1983 – Paul Mockapetris and Jon Postel run the first successful test of the distributed Domain Name System (DNS). This automated process was to take over failing Arpanet and CSnet protocols because those relied on address books.
DNS uses a hierarchical distributed naming system for the Internet or any private network. It associates the domain names with numerical IP addresses.
1984 – Jim Gettys and Bob Scheifler announced collaboration of a new operating system in the X Window System. This gives the basic framework for a GUI. Currently, it is refered to as X11, R7.7.
I’ve spent the last couple weeks writing a window
system for the VS100. I stole a fair amount of code
from W, surrounded it with an asynchronous rather
than a synchronous interface, and called it X. Overall
performance appears to be about twice that of W. The
code seems fairly solid at this point, although there are
still some deficiencies to be fixed up.
We at LCS have stopped using W, and are now
actively building applications on X. Anyone else using
W should seriously consider switching. This is not the
ultimate window system, but I believe it is a good
starting point for experimentation. Right at the moment
there is a CLU (and an Argus) interface to X; a C
interface is in the works. The three existing
applications are a text editor (TED), an Argus I/O
interface, and a primitive window manager. There is
no documentation yet; anyone crazy enough to
volunteer? I may get around to it eventually.
Anyone interested in seeing a demo can drop by
NE43-531, although you may want to call 3-1945
first. Anyone who wants the code can come by with a
tape. Anyone interested in hacking deficiencies, feel
free to get in touch.
1997 – Several computer companies banded together to help create the NetPC. A disk-less computer that got all information, including install – from a corporate server or the Internet.
Basically, these would be similar to thin clients or “Dumb terminals” for work computers. No CD drive, no floppy disc and limited disk space. Cases were sealed so nobody could get inside to reconfigure the computer. Installs would be handled via the Internet, therefore, no personal software could be installed.
Microsoft and Intel unveiled the system at the PC Expo trade show. NetPC would work with Compaq, Dell, IBM, HP, Acer, Gateway 2000, Mitac, Misubishi, NEC, Pionex, and Groupe Bull computer companies to make the first group of NetPC computers.
The sub-$1,000 computer was a great idea that would work better today than in 1997. IBM dropped out of the project before the first NetPCs came out. They decided to make something their customers would use.
Microsoft finally pulled the plug at the Windows Engineering Conference in 1998 when John Frederiksen, lead project manager for thin clients acknowledged the phase-out process.
June 9, 1986: Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center opens
1986 – The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center opens. It links 5 supercomputer centers together – Princeton, San Diego, Illinois, and Cornell University. PSC is a leading partner in the TeraGrid, the National Science Foundation’s cyberinfrastructure program.
2001 – To compete with AOL, Internet Service Providers NetZero and Juno Online Services announce they will merge to become United Online. The company would eventually acquire other assets to keep afloat, including the purchase of the FTD group in 2008.
Of course, NetZero had changed their business model to a Wireless plan in 2012 and operates a broadband and dial up service nation-wide.
June 6, 2011 Steve Jobs gave his last keynote for Apple
2005 – Steve Jobs spoke in front of the masses at the WWDC announcing that Apple will switch their processors from PowerPC to Intel. He then showed off the Mac OS X running on aPentium 4 CPU. The reasoning was that PowerPC chips took too much power to run and also ran hotter than an Intel chip.
2003-Apple launches the iTunes Store. iTunes has been around since 2001, but without option to get new music. Before the iTunes store, users would have to burn from CD or copy previously made MP3 files. The store sold 1 million songs within a week. Apple became the biggest music vendor in the US in 2008.
With 28 million songs, over 1 million podcasts, 40,000 music videos, 3,000 shows and even the Beatles library, iTunes music store continues to dominate the market. Of course things exploded in 2007 when Steve Jobs put apps into the iTunes store. Apple just celebrated the 40 billion app mark and 25 billion song mark.
Today, Apple iTunes commands 63% of digital downloads.
2012 – Facebook – trying to get a hold on photosharing – decides to not wait for their iPhone app to come out but instead purchase Instagram for 1 billion dollars ($300 million and 23 million shares of Facebook stock). The reason Facebook made the purchase was for the close to 50 million Instagram users. Facebook had plans to keep both companies separate, but found later that joining the two via databases would help both companies grow. The companies finalized the deal on September 6, 2012.
