Two things in life are for certain; death and taxes. And, boy, did taxes get a lot more complicated with the internet. Major technology development. The ‘net is huge! No matter who you are or where you’re from, you have access to all sorts of awesome information. Sites related to entertainment: MTV and Game Spot; sites related to shopping: eBay; info sites like Google (of course). As the 2000s rolled along, television was on its way out and social media was on its way in – but other than that the transition to the new millennium was pretty smooth sailing.
These days, it seems like the boundaries of culture are fading. Pop culture spreads easily and you can access just about anything with a computer, smartphone, or tablet device. For example, we recently found out that you have more of a chance of being killed by someone in your own country than by a foreign invader. The 90s saw globalization reach the point where we all share the same pop culture regardless of where we live! Whether you dyed your hair blue in tribute to Kurt Cobain, collected vinyl because “it just sounds better”, or blasted Dr. Dre on your boombox, you knew you weren’t alone in your choices — thanks to TV shows like ‘MTV News’ for example! If there’s one thing we can be sure of these days is that no matter where you come from there will always be people at the other end of the world who love exactly the same thing as you do!
History
History tends to overstate the impact of individuals on the progress of technology. Before 1990 very few people were using the Internet. The National Science Foundation (NSF) was using it internally, in universities. Were using it, and a handful of other organizations used it. But most people still did not use computers, let alone the internet. It’s a good thing Tim Berners-Lee was on hand because he had stumbled across an important ingredient – security. His previous project ENQUIRE had already shown that secure communication could be achieved between computers 5000 miles apart.
Back in the 90s, a lot of people had tried unsuccessfully to create something similar to the internet. Whether they failed because of security breaches, limited funding, or complexity. The bottom line was that you’d need a genius to make it work. Thankfully Tim Berners-Lee came along. Why did his attempt succeed? He already had experience developing a prototype system called ENQUIRE for CERN (yes, those large-hadron collider guys!). So it wasn’t available to everyone at first. However, working on a private network is easy so he needed just one more ingredient to make his system global.
1991 Linux released
Operating systems have changed pretty dramatically since Linus Torvald created his first version in the 90s. There was a time when there were only a few OS options to choose from and most people simply subscribed to whatever their computer manufacturers recommended them to use. Today? It’s a completely different story. Most enthusiasts and beginners alike want an OS that they can smartly customize to suit their exact needs. You might be aware, that in 2020 there will be an open-source operating system with features similar to what I just outlined that is intended for both users who are tech-savvy and ones who prefer something more simplistic. We’re all looking forward to seeing how this develops over the next few years!
In the 90s we had Microsoft and Apple, who typically marketed their software to computer technicians, tech nerds, and business owners. In 1991 Linus Torvald created an alternative option to the traditional operating systems by creating a completely customizable open-source system utilizing a Linux Kernel that computer users could download and program themselves, thus giving them complete control over what their computers were capable of doing. This was clearly a new concept for the time period but it proved to be an extremely efficient one in 1993 Torvald created the Linux Foundation in order to coordinate various improvements from different sources into one cohesive user experience – which finally lead to a public release of Tux, Linux’s lovable penguin mascot!
1993 Pentium processors rule all
Back in the day, computers used to come with either mainstream hardware components or non-existent third-party ones. It was an era of no compatibility across brands and manufacturers as producers went their own way with new innovations not yet standardized by any regulating body.
Over the course of time, computers have evolved to become so common and accessible that they’re nearly ubiquitous. Due to their overwhelming prevalence in our lives and the sheer ubiquity of technology in general today. People are becoming savvier about what hardware functions best at any given moment. While in the past people might have been more inclined to use hardware that was clunky just because of the familiarity. So how do you know if you’ve done your homework? Well for starters, check out worldwide leaders like Intel’s powerful Pentium processor family platform!
