History
Kenneth and Jane Laudon identify five eras of MIS evolution corresponding to five phases in the development of computing technology: 1) mainframe and minicomputer computing, 2) personal computers, 3) client/server networks, 4) enterprise computing, and 5) cloud computing.
The first (mainframe and minicomputer) era was ruled by IBM and their mainframe computers; these computers would often take up whole rooms and require teams to run them - IBM supplied the hardware and the software. As technology advanced these computers were able to handle greater capacities and therefore reduce their cost. Smaller, more affordable minicomputers allowed larger businesses to run their own computing centers in-house.
The second (personal computer) era began in 1965 as microprocessors started to compete with mainframes and minicomputers and accelerated the process of decentralizing computing power from large data centers to smaller offices. In the late 1970s minicomputer technology gave way to personal computers and relatively low cost computers were becoming mass market commodities, allowing businesses to provide their employees access to computing power that ten years before would have cost tens of thousands of dollars. This proliferation of computers created a ready market for interconnecting networks and the popularization of the Internet.
As the complexity of the technology increased and the costs decreased, the need to share information within an enterprise also grew, giving rise to the third (client/server) era in which computers on a common network were able to access shared information on a server. This allowed for large amounts of data to be accessed by thousands and even millions of people simultaneously.
The fourth (enterprise) era enabled by high speed networks, tied all aspects of the business enterprise together offering rich information access encompassing the complete management structure.
The fifth and latest (cloud computing) era of information systems employs networking technology to deliver applications as well as data storage independent of the configuration, location or nature of the hardware. This, along with high speed cellphone and wifi networks, led to new levels of mobility in which managers access the MIS remotely with laptops, tablet PC's, and smartphones.
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Famous quotes containing the word history:
“To care for the quarrels of the past, to identify oneself passionately with a cause that became, politically speaking, a losing cause with the birth of the modern world, is to experience a kind of straining against reality, a rebellious nonconformity that, again, is rare in America, where children are instructed in the virtues of the system they live under, as though history had achieved a happy ending in American civics.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)
“Don’t you realize that this is a new empire? Why, folks, there’s never been anything like this since creation. Creation, huh, that took six days, this was done in one. History made in an hour. Why it’s a miracle out of the Old Testament!”
—Howard Estabrook (1884–1978)
“Regarding History as the slaughter-bench at which the happiness of peoples, the wisdom of States, and the virtue of individuals have been victimized—the question involuntarily arises—to what principle, to what final aim these enormous sacrifices have been offered.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)