How the 1990s Formed the Landscape of Modern Technology

Technology In 1990, Two things in life remain certain: death and clapping your hands like a maniac when the F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Yeah, no one told us life was going to be this way, but damn, we had a good time in the ’90s. Between MTV, the Internet, and global T.V. stations, the pop culture we love spreads like absolute wildfire. Whether you enjoyed Nirvana, collected beanie baby, or listened to Dr. Dre on your boombox, you knew you weren’t alone in your choices.

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Since the Internet Remains the Initiator of this Multiculturalism, let’s Start our 90s Tech Assembly there!

1990 – The World Wide Web remains born (for real this time)

Before the 1990s, many people had tried unsuccessfully to create a ‘World Wide Web. Whether they failed due to security gaps, limited funding, or complexity, the bottom line was that it would take a genius to make it work. Suitable object Tim Berners-Lee was on the case.

What Made his Effort Different?

Berners-Lee had already designed a prototype system called INQUIRE for CERN (yes, the Large Hadron Collider guys!). INQUIRE already worked like the Internet but for CERN’s internal network of 10,000 computers. However, working on a private network remains easy, so Berners-Lee needed one more ingredient to make his system global.

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Long Story Short,

that ingredient was HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocols) which he created in just three months. With that in hand, Tim Berners-Lee had all he needed to formally launch the world’s first truly global and accessible network.

The next time you open your 20th web tab, like his aunt’s Facebook post, or access a Betty Blocks cloud app, give Tim Berners-Lee a little thanks. A particular piece of software in the 90s may not have been born on the Internet, but it thrived on it.

1991 – Linux Released

There are two things a successful operating system needs in the 9090sa excellent user experience and a lovable mascot. The Linux operating system, created by Linus Torvalds, perfected both by taking a different approach to what the competition was doing. How? By ditching the pesky Clippie for his pet penguin Tux and by going open source.

We’re all too Acquainted with Open-source Software in 2020,

but back then, it was an incredibly bold move. The Linux kernel was the piece a user downloaded, akin to a blank canvas with just enough code to get started. From there, users could program anything they wanted into their operating system.

Sounds Faultless for Experienced Coders, But What About the Average Joe?

The newly created Internet enabled online Linux communities to publish fully coded module libraries. If you knew anywhere to look, even a novice could join these groups to help completely customize your home computer.

The newly created Internet enabled online Linux communities to publish fully coded module libraries. If you knew anywhere to look, even a novice could join these groups to help completely customize your home computer.

Alright, that’s countless, but what does Linux do for us today? Ahem:

  • 85% of all smartphones use Linux
  • 100% of supercomputers run on Linux
  • The CGI of Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Shrek, and Titanic remained made with Linux
  • 90% of all cloud infrastructure remains based on Linux

He killed Clippie

It’s an odd comparison, but Linux proved that the D.I.Y. culture created by C.D.s and personal media was the way to go. The more people tried cool and innovative things with Linux, the faster the community grew. That community effort remains the driving force behind Microsoft and Betty Blocks’ mission to continue to democratize app development.

Still, a Linux-based cloud alone won’t get us there. We need power, dispensation power, and lots of it!

Conclusion

Things started to resemble today’s world in the 1990s: People were using cell phones and had computers in their homes. People were exposed to sleek new digital products that foreshadowed many of the gadgets we use today. In 1996, the world said goodbye to VHS and adopted a new technology for watching videos — the DVD.

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