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The history of computers

As I know it  

This book review in The Economist (September 7th, 2023) reminded me of my own short story, published as a Blog post almost a decade ago now. Maybe I should have written the book myself, I’ve been there for most of the last 60 years of computer history.

It started with the calculator. Do you remember when you first used a digital calculator? Was it a Texas Instruments or the HP-35? Have you ever used a slide rule? I learned from the Economist that calculators and the slide rule go back to Isaac Newton in the 17th Century. Then along came Intel and the digital revolution of the 20th Century.

You can learn more fascinating facts if you buy the book, Empire of the Sum: The Rise and Reign of the Pocket Calculator, by Keith Houston, 384 pages - U.S.$32.50, or you can read my short version of the history of computers as I know it at: https://delvinchatterson.com/history-computers-know/

Or you might want to tell your own version. Are there any significant computer milestones in your history that you’d like to share?

Looking back over the past decades of computer history may help us adjust to the current realities of hypercomputing and artificial intelligence that are dominating all aspects of modern technology, business, economics, culture, and our personal lives. Computer history is not repeating itself so much as it’s rushing ahead in all directions without any certainty of the destination, the unintended consequences, or the ultimate uses for good or evil.

It can be worrisome and we need to be more than passive consumers or observers and keep aware of evolving applications of powerful technologies and the need for them to be developed and used responsibly.

Be better. Do Better. Be an Enlightened Entrepreneur.

Del Chatterson, your Uncle Ralph

Learn more about Enlightened Entrepreneurship at: LearningEntrepreneurship.com

Read more of Uncle Ralph's advice for Entrepreneurs in Don't Do It the Hard Way & The Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide to Business Plans - 2020 Editions.

Read more Blog posts at: LearningEntrepreneurship Blogs. 

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Internet
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The weird WWW continues

Back when we were first introduced, about twenty years ago, it was called the World Wide Web.  Now it would be better described as the Weird Wonderful World that we live in.

It is a continuously and rapidly changing world that affects us all every day.  From the time we wake up to check e-mail and the weather on our smart phones, staying connected all day for work and play, until watching old movies or TV series on Netflix before bed. The internet has become as much a part of the infrastructure we take for granted as traffic lights and coffee shops.

But taking it entirely for granted is not a good idea, since it is a continuously changing infrastructure. Suddenly, the most popular app is not available on your Blackberry and the old accounting software is not compatible with Windows 10.  You’re in danger of going obsolete yourself if you don’t continually replace or upgrade devices and software. Suppliers are constantly developing products and services to win new customers and build attraction to their brand. Marketing gurus find ways to make them irresistible and impossible to ignore.

But the suppliers also live in this challenging world without control over events. In the news again today, we learn that Yahoo continues to search for a strategy that will allow them to survive. Remember them? The original Web portal that asked “Do you Yahoo?”  Now we are all Googling and Facebooking instead of Yahooing. What was once creative and exciting, now seems old-fashioned and obsolete.

Twitter_bird_logoEven more recent successes, the so-called unicorns that grew rapidly from zero to billion dollar valuations, are not guaranteed longevity.  Consider Twitter. Another weird concept launched in 2006 that caught on and has grown to 320 million active users. The company went public just over two years ago before it was even generating any significant revenue. Enthusiastic fans drove the first day share price to $44.00 for a valuation of $31 billion and it rose as high as $69.00 in early 2014.  That little bluebird is now fluttering under $18.00 and management is saying “We have a ton of work to do in crafting the message to the world what Twitter really is and how you can use it” (FP, 18-02-2016).

This weird and wonderful world continues and we still cannot understand or explain it.

Your Uncle Ralph, Del Chatterson

 

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entrepreneurship, Internet, valuation
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Our PSN Breakfast Series on October 15th went well with three speakers on "Entrepreneurial Challenges" including my own presentation on "The Seven Biggest Mistakes that Enrepreneurs Make". (Lots of nodding heads and smiles of recognition from the audience even if no one wanted to admit to having made all seven!)

If you would like to review the PowerPoint slides, including Chris Murray's "Success Strategies for Internet Marketing" and Margot Uson's "Winning the War for Talent", they are available at PSNetwork.ca
Thanks for your interest.
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entrepreneurship, HR, Internet, management, marketing
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If you're here on Friday morning May 18th, I've gone golfing. Happy Birthday to me in case you forgot.

If you found this Blog through my e-newsletter on "E-Business opportunities with Web 2.0" (see www.directtech.ca/ebusiness_2007.htm) then you'll appreciate the beauty of online applications like Campaigner (www.campaigner.com) which sent the newsletter while I was golfing and directed you to the DirectTech Solutions website or the Blog. If you click on the Google ad links I might even make nickel while I'm golfing.

Now that's what I love about the Internet!

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business and golf, Internet, Web 2.0
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If you're here on Friday morning May 18th, I've gone golfing. Happy Birthday to me in case you forgot.

If you found this Blog through my e-newsletter on "E-Business opportunities with Web 2.0" (see www.directtech.ca/ebusiness_2007.htm), then you'll appreciate the beauty of online applications like Campaigner (www.campaigner.com) which sent the newsletter while I was golfing and directed you to the DirectTech Solutions website or the Blog. If you click on the Google ad links I might even make a nickel while I'm golfing.

Now that's what I love about the Internet!

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business and golf, golf, Internet, Web 2.0
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In the early days of e-business consulting most of us doing the e-missionary circuit were preaching the message of "Catch the wave or be drowned by it". Every business was being told to get on the Internet and get rich quick or stand back while the "new economy" took over their industry. Hype and hysteria were used to persuade entrepreneurs and investors to put large amounts of money into their e-business initiatives. They were motivated by either fear or greed.

Then the "old economy" rules hit the dot.com ventures and the bubble burst. Many investments ended badly. Some could be written off as an expensive learning experience. The hype and hysteria died and many businesses decided they could go back to business as usual. They were wrong.

The Internet revolution continues, albeit more quietly. The hype now focuses on Web 2.0 with highly interactive web sites and user generated content. Huge values are being placed on high traffic sites as they are acquired by Google, Microsoft, or the media moguls.

But businesses that are leveraging the Internet to their advantage are those that simply make the best use of Web marketing to attract business and online services to reduce costs and to build strong loyal customer relationships. Those are the e-business opportunities not to be neglected.

Much has changed on the Internet, but neglecting e-business is not an option. Remember fear and greed still apply.

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e-business, Internet, marketing
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