Scaling Technology - We Have to Start Somewhere
It’s valuable to know how far we’ve come since the beginning of business IT. The most historical information communication is considered to be through cave drawings, and we’ve come so far since then!
Languages were developed, and the first form of information sharing came to the surface. Here is a timeline of the worlds greatest information technology inventions.
1450’s - Printing Press (Johannes Gutenberg)
Though the 1450’s is when Johannes Gutenberg brought the printing press to market, there were forms of this technology being used long before that. According to History.com, The Diamond Sutra, a Buddhist book from Dunhuang, China was the earliest printed book recorded, made around 868 A.D.
Photo credit: https://bit.ly/2Lb59U0
1837 - The Telegraph (Samuel Morse)
How do you think the first version of telephones worked? It was done through a wire that was strung from one station to another, when Mores code was created for communication. There was a different number of vibrations for each letter of the alphabet and that’s how a message was communicated. Could you imagine how long it took to communicate one sentence?
Photo credit: https://s.si.edu/3fqc3Tc
1858 - The Atlantic Cable (Cyrus West Field)
The Atlantic Cable was the next version of the telegraph, used for communication across the sea. That’s right, a long cable that went across the Atlantic. An article by IEEE Spectrum explains the good and the bad of this phase of communication.
The queen’s 98-word greeting of goodwill took almost 16 hours to send through the 3,200-kilometer cable. Still, compared to packet steamships, which could take 10 days to cross the Atlantic, the cable promised a tremendous improvement in speed for urgent communications.
Photo credit: https://bit.ly/3fjOyLt
1876 - The Telephone (Alexander Graham Bell)
Have you seen the video of two boys trying to figure out how to use one of the first telephones? If you haven’t, it’s pretty funny!
Many have the wrong image of what the first telephone looked like. Graham was looking for ways to improve the Telegraph and that’s how he stumbled upon the invention of the telephone.
According to an article written by Jason Morris, the problem Graham was solving was this:
The main problem with the telegraph was that it used Morse code, and was limited to sending and receiving one message at a time. Bell had a good understanding about the nature of sound and music. This enabled him to perceive the possibility of transmitting more than one message along the same wire at one time.
Photo credit: https://s.si.edu/2WaI9uG
1936 - Black and White TV (John Logie Baird)
Originally designed for education and interpersonal communication, the black and white tv was the first form of moving graphics.
When the television was originally invented, it didn’t get a lot of traction because they couldn’t find a use that would repay the development costs. The concept of using a television for entertainment and to make money from it was merely a joke at the time.
Eventually, black and white tvs were accepted by early adopters. While, Charles Frances Jenkins, who brought the invention from Britain to the United States, aired a 30 minute tv show that presented cartoon pantomime programs. It was just a year later when the television boom happened.
Photo credit: https://bit.ly/2yBJj9t
1930’s - Digital Computer (John Vincent Atanasoff)
How big was the first computer? Did you guess an entire room? The first computer was used to calculate the U.S. Census results, because the population had grown too large to do it manually. It eventually became a large part of productivity by the average worker.
Photo credit: https://bit.ly/2WFtnuM
1989 - The World Wide Web (Tim Berners-Lee & Robert Cailliau)
Finally, we have the World Wide Web. What’s that? Tim Berners-Lee saw a need to create an easier way to communicate from one computer to the next. Yet again, this technology was not at first accepted. But after spending more time with it, defining the essential components (HTML, URI, and HTTP), he created the first web page that could be accessed by all. The rest is history!
Photo credit: https://bit.ly/2WeKVyZ
Now that you know a bit more about the technology evolution of our past, we can compare it to the technologies that are its first phases of development right now. Some of these innovations include:
How do we prepare ourselves, in business and on a personal level, for these technology advancements? For businesses, talking with the appropriate IT professionals is a good start. Companies like Valicom will accommodate to your needs while staying in tune with the latest technology trends.
What technology do you see becoming the next big thing? Have you had experiences where ideas were shot down at first but then became very successful? Let's start a conversation! I would love to hear from you.
I like helping people where I can. I am considered a good listener, an idea man, and an excellent advisor. I am a survivor of AML, and always willing to listen, encourage, and offer help to those battling cancer.
4 年I enjoy reading the histories of inventors and I am always amazed at the time they put into a dream to bring about advances. Their lives were not distracted by entertainment. They focused their minds on solving a problem. For many of them, failure was not a failure but a learning process. Like Thomas Edison's famous quote when asked how he kept going to create the lightbulb after a 1000 failures. He replied I learned 1000 ways not to make a lightbulb. As an Entrepreneur, I have learned X number of ways not to run a business.
Founder | CEO @ ABSTRACT Commercial Real Estate LLC. 10 Years of Retail, Restaurant + Mixed-Use Development Advisory. I negotiate NNN Leases, Sales and Investment Sales with winning results
4 年As I always say, it comes down to "How bad do YOU want it?"
Nonprofit Director of Organizational Strategy | DEI Professional | Communication & Resilience Coach | International Keynote & TEDx | PMP | Very Queer Person ??????????
4 年I forgot where I heard it, but love the idea of "Fail fast fail forward". "Failure" is another way of saying "learning there are other ways of doing this"!
Empowering People in Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship, and Business Development
4 年Great share!
I am a high energy go get em kind of personality and rarely will you see me without a smile. I love to work hard and willing to learn any possible skill.
4 年There is a great song lyric from the 90's, a band called Chumbawumba. "I get knocked down, but I get up again. Ain't gonna let no one let me fall." When we stop trying is when we stop succeeding.