History of New Media

New Media timeline...

1941

• The Z3 (one of Konrad Zuse’s electromechanical ‘Z machines’ is invented. It was the first working machine featuring binary arithmetic, including floating point arithmetic and a measure of programmability. It is therefore, regarded as one of the first computers.

1944

• The Harvard Mark 1 is invented. It is large scale electromechanical computer with limited programmability.

1946

• The US Army’s Ballistics Research Laboratory ENIAC uses decimal arithmetic and is sometimes called the first general purpose electronic computer

1947

• A forerunner of the video game, the ‘Cathode Ray tube Amusement Device’ was conceived by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann

1951

• Vacuum tube-based computers are sold commercially.

• The Xerox machine is invented.

• Integrated circuit invented enabling the further miniaturization of electronic devices and computers.

1952

• Intermetall unveils the first transistorized portable radio in the Düsseldorf Radio Fair.

1957

• The first artificial satellite (Sputnik 1) is launched by Soviet Union

1958

• Explorer 1 becomes the USA’s first satellite.

1959

• Jack Kilby and Texas instruments received US patent for miniaturized electronic circuits.

• Robert Noyce and the Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation received US patent for a silicon-based integrated circuit.

1961

• First commercially available integrated circuits came from the Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation. All computers then started to be made using chips instead of the individual transistors and their accompanying parts.

1962

• The satellite, Telstar, is launched by NASA

1966

• Xerox invents the Telecopier – the first successful fax machine.

• Jack Kilby invents the portable calculator.

1968

• Ivan Sutherland, with the help of his student Bob Sproull, create what is widely considered to be the first virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) head mounted display (HMD) system.

1969

• APRANET is developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the US Department of Defense. It was the world’s first operational packet switching network.

• The Moon Landing – Apollo 11; Neil Armstrong walks on the moon.

1970

Sony introduces the first videocassette, the three-quarter-inch U-matic one hour tape.

1971

• The computer floppy disc is invented.

• The microphone is invented.

• The micro-processor is invented – considered a computer on a chip.

• ‘Computer Space’, the first commercially sold, coin-operated video game is launched.

• John Blankenbaker builds the first personal computer, the Kenblak 1.  

1972

• HBO (Home Box Office) invents pay-TV service for cable.

• The first video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey, is launched and the video game, Pong is released. Noland Bushnell, its 28 year old inventor, goes on to found Atari.

1973

• Norway and England connect to APRANET, making the first international connection.

• Xerox develops the Ethernet which will become the de facto standard for linking computers, printers and other hardware devices.

• The Desktop computer is introduced by Hewlett-Packard.

1974

• Products with barcodes begin appearing in US stores.

• Scanners at checkout counters are able to read the codes using laser technology.

• Nam June Paik, a twentieth century South Korean born US video artist, claims to have coined the term ‘the information superhighway’, that is, a route or network for the high speed transfer of information.

1975

• Microsoft is founded by Bill Gates.

• First hand-held mobile arrives.

• First major ISP (Internet service provider) CompuServe Asper established.

• Xerox sells SDS to Honeywell and withdraws from computer industry.

1976

• Apple home computer invented.

1977

• Commodore and Tandy begin selling PCs

• North Star and Pertec introduce PCs with five-and-a-half-inch floppy discs.

• Xerox releases the Xerox 9700 Electronic Printing System, the first xerographic laser printer product.

1978

• The video game Space Invaders is released.

• Texas Instruments introduces Speak-and-Spell, an educational toy featuring digital speech synthesis.

• Pioneer develop the LaserDisc that was first used by General Motors to train Cadillac salesman

1979

• First cellular phone communication network started in Japan.

• Sony Walkman invented.

1980

• The number of computers in the USA exceeds one million. Microsoft DOS version 1.0 marketed.

• The originator of the Internet, Tim Berners-Lee, writes the ‘Enquire Within’ program. ‘Enquire’ has some of the same ideas as the web but was not supposed to be released to the general public.

• Intelpost - international electronic fax service established.

• CNN – 24 hours news channel goes on air.

• WordStar – is the first PC word processor.

• Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet first compact discs

1981

• IBM PC first sold.

• First laptop computers sold to public.

• Computer mouse becomes a regular part of computer

• First Nintendo home video game produced.

• Jim Rutt, coins the term ‘snail mail’ to contrast traditional mail with e-mail.

• Microsoft provides software for IBM PC. The company’s first international office is founded.

• NASA introduces, Columbia, a reusable spacecraft.

1982

• Sky Channel (first European satellite television channel) launched.

• Kodak Camera uses film on a disc cassette. Two hundred computers connected to the Internet worldwide.

• Sony’s first compact disc player (CDP-101) introduced.

1983

• Time magazine names the computer as ‘Man of the Year’.

• First cellular phone network started in the USA.

• Number of computers in the USA exceeds ten million.

• Mobile phone network starts in the USA.

• Bruce Bethke’s short story ‘Cyberpunk’ is published.

1984

• Apple Macintosh 1 is released.

• IBM PC AT is released.

• William Gibson coins term ‘cyberspace’ is his novel ‘Neuromancer’.

• The CD Walkman is launched.

• The first PDA (personal digital assistant) – Psion Organiser, the first camcorder and the Apple Macintosh, IBM PC AT are marketed.

• The silicon microchip is developed, storing four times more data than previously possible.

• The Tandy 1000 PC becomes the number 1 selling IBM PC-compatible in its first year.

• A computer hacker and DIY media organization called ‘Cult of the Dead Cow’ (also known as cDc or cDc Communications) publishes the first ‘ezine’ (periodic publication distributed by email or posted on a website).  

1985 

• Cellular telephones in cars become widespread in the USA.

• CD-ROMs arrive in computers.

• Pay-per-view channels open for business in the USA. Twenty per cent of US households have VCRs/

• AOL – American online is founded.

• Symbolics.com becomes the first registered domain and is quickly followed by cmu.edu, purdue.edu, ucl.edu and others.

1986

• Microsoft Windows 1.0 launched.

• Total computers in use in the USA exceed 30 million. 

1987

• The first debit card in the UK is launched.

1988

• The first internet worm (a self replicating computer program) is detected.

• Microsoft introduces its flagship office suite, Microsoft Office.

1990

• The possibility of the World Wide Web is described by Tim Berners-Lee.

• The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) is launched.

• Microsoft introduces Windows 3.0 operating system.   

1991  

• The first online website appears.

• The European Organization for Nuclear Research announces that the World Wide Web will be free to anyone.

• CNN dominates news coverage worldwide during the Gulf War.

• Seventy five per cent US homes reported to own VCRs; 6 per cent have cable television.

• The first webcam is pointed at the Trojan room coffee pot in the computer science department of Cambridge University.

• The Dycam Model 1 B&W digicam is the world’s first completely digital consumer camera.

1992

• US cable television revenue reaches US$ 22 billion. TCI chairman John Malone predicts ‘500 channel universe’.

• First short message service (SMS) to a mobile phone.

1993

• DVD invented by Toshiba.

• V-chip proposed for television content control.

• Mosaic – the first graphical Internet browser is launched.

• Kodak and Apple produce first digital still image camera for consumers.

1994

• US government releases control of the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) is born.

• Justin Hall begins his online journal while a student at Swarthmore College and becomes one of the world’s first ‘bloggers’. Originally called ‘weblog’, this was later shortened simply to ‘blogs’.

• First digital television service – DirecTV in the USA by satellite.

• The Sony PlayStation is launched.

• There are 135 million PCs worldwide.

• The US government privatizes Internet management.

• First advertisement on the World Wide Web for ‘Wired’ magazine.

• Canter and Siegel’s ‘How to make a Fortune on the Information Superhighway’ is published.

• Goldstein’s Copyright’s Highway: ‘The Law & Love of Copyright from Gutenberg to the Celestial Jukebox’ is published.

• Interactive television is introduced in the USA.

1995

• Microsoft releases its first retail version of Microsoft Windows, originally a graphical extension for its MS-DOS operating system.

• Amazon.com is founded and Pirre Omidyar launches an online auction service called Auction Web, which becomes eBay.

• Sony demonstrates flat-screen television set. Iomega markets zip drive.

• RealAudio lets Internet users hear in near real-time.

• DVD manufacturers announce the creation of a new standardized digital video disc (DVD) format, which leads to the mass production of movie DVDs.

• The first cyber cafes open, which serves Internet access and café latte.

• Pixar releases ‘Toy Story’, the first fully computer-generated animated feature film.

• Microsoft introduces the Internet Explorer web browser.

• Nicholas Negroponte’s ‘Being digital’ is published. 

1996

• 399, 629 industrial robots in use in Japan. (70,858 in the USA).

• Total computers in use in the USA exceed 100 million.

• Philips and Sony introduce WebTV boxes that connect television to the Internet. 

• Both @Home and Time Warner announce high-speed, cable-modem ventures in an attempt to meet consumers’ growing demand for higher bandwidth.

1997

• Hotmail introduces its service and becomes one of the first popular web-based email offerings.

• The first mass-produced DAP (digital audio player) is created.

• The first multi-layer video games which might be recognized today as MUDs (Multi-User Dungeon, Domain or Dimension) first appear.

1998

• Hewlett-Packard released first color Palmtop computer

• Panasonic releases first hand-held DVD player.

• Google first incorporated as a privately held company.

• Compaq make the first hard drive based DAP (digital audio player) using a 2.5 laptop drive.

• The on-orbit assembly of the International Space Station (ISS) begins.

1999

• Global Online population reaches 150 million (over 50 million in the USA).

• The social networking website Myspace is created.

• Finland’s mobile phones linked to vending machines.

• First WAP (wireless access point) mobile phone advertisement in Finland.

• Commercial DAB (digital audio broadcasting) receivers began to be sold.

2000

• ‘Great Dot-com crash’. The event was marked by the spectacular failure of a group of new internet-based companies commonly referred to as ‘dot-coms’. The bursting of the ‘dot-com bubble’ marked the beginning of a relatively long recession in the developed world.

2001

• Over 20 million subscribers on DoCoMo’s i-mode network.

• Designed and marketed by Apple, a brand of portable media players called the i-pod is launched.

• Microsoft announces the Xbox, a new video game console.

2004

• The social networking website Facebook is launched.

• The term ‘Web. 2’ gains currency following the first O’Reilly Media web 2.0 conference.

2005

• YouTube, video-sharing website (where users can upload, view and share video clips) is created.   

• Digital cinema projectors capable of 2K resolution are launched.

2006

• The 100 millionth account is created on MySpace.

• Luxemburg is the first country to complete the move to digital broadcasting.

2007

• The blog search engine ‘Technorati’ tracks more than 112 million.

• The annual Forbes magazine’s list of The World’s Billionaires ranks Bill Gates (chairman of Microsoft) as the richest person in the world from 1995 to 2007.