Technology in the 1990s

  • Start of the World Wide Web

    Start of the World Wide Web
    In the late 1990s, Tim Berners-Lee proposed HTML: HyperText Markup Language, which is used as a formatting language for the web. By December of 1990, he had set up the worlds first web server. This led the way for the World Wide Web to become accessible to everyone.
  • First Text Message Sent

    First Text Message Sent
    The first text message was sent by Neil Papworth in 1992. The message had to be sent from a PC because at the time, cell phones did not have computers. The message that was sent was "Merry Christmas". Now days, text messages are one of the most popular forms of communication.
  • DVDs started to be mass produced

    DVDs started to be mass produced
    In 1996, DVDs and DVD players began to be mass produced. DVDs are not credited to any company because many companies were working on developing the technology at the time. However, there was a concern that DVDs would be released in multiple formats meaning they would not be compatible with all players. In the end, the companies involved all agreed on a standard format. DVDs quickly took over VHS's in terms of popularity and are still commonly used today.
  • Netflix was founded

    Netflix was founded
    When Netflix was originally founded, it was a mail order DVD service that would allow customers to order DVDs to rent. The DVDs were mailed to the customers and the customer could mail back when finished. It was revolutionary for the time because people no longer had to leave their house to rent DVDs. Today, Netflix has pivoted their business to the digital era and is still a popular tech company.
  • Google was founded

    Google was founded
    The basis for google was originally created by Larry Page and Sergey Brin as a PhD project. Instead of displaying results sorted by how many times the search term was mentioned on the page, google results were sorted the numbers of pages, the importance of the pages and the number of times they were linked. Google was incorporated on 9/4/1998. Today, google.com is still one of the most popular search engines and Google has become a leader in the tech world.