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Technology

The Evolution of the Software Tech Industry

A historical timeline tracking the rise of software from early algorithmic concepts to global cloud infrastructure and generative AI.

Years

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1843

Ada Lovelace publishes the first computer algorithm for Babbage's Analytical Engine

1843184 years ago

1957

IBM delivers FORTRAN, introducing high-level compiled programming languages

195769 years ago

1964

IBM announces System/360, unbundling standard software systems across hardware models

196462 years ago

1969

Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie develop the Unix operating system at Bell Labs

196957 years ago

1979

VisiCorp releases VisiCalc for Apple II, establishing the commercial COTS business software market

197947 years ago

1981

Microsoft releases MS-DOS 1.0 for the IBM PC platform

198145 years ago

1983

Richard Stallman announces the GNU Project to establish a free open-source Unix equivalent

198343 years ago

1991

Linus Torvalds publicly announces the open-source Linux kernel project

199135 years ago

1995

Sun Microsystems releases Java, enabling cross-platform enterprise software development

199531 years ago

1999

Salesforce is founded, launching commercial Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

199928 years ago

2006

Amazon Web Services debuts S3 and EC2, establishing cloud software infrastructure

200620 years ago

2008

Apple launches the iOS App Store, inaugurating the mobile application economy

200818 years ago

2022

OpenAI launches ChatGPT, sparking widespread deployment of generative AI software

20224 years ago

Today

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