Hi John,

Thanks for this article. It shows exactly what you and I have been telling in regards to adopting the 'latest' technology'. It is sad that history is repeating itself again and again this way. When do we ever learn you could ask yourself.

Anyways the conclusion that true progress in medicine is ussually slow could be applied to ICT as well. A lot of new products in a short time, but not a lot of true new innovations. Comming to think of it what should we regard as the true innovations in ICT ??

(Doing this from the top of my head, and since I was born in the 70s I could have some date wrong here).

- early 40s: IBM mainframes
- Late 50s: Cobol programming language
- Invention of the transistor
- Late 60s: Invention of the Basic programming language
- early 70s: Intels first microprocessor
- the C and PASCAL programming language
- Codds paper to the relational theory
- TCP/IP Protocol for the ARPA net (precessor of the current internet)
- Late 70s: First microcomputers, apple
- Early 80s: The IBM PC (with DOS)
- Broad adoption of home computers (Commodory 64, Atari, Zx Spectrum, MSX)
- The rise of relational databases
- The introduction of OOP in programming languages (e.g. C++)
- Dbase, Lotus 123, WP
- Early 90s: Wide adoption of Microsoft Windows 3.0
- 95: Windows 95 resulting in wide acceptance of 32 bit programming.
- Wide acceptance of mobile phones and laptops.
- Late 90s: The internet boom
- Wide acceptation of ERM/ERP software (SAP, BAAN, NAVISION)
- Maturing of internet (Xfer speeds allow for remote offices, internet phones etc)
- Early 00s: portable high capicity memory storage (e.g. for digital photo cameras)
- The rise of PDA's
- TFT Monitors

And since the internet boom, I have trouble to come up with something really significant. What was truly the last important innovation ?? Since 5 years, we have been improving the things we already had. Some bet on speech recognition, but I'm not sure if that is going to be it.

Walter,