine is a Coca-Cola vending machine at Carnegie Mellon University's Computer Science Department that was connected to the university's network in 1982, making it one of the earliest known internet-connected devices. Built by a group of programmers too lazy to walk to the machine only to find it empty or stocked with warm soda, it became an iconic piece of internet folklore and is widely cited as the original "Internet of Things" device[2]. The machine's story was formally documented on Know Your Meme in 2010, where it earned recognition as one of the internet's earliest memes[5]. ## Origin The story begins with a simple problem: Carnegie Mellon's computer science department had been moved away from the Coke machine, and thirsty programmers got tired of making the trek only to find the machine empty or full of warm bottles[2]. In 1982, four members of the department built a solution. Mike Kazar wrote the server software, David Nichols handled documentation and user-facing tools, John Zsarnay did the hardware work, and Ivor Durham created the finger interface[1]. They installed micro-switches inside the machine to sense how many bottles sat in each of its six columns[2]. These switches fed data to CMUA, the department's PDP-10 mainframe, where a server program tracked the machine's inventory state in real time, including how long each bottle had been in the machine (a rough proxy for temperature)[1]. Users could run a simple finger command to check the status before making the walk. - **Platform:** Carnegie Mellon University internal network (ARPANET-connected), later WWW (1993) - **Creator:** Mike Kazar (server software), David Nichols (documentation and user software), John Zsarnay (hardware), Ivor Durham (finger interface) - **Date:** 1982 ## Overview The Internet Coke Machine is a vending machine in Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science that was rigged with micro-switches and hooked up to the department's PDP-10 mainframe computer (known as CMUA) in 1982[1]. The system tracked how many bottles were present in each of the machine's six columns and how long each bottle had been sitting there, giving users a way to check remotely whether the machine was stocked and whether the drinks were cold[2]. It's not a meme in the image-macro sense. It's a proto-meme: a piece of early internet culture that spread through word of mouth, Usenet posts, and finger commands long before the World Wide Web existed. ## How It Spread Word of the CMU Coke Machine spread organically through the early internet's social channels: Usenet newsgroups, email lists, and the finger protocol. By the early 1990s, it had become something of a legend among the computer science community. A 1994 thread on the alt.hackers Usenet group shows users sharing finger addresses for various internet-connected Coke machines, with the CMU machine listed as the most well-known: "The best known is at CMU (try finger coke@cmu.edu)"[4]. In 1993, the machine got its own web page, making it accessible through the nascent World Wide Web[2]. This was a big deal at the time. The machine went from being a network curiosity accessible only through command-line tools to something anyone with a web browser could check. The concept inspired copycats at universities worldwide. The University of Western Australia's Computer Club built their own internet-connected Coke machine starting in 1992, using a 68000-based board with 16K EPROM and 64K SRAM, along with custom dispensing software[3]. The alt.hackers thread also listed machines at the University of Wisconsin (finger coke@cs.wisc.edu) and Rochester Institute of Technology (finger drink@csh.rit.edu)[4]. Bennet Yee at UC San Diego maintained a dedicated list of internet-accessible Coke machines[8]. A second-generation interface was installed at CMU in 1995, designed by Greg Nelson (mail/zephyr/finger interface), Rich Caruana (software/power), and Manish Pandey (hardware)[1]. A third generation was later developed by Kevin Watkins, Mike Vande Weghe, and Chuck Rosenberg[1]. The machine's meme status was formally recognized on August 26, 2010, when a user named Cybergatail posted about it on the Know Your Meme forums, documenting its history and significance[5]. ## How to Use The Internet Coke Machine isn't a meme template in the traditional sense. It's typically referenced as: - **Historical shorthand** for the origins of the Internet of Things, often in articles and presentations about connected devices - **Hacker culture lore**, brought up in discussions about early internet history or the spirit of building things just because you can - **A punchline** about programmer laziness, where the joke is that someone built a networked monitoring system rather than walk down the hall People typically reference it by telling the story: programmers at CMU connected a Coke machine to the internet in 1982 because they didn't want to walk to an empty vending machine. The absurdity of the motivation paired with the technical achievement is the core of the humor. ## Cultural Impact The Internet Coke Machine is routinely cited as the first or one of the first "Internet of Things" devices[2]. Long before smart fridges and connected thermostats, a group of grad students proved that any physical object could be networked if someone cared enough about the problem it solved. The machine influenced how people think about the relationship between physical objects and digital networks. Michael Edson's 2007 museum workshop used the concept of an internet-connected vending machine to teach non-technical professionals that the internet isn't limited to desktop computers and big servers[7]. "Who imagined 20 years ago that the same set of rules created for a nuclear-attack-resistant messaging network could spawn the World Wide Web and MySpace?" he asked[7]. The concept also spawned a minor tradition at universities worldwide. From Carnegie Mellon to Western Australia to Wisconsin to Rochester Institute of Technology, CS departments connected their vending machines to the internet as a rite of passage[4]. Bennet Yee's curated list of internet-accessible Coke machines at UC San Diego served as an informal directory for this subculture[8]. Coca-Cola's modern Freestyle machines, deployed in over 2,000 fast food locations across the US and UK as of the mid-2010s, are the corporate descendants of the CMU hack[2]. They track individual machines, monitor inventory, run test marketing, and analyze drinking preferences. As one writer put it: "a Coke Freestyle machine is an Internet Coke Machine on steroids"[2]. ## Fun Facts - The CMU Coke Machine's mean time between cokes (MTBC) was 12 minutes at peak consumption, meaning the department drank roughly 120 bottles per day[1]. - You could finger `pepsi@elab.cs.cmu.edu` and get the same results as the Coke machine, suggesting someone set up a cheeky alias[4]. - The UWA Computer Club's machine had a backdoor: if you unplugged the Sun workstation, attached a terminal, and typed "D6," you could get a free can of Coke[3]. - The machine had to stay behind a locked door to comply with university vending policy, which only allowed self-run machines accessible exclusively to department members[1]. - An Italian blog credits it as "il primo Meme della Storia di Internet" (the first meme in internet history)[5]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is the Internet Coke Machine? It's a Coca-Cola vending machine at Carnegie Mellon University that was connected to the department's computer network in 1982, allowing users to remotely check its inventory and whether drinks were cold[1]. ### Where did the Internet Coke Machine come from? It was built at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science in 1982 by Mike Kazar, David Nichols, John Zsarnay, and Ivor Durham[1]. ### What does the Internet Coke Machine mean? It represents the earliest known example of connecting a physical object to the internet for monitoring, and is often cited as the first "Internet of Things" device[2]. ### How do you use the Internet Coke Machine? Originally, you could run a finger command to check inventory. After 1993, it had a web interface. The machine tracked how many bottles were in each column and how long they'd been there[2]. ### Is the Internet Coke Machine still popular? As a cultural reference, yes. The CMU page was last updated in 2005, and the machine's story is still widely told in discussions about internet history and IoT origins[1]. ### Who built the original Internet Coke Machine? Four Carnegie Mellon CS department members: Mike Kazar (server software), David Nichols (documentation/user software), John Zsarnay (hardware), and Ivor Durham (finger interface)[1]. ### Why was the Internet Coke Machine built? The CS department had moved away from the vending machine, and programmers didn't want to walk there only to find it empty or stocked with warm drinks[2]. ### What computer was it connected to? The machine's micro-switches were connected to CMUA, the department's PDP-10 mainframe computer[2]. ### Were there other internet-connected Coke machines? Yes. Universities including the University of Western Australia (1992), University of Wisconsin, and Rochester Institute of Technology built their own versions[4]. ### What happened to the UWA Coke Machine? Coca-Cola tried to shut it down in 1995 after an executive's son found it online. The UWA Computer Club resolved the situation by buying the machine for $200[3]. ### When did the Internet Coke Machine get a web page? In 1993, it was connected to the World Wide Web, making it accessible through a browser rather than just the finger protocol[2]. ### How was the meme formally documented? A user named Cybergatail posted about it on the Know Your Meme forums on August 26, 2010, cataloging its history and significance[5]. ## References 1. [Qual è stato il primo Meme della Storia di Internet?]() 2. [Life Before GrubHub: The History of Online Meal Delivery]() 3. [CMU SCS Coke Machine Home Page]() 4. [List of viral videos]() 5. [Internet appliance - Wikipedia]() 6. [Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Wikipedia]() 7. [University of Western Australia - Wikipedia]() 8. [ARPANET - Wikipedia]() 9. [bsy's List of Internet Accessible Coke Machines]() 10. [Internet Controlled Soda Machine Sells on eBay for $76]() 11. [A Coke machine on the internet???]() 12. [Pittsburgh/East End-South - Wikitravel]() 13. [Drink Machine]() 14. [Technology News - TUAW]() 15. [Archives & Museum Informatics: Museums and the Web 2007: Papers: Edson, M., Imagining the Internet: How Inexpensive Microprocessors, Cell Phones, and Solid State Servers Can Interact with the Physical World]() 16. [CNET: Product reviews, advice, how-tos and the latest news]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/internet-coke-machine Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library