Productivity and communication are the functions that
mark the software technologies voted the greatest in the past 40
years by Computer Weekly readers.
At number one in the poll, the graphical user interface is taken
for granted by most application users, but imagine for a moment
what life would be like without point and click functionality. A
command line nightmare would bring many businesses grinding to a
halt.
And what if there was no TCP/IP? This protocol works in the
background of all the main internet-based data transfer
applications. Without it, business would be a lot slower.
One of the main TCP/IP-based applications, e-mail, comes in at
number three in our poll. Despite the headaches of security and
spam, it appears few of you would want to live without it.
Software top 10
1. Graphical user interface
2. TCP/IP
3. E-mail
4. HTML
5. Relational database
6. Spreadsheet
7. XML
8. Virtualisation
9. SNMP
10. Customer relationship management
1. Graphical User Interface: Opening up the computer to
everyone
The graphical user interface (GUI) uses graphical images, text and
toolbars to represent information and activities on a computer. The
technology has become so successful that most business users take
it for granted as a way of accessing and viewing their files and
data.
GUIs can be found on desktop PCs, workstations and servers,
personal digital assistants, mobile phones, car navigation systems
and other consumer electronics equipment.
The first GUI was invented by researchers at the Stanford
Research Institute who developed text-based hyperlinks that could
be manipulated with a mouse.
But most modern GUIs from the likes of Apple and Microsoft owe a
debt to the researchers at Xerox Parc, who went beyond text-based
hyperlinks and used GUIs as the primary interface for the Xerox
Alto computer.
GUIs were introduced as a user-friendly alternative to the
command line interface (CLI), a text-based user interface that uses
typed commands to carry out activities.
If business users were forced to use CLIs rather than GUIs, most
staff would require intensive training and applications would be a
lot more cumbersome and time--consuming to use.
GUIs have therefore done much to improve staff productivity, and
they have opened the benefits of computing to even the least
tech-literate users.
Microsoft’s Windows operating system is the most well known
example of a GUI, with its various flavours of interface, from the
Windows Classic to the forthcoming Aero, which introduces “glass”
window effects.
Other leading GUIs that feature advanced graphics and usability
include Apple’s Mac OS X and Ubuntu Linux3D.
Three-dimensional interfaces continue to appeal to users, with
the likes of Sphere’s SphereXP and Sun’s Java-based Project Looking
Glass raising the bar in this area. A three-dimensional computing
environment is particularly useful for collaborative work that
involves managing multiple streams of data and computer-aided
design/manufacturing applications.
2. TCP/IP: Powering E-business
That the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
networking standard was voted the second most significant software
technology of the past 40 years is a testament to the widespread
acceptance and adoption of the internet by businesses.
Robert Kahn and Vint Cerf developed TCP in 1973 for the US
military. The idea was to enclose packets of data in “datagrams”,
which would act like envelopes containing letters. Gateway
computers would then read the delivery information contained in the
datagrams, before delivering the contents to host computers to read
the packet contents.
TCP made it easier for different networks to be joined together
for communications purposes, and was eventually used to make the
internet, a network of networks, a reality.
TCP was later refined and split into two parts to become TCP/IP,
which is now the standard for all internet communications.
TCP/IP allows applications to create connections to each other
over the internet and send and receive packets of data. The most
common applications that use TCP/IP are HTTP/HTTPS (for web
traffic), SMTP/POP3/Imap (for transmitting e-mail) and FTP (for
file transfer). Research has found that TCP/IP is used in
approximately 95% of all internet data packets.
TCP/IP has grown more complex over time, while still providing
the same basic operation – to exchange data over a network.
However, enhancements to TCP/IP have made it more reliable and have
helped it to handle network congestion better.
Functions carried out by the networking protocol include
error-free data transfer, ordered-data transfer, retransmission of
lost packets, discarding of duplicate packets and congestion
throttling.
Companies therefore have a lot to thank TCP/IP for. Whether
sending business-critical e-mails, accessing applications remotely,
selling products via the web, or offering online customer support,
the trusty TCP/IP is working in the background to ensure that
things go smoothly.
3. E-Mail: A comms revolution
E-mail has become both a boon and a bane for businesses, as an
increasing amount of communication travels in the form of an
electronic message.
The medium has been around since the 1960s, predating the
internet. The first e-mail project, the Compatible Time-Sharing
System (CTSS), was begun at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology in 1961.
This system allowed multiple users to log in to an IBM 7094 from
remote dial-up terminals and store files on the computer’s hard
disc. The project gave rise to e-mail in 1965, which offered a way
for multiple users of a time-sharing mainframe computer to
communicate.
By 1966, users on different computers could transfer e-mails.
But it took a long time for e-mail to become the phenomenon it is
today, mainly because neither the network nor the computers were in
place.
It wasn’t until 1988 that e-mail really took off, with the
internet finally finding its feet. CIX (Compulink Information
Exchange) was one of the earliest service providers, providing the
UK’s first commercial internet e-mail services.
CIX grew rapidly, peaking at more than 16,000 users in 1994. At
that point, a host of internet service providers stepped in,
attracting users away from CIX, and the free for all that we know
today emerged.
Nowadays, businesses are familiar with e-mail’s benefits and
issues. On the negative side, e-mail-borne viruses have meant that
organisations have had to invest in more security technologies and
train users about safe e-mail usage. E-mails have given many of us
a headache because of the sheer volume of them that we receive. And
then there’s spam.
On the plus side, e-mail helps firms conduct business quickly
and globally, and communicate with thousands of individuals
instantaneously. Perhaps the ultimate measure of the importance of
e-mail in business is to try taking e-mail facilities away from
your end-users – the screams will be heard for miles.
4. html
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), created by inventor of the web
Tim Berners-Lee, is a key technology for building websites.
In the beginning, HTML was not a specification, but rather a
collection of tools used to communicate research among Berners-Lee
and his colleagues. Since HTML version 1.0, the language has
undergone many revisions and enhancements to help users tag page
elements in increasingly innovative ways.
For businesses, the emergence of HTML has meant that their
websites and e-mails have become richer in terms of content and
interaction. The language has helped organisations to attract and
retain customers and interact with business partners more
efficiently.
For many smaller firms, HTML-based websites have given them a
reach and presence beyond their geographical area.
HTML is also the technology that enables bloggers to communicate
with their global audience.
5. Relational database
Developed in 1970
by Ted Codd, the idea of a database that combines data elements
from its files for queries and reports has been a boon to business.
Today, almost every corporate database management system is
relational – if you use Oracle, DB2, SQL Server or MySQL, you are
in the relational club.
6. Spreadsheet
Converting paper-based workflow sheets into an electronic format is
a simple idea that has taken on a life of its own. From accountancy
to project management, the ability to run formulae and segment
business data has been invaluable.
7. XML
By providing a common method for
identifying data, Extensible Markup Language has become the
cornerstone of electronic business-to-business transactions. The
human-readable XML data tags enable web pages to function like
database records, both containing and describing data.
8. Virtualisation
Virtualisation removes some of the constraints that hardware has
traditionally placed on software. By enabling multiple operating
systems to run on a single server, for example, the approach allows
IT managers to squeeze more from their IT assets. As data volumes
expand, so will virtualisation technologies.
9. SNMP
Simple Network Management Protocol has become increasingly
important as corporate networks expand. Part of the IP suite, it is
used to monitor devices and software on a network and alert
managers to potential problems.
10. CRM
Customer relationship management software has enabled businesses to
draw together all the records they hold on an individual or
company. As well as reducing duplication, this has enabled firms
to identify opportunities for targeted marketing and cross-selling
of products.
Your big names
Outside the main choices for greatest software, the most popular
readers’ suggestions were:
1. Java
2. Unix
3. Word processor
4. Object orientation
5. Linux/open source
6. C languages
7. Postscript
Readers show their roots with Space Invaders
vote
A 1970s arcade game may seem a strange choice as one of the
software greats, but Space Invaders introduced many Computer Weekly
readers to the wonderful world of IT.
Designed by Toshihiro Nishikado in 1978, the arcade game was
originally manufactured by Taito. Variations on the game then
spread across the world on Ataris, Commodores and other early home
PCs.
Although simplistic by today’s standards, Space Invaders – along
with contemporaries such as Pac-Man and Breakout – was the
forerunner of today’s multibillion-pound global video gaming
industry.
Perhaps more importantly for the IT industry, the game led
thousands of households, under pressure from their children, to get
a home PC. By the end of the 1980s, computers were second nature to
an entire generation, priming them for the internet revolution and
the rise of IT-enabled business.
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