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1930-1957:
Machine Accounting Era:
increased government tax regulations required
documentation of financial transactions; explosive demand for
calculating devices; organizations hired more administrators,
analysts, and accountants.
1957-1963:
Mechanization Cycle:
growth in demand for data-processing devices,
stored-program computers; corporations created datacenters at
corporate headquarters to handle large amounts of detailed data
from local operations; control over mechanization of financial
records expanded power of financial executives over production
and marketing, especially as means to reduce costs; tabulating
installations became data-processing departments (under
supervision of data-processing manager).
1963-1969:
Datacenter Cycle:
central mainframes and finance-department dominance;
demand for computers expanded faster than
manufacturing capacity that produced them; mainframe
technology took hold; IBM formed relationships with financial
executives - maintained price protection umbrella over all
equipment costs (negotiation of delivery schedules and technical
support, not costs or budgets); expenses for information
technologies did not require much justification, especially as
data-processing function remained under office of chief
financial officer; Burroughs, Digital Equipment Corporation,
Honeywell-Bull, IBM, National Cash Register, UNIVAC dominated.
1969-1975:
Time-Sharing Cycle:
computing and telecommunication integration
became necessary; breakdown of one-time monopolies into
service-oriented units; organizational conflict as
operating departments (production, engineering,
marketing) realized possession of information was synonymous
with organizational power; nonfinancial organizations offered
access to centralized computing through time-sharing of
mainframe computers over slow telephone circuits; concept of
outsourcing information services took hold for first time (in
response to costly, nonresponsive services); use of small-scale
computers offered on-line access to computing power through
high-speed terminals over local cabling (avoided dependency on
expensive telephone circuits); lifecycle support costs of
information processing much larger than acquisition cost of
computers (local sites acquired own staff, consultants,
suppliers); budgets grew, equipment purchases increased, few
directors of data processing promoted to vice presidents of
information systems.
1975-1981:
Minicomputer Cycle:
purchasing power of computing and information
services shifted to consumers of computing (cost of goods);
experimental and interactive
improvisations became more important than formality of
systems-development methodologies (faster completion schedules);
areas of local expertise acted as catalyst for expanding
demands for computing; computing capacity grew; initiated shift
from disciplined mainframe computing to improvised computing
(people could afford to purchase their own equipment); computing
prices dropped rapidly, competition became more intense, costs
of information processing shifted from central processing unit
(little competition) to computer peripherals and software;
increasingly difficult to account for computer spending;
computing became cost of goods sold item; computer technologies
served rising information-processing needs of local managers,
professional employees (no longer means to control individuals,
their work); employees wanted instant
availability, personal ownership of computing resources.
1981-1988:
Microcomputer Cycle:
computing independence, local processing
capacity; shift from dominance of computer experts to
defensive, job-protection efforts of office workers; transition
from people's acquiring computer expertise to computer
software's matching better with capabilities of people;
psychological effectiveness versus engineering
efficiency; former dominant companies
suffered enormous financial
losses, dismissed large share of work force;
engineering ideology versus understanding of
socioeconomic change - demise of Digital Equipment; enormous
expansion in access to calculating power; increased spending on
personal computers improved productivity, did not clearly
contribute to profit; principal corporate computer executives
given title of chief information officer.
1988-1995:
Client/Server Investment Cycle:
reaction against unmanageable proliferation of
stand-alone computers (vs. need to replace expensive mainframe
computing with more distributed computing architecture);
response to microcomputer uprisings against central computer
establishment; more expensive, less reliable; supporters wanted
latest technologies for all new applications (quicken pace of
obsolescence after initial installation, inflated costs of
upgrades as technological life of equipment and software
shrank); improved response times to inquiries; sped
development of local adaptations, modifications, enhancements of
standard applications (readily available at a low cost from
off-the-shelf software packages); great deal of local
experimentation led to innovative computer solutions; customers
demanded instant network feedback, application flexibility,
superior network performance, rapid database access times,
instant response to keystrokes (used with stand-alone desktop
machines); led to higher prices for technology, support
services, training.
1995-Present:
Web and
Intranet-Based Computing: balance between
efficiency and protection of constitutional rights;
efficiency and simplicity vs. privacy; computer-perfected
monitoring of people; convenience and profitability (elimination
of cash in favor of electronically monitored transactions)
vs. intrusions on privacy and defenselessness from
financial penalties.
(Allied-Signal Inc.), James D. Best (1997).
The Digital Organization: AlliedSignal's Success with Business
Technology. (New York, NY: Wiley, 234 p.). Former Vice
President, Computing and Network Operations (AlliedSignal).
Allied-Signal Inc.--Management; High technology
industries--United States--Management--Case studies;
International business enterprises--United
States--Management--Case studies; Management information
systems--Case studies.
(Cap Gemini Sogeti), Tristan Gaston-Breton;
preface, Valery Giscard d’Estaing (1999). La Saga Cap Gemini:
L’Incroyable Histoire de l’une des Plus Belles Success Stories
Francaises de L'Informatique. (Paris, FR: Point de Mire, 165
p.). Cap Gemini Sogeti (Firm); Computer service
industry--France.
(HCL Technologies), Vineet Nayar (20!0).
Employees First, Customers Second: Turning Conventional
Management Upside Down. (Boston, MA: Harvard Business
Press, 198 p.). CEO, HCL Technologies. Management -- Employee
participation; Corporate culture; Organizational change;
Customer relations; HCL Technologies -- Management -- Case
studies. Revolution at HCL Technologies; defied conventional wisdom,
turned hierarchical pyramid upside down, made management
accountable to employees (not other way around); fired
imagination of employees, customers; made HCLT one of
fastest-growing, profitable global IT services companies, one of
20 most influential companies in world; how he, his team
implemented employee first philosophy.
(Mitre Corporation), Davis Dyer, Michael Aaron
Dennis (1998).
Architects of Information Advantage: The Mitre Corporation Since
1958. (Montgomery, AL: Community Communications, p.).
Mitre Corporation--Case studies; Information technology--United
States; Command and control systems--United States;
Administrative agencies--United States--Data processing; United
States--Defenses--Data processing.
(World Wildlife Fund), Gregory S. Smith
(2006).
Straight to the Top: Becoming a World-Class CIO.
(Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 240 p.). Vice President, CIO of IT at the
World Wildlife Fund in Washington, DC. Chief information
officers--Vocational guidance; Information
technology--Management--Vocational guidance; Information
resources management--Vocational guidance. View, from executive recruiter's
perspective, of traits top search firms look for in CIO
candidates.
Bruce Abramson (2005).
Digital Phoenix: Why the Information Economy Collapsed and How
It Will Rise Again. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 361 p.).
Consultant, Lawyer with Focus on Issues Related to the Digital
Economy. Information technology--Economic aspects;
Internet--Economic aspects.
James R. Beniger (1986).
The Control Revolution: Technological and Economic Origins of
the Information Society. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 493 p.). Associate Professor at the Annenberg
School of Communications (USC). Communication--Social
aspects--United States; Information technology--Social
aspects--United States; Information society; Computers and
civilization. Origin of
Information Society - major economic, business crises of
past century: 1) steam power, 2) Industrial Revolution, 3) data
processing, 4) microprocessing.
Richard D. Brown (1989).
Knowledge Is Power: The Diffusion of Information in Early
America, 1700-1865. (New York, NY: Oxford University
Press, 372 p.). Professor of History (University of
Connecticut). Communication--United States--History; United
States--Civilization--To 1783; United
States--Civilization--1783-1865.
Erik Brynjolfsson and Adam
Saunders (2009).
Wired for Innovation: How Information Technology is Reshaping
the Economy. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 128 p.).
Schussel Family Professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management,
Director of the MIT Center for Digital Business; PhD. candidate
in the Information Technologies Group (MIT).
How, since 1995,
information technology created, directly or indirectly, lion's
share of nation's productivity surge, reversed decades of slow
growth; delayed effects of massive investments in business
processes accompanying large technology investments since late
1990s; companies with highest level of returns to technology
investment bought technology, invested in organizational capital
to become digital organizations; real sources of value in
emerging information economy; how to better measure value of
technology in economy.
Nicholas G. Carr (2004).
Does IT Matter?: Information Technology and the Corrosion of
Competitive Advantage. (Boston, MA: Harvard Business
School Press, 208 p.). Information technology; Technological
innovations.
--- (2008).
The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google.
(New York, NY: Norton, 224 p.). Former Executive Editor (Harvard
Business Review). Computers and civilization; Information
technology--Social aspects; Technological innovations; Internet.
History, economics,
technology - why computing is changing, turning into a
utility, just as privately generated steam power turned into
public electric utilities 100 years ago; what cheap computing
means for society.
Eds. Alfred D. Chandler, Jr., James W. Cortada
(2000).
A Nation Transformed by Information: How Information Has Shaped
the United States from Colonial Times to the Present.
(New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 380 p.). Information
technology--United States--History.
Claudio Ciborra; with a foreword by Kristen
Nygaard (2002).
The Labyrinths of Information: Challenging the Wisdom of Systems.
(New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 195 p.). Information
technology; Technological innovations; Organizational change.
Compiled by James W. Cortada (1983).
An Annotated Bibliography on the History of Data Processing.
(Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 215 p.).
Computers--History--Bibliography; Electronic data
processing--History--Bibliography.
James W. Cortada (1996).
Information Technology as Business History: Issues in the
History and Management of Computers. (Westport, CT:
Greenwood Press, 263 p.). Director of CSL Programs and Support
for IBM Global Services. Business--Data processing--History;
Information technology--Management--History; Electronic data
processing--History.
--- (2002).
Making the Information Society: Experience, Consequences, and
Possibilities. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall,
469 p.). Director of CSL Programs and Support for IBM Global
Services and Chairman of the Charles Babbage Foundation at the
University of Minnesota. Information society--United States;
Information technology--Economic aspects--United States;
Information technology--Social aspects--United States.
Stan Davis, Christopher Meyer (1998).
Blur: The Speed of Change in the Connected Economy.
(Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 265 p.). Information
technology--Economic aspects; Telecommunication--Technological
innovations; Technology and civilization.
Larry Downes, Chunka Mui ; [foreword by
Nicholas Negroponte] (2000).
Unleashing the Killer App: Digital Strategies for Market
Dominance. (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press,
243 p.). Information technology--United States--Management;
Digital communications--United States--Management;
Organizational change--United States.
Matthew P. Drennan (2002).
The Information Economy and American Cities. (
Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 153 p.).
Information technology--Economic aspects--United States;
Metropolitan areas--United States; Urban economics; United
States--Economic conditions--1981-2001; United States--Economic
conditions--1971-1981; United States--Economic
conditions--1961-1971.
Johannes Cornelis Maria van den Ende (1994).
The Turn of the Tide: Computerization in Dutch Society,
1900-1965. (Delft, Netherlands: Delft University Press,
267 p.). Automation--Economic aspects--Netherlands;
Automation--Social aspects--Netherlands.
Philip Evans, Thomas S. Wurster (2000).
Blown to Bits: How the New Economics of Information Transforms
Strategy. (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press,
261 p.). Information technology; Knowledge management; Strategic
planning.
Chris Freeman and Francisco Louçã (2001).
As Time Goes By: From the Industrial Revolutions to the
Information Revolution. (New York, NY: Oxford University
Press, 407 p.). Long waves (Economics)--History; Information
technology--History; Industrial revolution.
James Gleick (2011).
The Information A History, a Theory, a Flood. (New
York, NY: Pantheon Books: Pantheon Books, 544 p.). Information
science --History; Information society. How information has
become modern era’s defining quality; from invention of scripts
and alphabets to long-misunderstood talking drums of Africa -
information technologies that changed nature of human
consciousness; key figures who contributed to modern
understanding of information.
Daniel R. Headrick (2000).
When Information Came of Age: Technologies of Knowledge in the
Age of Reason and Revolution, 1700-1850. (New York, NY:
Oxford University Press, 246 p.). Professor of Social Science
and History (Roosevelt University). Learning and
scholarship--Europe--History--18th century; Learning and
scholarship--Europe--History--19th century; Information
resources--Europe--History--18th century; Information
resources--Europe--History--19th century; Enlightenment;
Europe--Intellectual life--18th century; Europe--Intellectual
life--19th century.
Information Age is step in long cultural process with conceptual
roots in profound changes that occurred during the Age of Reason
and Revolution.
Erik Keller (2004).
Technology Paradise Lost: Why Companies Will Spend Less To Get
More from Information Technology. (Greenwich, CT:
Manning Publications, 260 p.). Former Research Fellow (Gartner
Group). Information technology--Finance. New IT-think.
Steven Johnson (1997).
Interface Culture: How New Technology Transforms the Way We
Create and Communicate. (San Francisco, CA: HarperEdge,
264 p.). Editor, Online Magazine (Feed). Information
technology--Social aspects; Information society; Communication
and culture.
--- (2001).
Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and
Software. (New York, NY: Scribner, 288 p.). Editor,
Online Magazine (Feed). Self-organizing systems; Swarm
intelligence; Systems engineering.
Dean Lane (2004).
CIO Wisdom: Best Practices from Silicon Valley's Leading IT
Experts. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall PTR, 412
p.). Senior Director Information Technology (Symantec
Corporation). Information technology--Management; Information
resources management--Miscellanea; Management information
systems--Miscellanea.
Richard A. Lanham (2006).
The Economics of Attention: Style and Substance in the Age of
Information. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press,
326 p.). Professor Emeritus of English (University of
California, Los Angeles). Information society--Economic aspects;
Economics--Sociological aspects; Information technology--Social
aspects.
Move from economy
of things, objects to an economy of attention, grounded in
humanities and liberal arts.
Paul Levinson (1997).
The Soft Edge: A Natural History and Future of the Information
Revolution. (New York, NY: Routledge, 257 p.).
Information technology--History; Information
technology--Forecasting.
Steven Lubar (1993).
InfoCulture: The Smithsonian Book of Information Age Inventions.
(Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 408 p.). National Museum of
American History (U.S.)--Exhibitions; Information
technology--History.
James L. McKenney with Duncan C. [i.e. G.]
Copeland, Richard O. Mason (1995).
Waves of Change: Business Evolution Through Information
Technology. (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press,
230 p.). Information technology--United
States--Management--History; Business enterprises--United
States--Automation--History; Organizational change--United
States--History.
Jeff Papows (1998).
Enterprise.com: Market Leadership in the Information Age.
(Reading, MA: Perseus Books, 240 p.). Head of Lotus Software
Unit of IBM. Information technology--Economic aspects;
Industrial management--Data processing; Information
technology--Social aspects; World Wide Web; Information society.
Harvey L. Poppel, Bernard Goldstein; with
foreword by John Sculley (1987).
Information Technology: The Trillion-Dollar Opportunity.
(New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 207 p.). Computer industry;
Telecommunication equipment industry; Market surveys;
Information technology.
William V. Rapp (2002).
Information Technology Strategies: How Leading Firms Use IT To
Gain an Advantage. (New York, NY: Oxford University
Press, 303 p.). Information technology--Management;
Business--Data processing; Strategic planning; Information
technology--Management--Case studies; Business--Data
processing--Case studies; Strategic planning--Case studies.
Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, David Robertson
(2006).
Enterprise Architecture as Strategy: Creating a Foundation for
Business Execution. (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School
Press,, 288 p.). Industrial management--Automation; Information
technology--Management; Strategic planning.
Enterprise architecture may matter far more than
strategy.
Carl Shapiro, Hal R. Varian (1999).
Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy.
(Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 352 p.). Information
technology--Economic aspects; Information society.
Charlotte S. Stephens (1995).
The Nature of Information Technology Managerial Work: The Work
Life of Five Chief Information Officers. (Westport, CT:
Quorum Books, 221 p.). Information technology--Management--Case
studies; Chief information officers--United States--Case
studies.
Paul A. Strassmann (1997).
The Squandered Computer: Evaluating the Business Alignment of
Information Technologies. (New Canaan, CT :
Information Economics Press, 426 p.). Information technology
--Management; Information technology --Economic aspects;
Business --Data processing --Economic aspects; Electronic data
processing departments --Contracting out; Computers --Economic
aspects.
George Westerman, Richard Hunter (2007).
IT Risk: Turning Business Threats into Competitive Advantage.
(Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 221 p.). Research
Scientist in the Center for Information Systems Research (MIT
Sloan School of Management); Group Vice President and Gartner
Fellow (Gartner Executive Programs). Information
technology--Management; Management information systems; Risk
management; Information technology--Security measures.
New model for integrated risk
management; three core areas to develop to eliminate problems
that silo strategies create.
Walter B. Wriston (1992).
The Twilight of Sovereignty: How the Information Revolution Is
Transforming Our World. (New York, NY: Scribner, 192
p.). Information technology.
Tim Wu (2010).
The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empire.
(New York, NY: Knopf, 336 p.). Professor of Copyright and
Communications (Columbia Law School). Telecommunication
--History; Information technology --History.
Long patterns of
media centralization, decentralization; secret history of
industrial wars behind rise, fall of 20th century’s great
information empires; could
history repeat, could one giant entity take control of
American information?; each major new medium (telephone to
cable) arrived on similar wave of idealistic optimism,
consolidated, profoundly affected how Americans communicated; every free,
open technology became centralized, closed, as huge
corporate power took control of "master switch"; similar
struggle looms over Internet, other
media; who gets heard.
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LINKS
IT Conversations
http://www.itconversations.com
Podcasts from some of the most interesting thinkers in IT,
including Wozniak, Kahle, Lessig, Shirky, and many more. Has
both audio and text search capability.
IT History
Society
http://www.ithistory.org
April 28, 1978 - Founded as the Charles Babbage Foundation (to
support the work of the Charles Babbage Institute established in
1978 by over two dozen senior executives from the information
processing industry, distinguished computer scientists, and
historians as a historical research and archive center focused
on the history of computing and information technology); 2002 -
broadened mission to support the entire IT history community;
2007 - changed its name and reworked its programs to better
support the IT history community; mission - to enhance and
expand works concerning the history of Information Technology
and to demonstrate the value of IT history to the understanding
and improvement of our present and future world.
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