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Creation
1979–1991: Development of the World Wide Web -
Apple III
Apple III was launched in 1980 as a business focused personal computer. The product attempted to succeed Apple II but failed due to the poor quality of its hardware and software. On top of that, the price was more than $4000 despite lacking beefy specs. Though Apple II was very popular, Apple tried to make users upgrade into Apple III by force. Users drew back and Apple III disappeared in 1984. -
Apple Lisa
Apple Lisa was sold for around $10,000 in 1983 as a personal computer for business use. Sales failed because it was too expensive and lacked speed. Apple destroyed 2700 Lisa computers and made a landfill to obtain a tax deduction from unsold products. Lisa computers were taken off the shelves and the Lisa line was finally discontinued in 1985. It was replaced by the Macintosh computer. -
Jerusalem
Toward the end of 1987, the Jerusalem virus began spreading. The virus was much more destructive than the Stoned virus, infecting both .exe and .com files (different kinds of applications). -
The Morris Worm
November 1988 saw what is widely regarded as the first worm — a self-contained program that spreads without human intervention — to infect public networks. At the time, it was estimated to have infected about 10 percent of all computers connected to the nascent Internet. -
Growth
1992–1995: Growth of the WWW -
Comercialization
1996–1998: Commercialization of the WWW -
Dot
1999–2001: "Dot-com" boom and bust -
Windows Me
Poor old Windows Millennium Edition, caught between two stools. The launch of Windows Me seemed curious at the time – it hit shops about eight months after Windows 2000 (the operating system that millions of Windows 98 users rushed to upgrade to) and barely had time to find its feet before Windows XP went on sale in 2001. The operating system failed to set the world alight – many users criticised it for being unstable and unreliable, frequently freezing and crashing, while a problem -
Code Red
In 2001, anti-virus researchers were frustrated by a new worm dubbed Code Red, after the hyper-caffeinated flavor of Mountain Dew soda its finders were drinking when they discovered it.
Code Red attacked Microsoft servers and during the summer of 2001 infected more than 350,000 computers. It proved tricky to eradicate because it was able to re-infect cleaned systems, causing overload and denial-of-service problems for sites around the world. -
Internet Explorer 6
For millions of computer users, Internet Explorer 6 was their gateway to the web. The browser, released in 2001, was easy to use, and had some nifty new features. Unfortunately, it also had some serious security flaws, so much so that in 2004, the United States advised computer users to use any other browser in order to avoid the thousands of Trojans, viruses and malware programs being written for the platform. Until relatively recently, IE6 remained the world's most-used web browser, thanks in -
Web 2.0
2002–present: The Web becomes ubiquitous -
Love
Social engineering — tricking a person to open a file or reveal information — came into its own in May 2000 with the ILOVEYOU virus.
Like Melissa, it also used email and appeared to come from someone known to the recipient. But in reality, the attached script deleted multimedia and personal files, changed the Internet Explorer start page and unleashed a torrent of junk mail.
The Love Bug is still considered to be one of the most destructive viruses ever. -
Apple TV
Apple TV was launched in 2006 as a set-top box without a TV tuner or a personal video recorder. Users needed to connect it with their computers to enable these features. The Front Row interface did not have some of the functionality of iTunes such as rating items, synchronizing from more than one computer, full internet radio support and games. It also did not have a CD or DVD drive. Most importantly, it did not allow users to connect to popular video services such as Hulu and Last.fm. -
Windows Vista
Launched in January 2007, Windows Vista was to be the computer operating system for the internet generation. It was designed to make it easier to share media and files between computers at home, featured a swizzy new graphical user interface and desktop "widgets" for at-a-glance weather updates and news headlines, and improved security and stability. For many early adopters, though, Windows Vista was nothing but a headache. Many users found that their printers, digital cameras and MP3 players di
