It’s unlikely that everyone will ever agree on the most important dates in the history of IT. I know my IT timeline has a personal and professional bias. But I’ve tried to be objective in examining the events that have served to shape the current landscape of the modern computing industry. Some of the milestones on my list are debatable (depending upon where you are looking from), but some of them most likely are not. Read on and see what you think.

Note: This article is also available as a PDF download.

1: The development of COBOL (1959)

There are many languages out there, but none has influenced as many others as COBOL has. What makes COBOL stand out is the fact that there are still machines chugging along, running COBOL apps. Yes, these apps could (and possibly should) be rewritten to a modern standard. But for many IT administrators, those who don’t have the time or resources to rewrite legacy apps, those programs can keep on keeping on.

2: The development of the ARPANET (1969)

It is an undeniable fact that the ARPANET was the predecessor of the modern Internet. The ARPANET began in a series of memos, written by J.C. R. Licklider and initially referred to as the “Intergalactic Computer Network.” Without the development of the ARPANET, the landscape of IT would be drastically different.

3: The creation of UNIX (1970)

Although many would argue that Windows is the most important operating system ever created, UNIX should hold that title. UNIX started as a project between MIT and AT&T Bell Labs. The biggest initial difference (and most important distinction) was that it was the first operating system to allow more than one user to log in at a time. Thus was born the multi-user environment. Note: 1970 marks the date the name “UNIX” was applied.

4: The first “clamshell” laptop (1979)

William Moggridge, working for GRID Systems Corporation, designed the Compass Computer, which finally entered the market in 1991. Tandy quickly purchased GRID (because of 20 significant patents it held) but then turned around and resold GRID to AST, retaining the rights to the patents.

5: The beginning of Linus Torvalds’ work on Linux (1991)

No matter where you stand on the Linux versus Windows debate, you can’t deny the importance of the flagship open source operating system. Linux brought the GPL and open source into the forefront and forced many companies (and legal systems) into seeing monopolistic practices as well as raising the bar for competition. Linux was also the first operating system that allowed students and small companies to think in much bigger ways than their budgets previously allowed them to think.

6: The advent of Windows 95 (1995)

Without a doubt, Windows 95 reshaped the way the desktop looked and felt. When Windows 95 hit the market the metaphor for the desktop became standardized with the toolbar, start menu, desktop icons, and notification area. All other operating systems would begin to mimic this new de facto standard desktop.

7: The 90s dot-com bubble (1990s)

The dot-com bubble of the 90s did one thing that nothing else had ever done: It showed that a great idea could get legs and become a reality. Companies like Amazon and Google not only survived the dot-com burst but grew to be megapowers that have significant influence over how business is run in the modern world. But the dot-com bubble did more than bring us companies — it showed us the significance of technology and how it can make daily life faster, better, and more powerful.

8: Steve Jobs rejoining Apple (1996)

Really, all I should need to say here is one word: iPod. Had Jobs not come back to Apple, the iPod most likely would never have been brought to life. Had the iPod not been brought to life, Apple would have withered away. Without Apple, OS X would never have seen the light of day. And without OS X, the operating system landscape would be limited to Windows and Linux.

9: The creation of Napster (1999)

File sharing. No matter where you stand on the legality of this issue, you can’t deny the importance of P2P file sharing. Without Napster, file sharing would have taken a much different shape. Napster (and the original P2P protocols) heavily influenced the creation of the BitTorrent protocol. Torrents now make up nearly one-third of all data traffic and make sharing of large files easy. Napster also led to the rethinking of digital rights (which to some has negative implications).

10: The start of Wikipedia (2000)

Wikipedia has become one of leading sources of information on the Internet and with good reason. It’s the single largest collaborative resource available to the public. Wikipedia has since become one of the most often cited sources on the planet. Although many schools refuse to accept Wiki resources (questioning the legitimacy of the sources) Wikipedia is, without a doubt, one of the largest and most accessible collections of information. It was even instrumental in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, when the candidates’ Wiki pages became the top hits for voters seeking information. These presidential Wiki pages became as important to the 2008 election as any advertisement.

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ROUND ROCK and PLANO, Texas, Sept. 21, 2009 — Dell and Perot Systems have entered a definitive agreement for Dell to acquire Perot Systems in a transaction valued at approximately $3.9 billion. Terms of the agreement were approved yesterday by the boards of directors of both companies.

The acquisition will result in a compelling combination of two iconic information-technology brands. The expanded Dell will be even better positioned for immediate and long-term growth and efficiency driven by:

• Providing a broader range of IT services and solutions and optimizing how they’re delivered;
• Extending the reach of Perot Systems’ capabilities, including in the most dynamic customer segments, around the world; and,
• Supplying leading Dell computer systems to even more Perot Systems customers.

Complementary Capabilities

Dell and Perot Systems share several key characteristics and our products, services and structures are overwhelmingly complementary. They have similarly strong, relationship-based business cultures. People in both organizations are recognized for helping customers thrive by using IT for greater effectiveness and productivity. The combination also provides some compelling opportunities for improved efficiency, which will benefit our customers even further.

Dell’s global commercial customer base spans large corporations, government agencies, health-care providers, educational institutions, and small and medium enterprises (SME). The company’s large existing services business includes breakthroughs in the concept and delivery of modular services, as well as expertise in infrastructure consulting and software-as-a-service. Dell is a leader in computer systems, including standards-based network servers, and in the fast-growing segment of data-storage hardware.

Perot Systems provides world-class services, including in applications, technology, infrastructure, business processes and consulting. The company is a leading provider to clients in health-care, government and other commercial segments, from SMEs to the largest global institutions. Perot Systems has a large and growing base of customers and service-delivery capabilities in North America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and Asia.

Over the past four quarters Dell and Perot Systems had a combined $16 billion in enterprise-hardware and IT-services revenue, with about $8 billion from enhanced services and support.

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After months — nay, years — of wrangling over network neutrality (the notion that all internet traffic should be treated equally, and that service providers should not be allowed to treat differently or charge extra for certain types of traffic or data from certain websites) is back.

Today the Federal Communications Commission has proposed two new rules for how Internet traffic should be treated, hamstringing ISPs that have degraded certain types of traffic (mainly peer-to-peer transfers) and, in some cases, ISPs that may have started collecting money from certain content providers in exchange for a “fast track” for their content.

In a blog post, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said that he was undoing all of that in a quest to “preserve a free and open Internet, helping to ensure a future of opportunity, prosperity, and the vibrant flow of information and ideas.”

The two new rules being proposed are simple and as follows. Again from Genachowski’s post: “The first says broadband providers cannot discriminate against particular Internet content or applications. The second says broadband providers must be transparent about their network management practices. These principles would apply to the Internet however it is accessed, though how they apply may differ depending on the access platform or technology used. Of course, network operators will be permitted to implement reasonable network management practices to address issues such as spam, address copyright infringement, and otherwise ensure a safe and secure network for all users.”

And with that, the idea of ISPs charging extra just because you watch of lot of YouTube — or blocking you from visiting the site — goes out the window. Naturally, network neutrality advocates, who’ve lobbied for such rules for years, are dancing in the streets. ISPs are less celebratory.

What’s next? The FCC goes into formal lawmaking mode next month and will need to put the new suggested rules out for public comment. The final rules, however they evolve, will then have to be approved by three of the FCC’s five commissioners. But none of those appear to be substantial obstacles to network neutrality ultimately being implemented. Net neutrality looks like it will soon be here to stay.

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WASHINGTON, – The Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual study, sponsored by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), reveals that countries in Asia, Latin America and Europe are taking deliberate steps to improve their technology environments, although the U.S. remains the leader in providing the most competitive conditions for the information technology (IT) industry.

The United States still ranks first in the world in the annual IT Industry Competitiveness Index, which was conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the business information arm of The Economist Group. The United States scored a 78.9 out a possible 100 in the index. However, the U.S. lost ground to competitors in a number of areas, while Finland jumped from 13 in the 2008 rankings to number two in 2009 and surpassed the United States in the quality of its business environment.

Source: Reuters

VMware CTO Stephen Herrod

(Credit: Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)
SAN FRANCISCO–If the average person has heard of virtualization at all, the idea probably left little impression beyond something to do with running corporate data centers packed with computing hardware.

But the era in which virtualization directly affects ordinary folks, too, is on its way.

The company in the forefront of the technology, an EMC subsidiary called VMware, drew 12,488 people to its VMworld conference here this week, and one theme of the show was the growing push to move the technology beyond the server realm. Initially that means PCs, but the company demonstrated its technology on mobile phones, too.

What is virtualization? Simply put, it lets a single computer run multiple operating systems at the same time in compartments called virtual machines. Each instance of an operating system runs on a virtualization layer rather than on the actual computer hardware. The company in charge of that foundational layer has tremendous power in the computing industry.

VMware has competition from Citrix, Red Hat, Microsoft, and others, but for now its head start, corporate alliances, and solid technology give it a lead in the market. Most of VMware’s business comes from virtualizing servers, which lets companies replace a host of largely idle machines with one that’s running full tilt, but the company is working to expand into many new markets.

Employee-owned IT
Before it met its present success in the server market, VMware got its start on PCs. Virtualization proved useful, for example, for developers who wanted to switch rapidly among different versions of an operating system to test their software or different versions of a browser to test their Web pages. VMware also can help people run Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X on the same machine–but again, that’s not a mainstream need.

But as VMware sees it–and I think there’s some merit to this belief–virtualization could become more widely used as a way to smooth the differences between people’s own computer preferences and their employers’ needs.

In the “employee-owned IT” vision, virtualization could let people put a corporate-managed virtual machine on an personal computer. The corporate partition would run only company-approved applications and could connect to the company network; the personal half could run the chaos of other programs that cause corporate IT folks to grind their teeth.

VMware has a technology–formerly called Virtual Desktop Infrastructure and now sporting the more palatable name of VMware View–that also could fit into this idea. With it, the brains of a PC actually run on a central server, with a person’s local machine serving as a mechanism to show the display and capture mouse clicks and keystrokes. So an employee’s corporate PC could actually be housed at the corporate and piped over the Net to wherever the employee happens to be.

VMware’s View demonstration featured graphics acceleration using Microsoft’s DirectX 3D graphics and full-motion video–albeit a with some jerkiness. Hardware support in newer Intel and AMD processors also speeds virtualization performance.

VMware View is latest twist on a technology called thin client computing. That approach has found a solid niche in some large businesses but that never has caught on widely. In my opinion, though, the greater challenge comes from an entirely different way of attaining the same centralized goals: cloud computing.

Cloud computing, in which applications run over the Web in Web browsers rather than natively on PCs, provides another way to provide access to corporate resources. It can’t do everything, but it’s gradually maturing as a way to run software. And it has the advantage of requiring only a modern browser rather than VMware’s software.

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