This month in IT history: Août 2019
The IT used by today's businesses is built uponpast experiments and pivotal moments, such as the first wearable computer, thefirst email sent from space and critical junctures in the histories ofcomputing pioneers Apple, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard: August6, 1997 Apple and Microsoft announce five-year allianceI<!-- wp:image --><figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://assets
The IT used by today's businesses is built uponpast experiments and pivotal moments, such as the first wearable computer, thefirst email sent from space and critical junctures in the histories ofcomputing pioneers Apple, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard:
August6, 1997 Apple and Microsoft announce five-year allianceI
Bill Gates appeared onscreen at the Macworld Expo in Boston as Steve Jobs announced a five-yearalliance between Apple and Microsoft. The rivals would work together in variousways during that period: they cross-licensed patents, and Microsoft pledged todevelop Microsoft Office for Mac. Microsoft also bought $150 million worth ofshares in Apple. Today, the two companies are transformed from 20 years ago, butstill compete and cooperate, with each making hardware, software and services thatwork well together and are essential to modern businesses.
9 août 1931 Alfred Aho is born in Ontario, Canada
Canadian computerscientist Alfred Aho was born in Timmins and studied engineering at theUniversity of Toronto, later joining Bell Labs. Aho's influential research intoalgorithms and compilers has been cited 81 040 times. The textbook he co-authoredwith Jeffrey Ullman, Principles ofCompiler Design, is glimpsed briefly in the 1995 film Hackers.
14 août 1932 Edward Oakley Thorp is born
Mathematician EdwardOakley Thorp invented what's regarded as the first wearable computer, a devicedesigned to beat roulette that he built with MIT professor and cryptographerClaude Shannon. The device was worn around the waist and controlled with thetap of a shoe, with a tone in an earpiece serving as output. Thorp wore it intoLas Vegas casinos, and later described his success in predicting roulette inhis 1966 book Beat the Dealer. Today,wearables are a thriving product category, with a growing list of uses wellbeyond Thorp's single-purpose roulette computer.
August18, 1947 Hewlett-Packard is incorporated
After being foundedin a Palo Alto, Calif., garage in 1939, Hewlett-Packard was incorporated in1947. One of the company's early successes was its precision audio oscillator, whichwas used by Walt Disney Productions to certify surround sound systems installedin theatres for Fantasia. The companywould go on to develop data storage, networking and computer products,eventually splitting into the consumer-focused HP Inc. and enterprise-focusedHewlett-Packard Enterprise in 2015.
28 août 1991 The first email is sent from space
On this day the firstemail was sent from space, from Space Shuttle Atlantis to the Johnson SpaceCenter in Houston. It read: Greetings from the STS-43 Crew. This is the first AppleLink from space.Having a GREAT time, wish you were here,...send cryo and RCS! Hasta la vista,baby,...we'll be back! The Macintosh Portable and AppleLink software used bythe astronauts were modified to make the communication possible.