The beginning of Xor Systems 30-05-2023
Xor Systems is celebrating 25 years. To commemorate this achievement, we have been looking back at the history of technology over our company's lifespan. In this article, we will focus on the cutting-edge, the mundane and the nonexistent technology in the year that our company was founded, 1998.
In 1998, the world was rapidly changing, as the internet began to transform society, and globalisation continued to accelerate. The dot-com bubble was in full swing, with tech companies such as Amazon, Google, and eBay disrupting traditional business models. The world was still recovering from the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, with many countries transitioning to market-based economies. The United States was the world's dominant superpower, enjoying a period of relative prosperity and peace. However, there were also significant challenges, such as the ongoing conflicts in the Balkans, the emergence of new terrorist threats, and the growing awareness of the millennium bug. The past played a significant role in laying the stage for the tech landscape of the time, as the development of computing technology and the internet had been building for decades. Additionally, the economic liberalisation of the 1980s and 1990s paved the way for the rise of tech entrepreneurship and the emergence of new business models.
The tech landscape in 1998 was vastly different from what we know today. MP3 players were all the rage, and while the iPod had yet to be invented, this was the year that the first portable MP3 player, the Diamond Rio, hit the market. In the absence of streaming services like Spotify, people were building their music collections by ripping CDs to their computers and then transferring them to their MP3 players. There were no smartphones as we know them today, and the Nokia 6120 was the phone of choice for most people. The concept of a touchscreen phone with access to the internet and a suite of apps was still years away.
In the entertainment world, Blockbuster provided videos for hire, and there was no such thing as Netflix. People would visit their local video rental store to browse the latest releases and rent a movie for the weekend. This was also the year that Furbies were released, becoming one of the most popular toys of the late 90s. These furry creatures could communicate with their owners in their own language and had a reputation for being both adorable and unsettling.
The tech industry was also seeing some significant developments. Google was founded in 1998, although it would take a few more years for the search engine to become a household name. The first Apple iMac was released, with its colourful and playful design making it stand out from the beige boxes that dominated the PC market. American Airlines became the first airline to offer electronic ticketing in all 44 countries it served, paving the way for the widespread adoption of e-tickets.
In the world of culture, the second book of the Harry Potter series was released, cementing the young wizard's place in popular culture. Meanwhile, the film industry was dominated by Titanic, which won multiple Oscars and went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time. In the scientific realm, 1998 marked the beginning of the assembly of the International Space Station (ISS), which would become a symbol of international cooperation and technological achievement.
Overall, 1998 was a pivotal year in the tech industry, with several innovations and trends shaping the future of how we consume media, communicate, and interact with technology. While we have come a long way since then, it is interesting to look back and see how far we have come in such a short period of time.