Changes in Technology in the Past Decade
Changes in Technology in the Past Decade
The world has changed a lot in the past 10 years. The rapid development of new technology and the changing landscape of the online world has changed the way we work and, for many, where we do our work from. Here are my top 10 ways how IT technology has changed over the decade.
1. Internet for All – Ten years ago many offices in need of dedicated Internet resources or wide area networks were dependent on expensive leased lines or slightly cheaper ISDN (integrated services digital network) lines. Broadband Internet was not widely available and was often quite restricted by Internet service providers (or ISPs). After a couple of years, however, broadband technology rapidly began to replace dial-up connections and leased lines in the home and office. In the UK, prices began to drop dramatically when Telewest and NTL (both now part of Virgin Media) began offering very affordable broadband connections over the same cables used for cable TV. Shortly after this, BT began allowing competing ISPs to install their own systems in BT’s exchanges, and prices dropped even more. These days almost every office is connected to the Internet via broadband. Most employees now have access to the Internet and email at their desks, and cheap and reliable ADSL connections have made VPNs (virtual private networks) the preferred way of connecting multiple offices and remote workers.
2. Free Phone Calls – Over the past 10 years, these same cheap and fast Internet connections, along with a technology called VOIP (voice over Internet protocol), have emerged to all but destroy the old way in which telephone calls are placed. Using the Internet to make phone calls has become by far the cheapest way to talk to others around the world. Cutting out the middlemen and transmitting voice as far as possible over the Internet before connecting to a regular public switched telephone network connection (or PSTN) means the cost of calling abroad is now almost
The world has changed a lot in the past 10 years. The rapid development of new technology and the changing landscape of the online world has changed the way we work and, for many, where we do our work from. Here are my top 10 ways how IT technology has changed over the decade.
1. Internet for All – Ten years ago many offices in need of dedicated Internet resources or wide area networks were dependent on expensive leased lines or slightly cheaper ISDN (integrated services digital network) lines. Broadband Internet was not widely available and was often quite restricted by Internet service providers (or ISPs). After a couple of years, however, broadband technology rapidly began to replace dial-up connections and leased lines in the home and office. In the UK, prices began to drop dramatically when Telewest and NTL (both now part of Virgin Media) began offering very affordable broadband connections over the same cables used for cable TV. Shortly after this, BT began allowing competing ISPs to install their own systems in BT’s exchanges, and prices dropped even more. These days almost every office is connected to the Internet via broadband. Most employees now have access to the Internet and email at their desks, and cheap and reliable ADSL connections have made VPNs (virtual private networks) the preferred way of connecting multiple offices and remote workers.
2. Free Phone Calls – Over the past 10 years, these same cheap and fast Internet connections, along with a technology called VOIP (voice over Internet protocol), have emerged to all but destroy the old way in which telephone calls are placed. Using the Internet to make phone calls has become by far the cheapest way to talk to others around the world. Cutting out the middlemen and transmitting voice as far as possible over the Internet before connecting to a regular public switched telephone network connection (or PSTN) means the cost of calling abroad is now almost