James Cervo

Wiki Entry #1: Analog Computers

What exactly is an analog computer? According to Coward, An analog computer is a computing device that has two unique characteristics: 1. An analog computer performs operations in an actual parallel-like manner. Which means an analog computer possesses the ability to perform multiple calculations all at the same time. (Coward) 2. And operates using continuous variables. Meaning it uses numbers that that change not in steps, but change in a smooth continuous manner. (Coward)

According to Lister (2010) “The term analog does not specifically relate to how the computer is powered and it is possible to have electronic analog computers. The characteristics of an analog computer mean it can be better than a digital computer at particular tasks.”

In the history of analog computation, the oldest known example of the technique is the geometrical scaling generally used in mechanical drawing. When logarithms were first introduced they brought forth the need for the first analog computer machine needed for multiplication. Parallel with current developments of the time period, other forms of analog computers were developed, including the abacus digital-type computer. (Bryant, 1960)

Analog computer systems have the ability to work both mechanically and electronically. Lister stated, “Mechanical analog computers have existed for thousands of years, with the oldest known example being the Antikythera. This is a Greek machine, thought to have been made around 100 BC, designed for calculating astronomical positions.”

Although analog computers could be used in algebraic equations and partial differential equations, they were more often used for solving ordinary differential equations. Also, analog computers were used as curve-fitting devices. (Bryant, 1960)

When it comes to solving complex non-linear equations, analog computers are perfectly suited for this task. According the website http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ASC/ANALOG_COMPU.html, “Analog computers are especially suited for the solution of complex non-linear equations and for the simulation of multi-dimensional, parallel and continuous processes. There is no restriction on the physical processes analog computers may utilize. Most common media are fluids and gases, which can be made to vary in numerous dimensions. Compared with digital computers, the programming of analog computers is time consuming and limited in scope. “

Answers Encyclopedia (2010) stated the following:

An analog computer represents data as physical quantities and operates on the data by manipulating the quantities. It is designed to process data in which the variable quantities vary continuously (see analog circuit ); it translates the relationships between the variables of a problem into analogous relationships between electrical quantities, such as current and voltage, and solves the original problem by solving the equivalent problem, or analog, that is set up in its electrical circuits. Because of this feature, analog computers were especially useful in the simulation and evaluation of dynamic situations, such as the flight of a space capsule or the changing weather patterns over a certain area. The key component of the analog computer is the operational amplifier, and the computer's capacity is determined by the number of amplifiers it contains (often over 100). Although analog computers are commonly found in such forms as speedometers and watt-hour meters, they largely have been made obsolete for general-purpose mathematical computations and data storage by digital computers.

References:

Analog Computer (n.d.). Retrieved May 30, 2010, from http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ASC/ANALOG_COMPU.html

Bryant, L. T., Just, L. C., Pawlicki, G. S. (1960). Introduction to Electronic Analogue Computing, 9. Retrieved May 30, 2010, from http://dcoward.best.vwh.net/analog/argonne.pdf

Coward, Doug. Analog Computer Museum and History Center. (n.d.), Retrieved May 30, 2010, from http://dcoward.best.vwh.net/analog/

Lister, John (2010). What is an Analog Computer? Retrieved May 30, 2010, from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-analog-computer.htm

What is an Analog Computer? (2010) In Answers Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 30, 2010, from http://answers.encyclopedia.com/question/analog-computer-134777.html

Wiki Entry #2: Apple Lisa

The Apple Lisa, released in 1983, was the first computer released from Apple since completion of the Apple II product lifecycle. The Apple Lisa is sometimes overlooked as the cheaper and less powerful Macintosh, even though the Apple Lisa introduced many innovations; many of which took great time to be included in other operating systems.

The Apple Lisa was developed after the chairman of Apple Computer at that time, Steve Jobs, decided it was time for the company to launch a graphical user interface computer. Launching a graphical user interface would prove to be revolutionary and significant for the world of computing.

The Apple Lisa, or simply Lisa, a codename which the computer is commonly referred to by, was supposedly named after Steve Jobs’ oldest daughter, Lisa. Apple officially declares that Lisa stands for “Local Integrated Software Architecture”, while others believe the latter.

The Apple Lisa project was very slow to start and passed through multiple revamps over many years before the plan was set into action. As the Apple Lisa was developed, the design features went through many changes. Steve Jobs demanded constant refinement of the Apple Lisa project, which would substantially drive up the price. The Apple Lisa project was projected to cost over $50 million and was the end result of nearly 200 person-years of research.

When the Apple Lisa was released, it had an extremely high retail price: $9,999.99 USD. The retail price of the Apple Lisa was reduced by nearly half when the Apple Lisa 2 was released. The Apple Lisa appeared to have a high ticket price, but if the prices of the components are broken down and analyzed the consumer was getting quite the bargain. In 1985 memory was $4.00 USD for one kilobyte, which equated to $4,000.00 USD for one meg of memory. The 10 meg external hard drive was valued at $1,000.00 USD (or more). The Apple Lisa was actually under priced.

The first Apple Lisa system was outfitted with dual 5.25 inch floppy drives, 1 meg of RAM, and a relatively large (size-wise) 10 meg external hard drive. Later versions of the Apple Lisa had an internal 5 meg hard drive, reduced memory to 512 KB, and only had one floppy drive. The Apple Lisa lacked the ROM toolbox that was built into every Macintosh up until that point, so the Apple Lisa had to do Macintosh emulation through MacWorks, a new operating system at that time. The Apple Lisa office system was the first truly preemptive multitasking operating system ever developed, a page white screen, and the ability to copy and paste things when working on multiple programs.

It is believed that because of extremely high consumer price point for the Apple Lisa the system was a flop. Also, the competition of the Apple Lisa with the Macintosh definitely had a detrimental effect on Apple financially. The Apple Lisa remains to be one of Apples biggest financial flops; even though it was a very innovative system.

The Apple Lisa eventually lost its original name and was renamed to “Macintosh XL”. The rom and display on the Apple Lisa were modified in order to use the Macintosh operating system. The Macintosh XL was seen as a development system for the Macintosh. The Macintosh XL systems were sold until they became obsolete in 1986 when the new “true” Macintosh systems were announced and launched.

Owad, Tom (2004). Apple Lisa. Retrieved on June 11, 2010, from http://www.applefritter.com/node/3191

Retrieved on June 11, 2010, from http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/reach/435/lisa.htm

Retrieved on June 11, 2010, from http://fp3.antelecom.net/gcifu/applemuseum/lisa2.html

Retrieved on June 11, 2010, from http://oldcomputermuseum.com/apple_lisa.html

Wiki Entry #3: Mosaic

Mosaic was the first graphical user interface Internet web browser designed for the general computer user and also the first multi-platform Internet web broswer. Mosaic is credited as being the leading pioneer in the web browsing as it was the first user-friendly Internet web browser to allow users to easily navigate through information displayed on the internet. This browser is slated as being responsible for the overwhelming success of the World Wide Web and is the basis for many other popular browsers. (Wilson) In the month of November in 1993, Mosaic v 1.0 was released to Internet users as a free download from it’s. Nearly 5,000 copies were being downloaded each month. (About Mosaic)

Marc Andreessen, founder and Chief Operating Officer of Netscape Communications, and his team of innovative developers conceived the Mosaic web browser in 1993. (Campanella) Marc Andreessen attended the University of Illinois and was a member of the National Center for Supercomputer Applications. During Andreessen’s time at university, he worked with the ViolaWWW browser and assisted in successfully demonstrating the group’s software design by connecting to the web. (Stewart) Andreessen’s work with ViolaWWW assisted him and partner Eric Gina on the development of the Mosaic browser.

The Mosaic web browser was viewed as being an extremely innovative technology for its time of development. The browsers’ user-friendly interface was filled with a multitude of features that had not yet been available to the general public for web browsing. The web browsing technology included in the release of Mosaic v 1.0 provided users with a forever changed web browsing experience. (Mosaic Web Browser)

For the first time ever, web users were able to compile bookmarks of favorite web sites. The inclusion of a web-history in the Mosaic browser is viewed as being one of the major leaps in user technology for the world of web browsing. The development of web site bookmarks and history files are insisted to be the key features of the Mosaic browser that aided in the browser’s viral-like spread amongst web users. (Mosaic Web Browser)

Word-of-mouth advertising played a key role in the spread of the Mosaic browser. As word spread of the new and easy-to-use browser to web users, users became aware of the potential for commerce and research. Internet service providers began offering the web to more and more individual customers. (Mosaic Web Browser)

Multiple versions of the Mosaic browser were released over a four-year span. The releases of the Mosaic browser were generally characterized by many pre-released versions over a prolonged time span. The Mosaic v 2.0 releases spanned over a time period of nearly two years; two years that would mark some of the greatest changes made in the Internet web browsing market during that time. Occasionally there were extreme differences in timeline and HTML capability between various platforms that which the Mosaic web browser was developed. (Wilson)

It was announced sometime in January 1997 that the Mosaic web browser would no longer be in development. It was stated that all further developments on the Mosaic web browser would come to a stop in order for NCSA to focus on other activities. (Wilson)

References:

About NCSA Mosaic. Retrieved June 26, 2010 from: http://www.ncsa.illinois.edu/Projects/mosaic.html

Campanella, T. J. Smithsonian Institution: Oral and Video Histories. Retrieved June 26, 2010 from:http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/comphist/ma1.html

Mosaic Web Browser. Retrieved June 26, 2010 from: http://www.high-speed-internet-access-guide.com/articles/mosaic-web-browser.html

Stewart, Bill. Mosaic—The First Global Web Browser. Retrieved June 26, 2010 from: http://www.livinginternet.com/w/wi_mosaic.htm

Wilson, Brian. Mosaic. Retrieved June 26, 2010 from: http://www.blooberry.com/indexdot/history/mosaic.htm

Wiki Article #1: Music and the Internet

Abstract

In the past two decades, the music industry has been completely turned around by two major technological innovations: the introduction of peer to peer file sharing, as well as the introduction of retailers offering enormous online digital music catalogs for sale to consumers. This paper analyzes the inception and reinvention of the first popular illegal music file sharing platform, Napster, as well as the first digital music mega store, Apple’s iTunes Store and its hand in reviving the music industry.

Music and the Internet

The music world was rocked with the beginning of piracy of copyrighted materials in the late 1990s with the introduction of cd-rw drives and peer-to-peer file sharing web sites and applications such as Napster. Luckily for the music industry, Apple Computers Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs was able to help salvage what was left of the fading consumer interest in purchasing music. Through strategic and innovative thinking, Steve Jobs and his team at Apple Computers have been able to develop a revolutionary music database platform for selling music. Steve Jobs created a virtual music marketplace that would leave the music industry forever changed, this platform is known to the world as iTunes.

The further consumers enter the newly technologically advanced and digital world, the less physical music, or, compact discs were being purchased. The piracy problem plaguing the music industry began in the 1990s with the introduction of MPEG Audio Layer III audio files, or, as they are commonly referred to as, MP3 files. (“What Does MP3 Stand for?” 2004) The introduction of MP3 files on to personal computing platforms marked the beginning of the end for the music industry and consumers overall perceptual change of viewing music as a product for purchase and music as a free product that which they were simply entitled to without an official and legal transaction.

Two college students, Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker, created the Napster file-sharing platform in the late 1990s. Both individuals were interested in developing a way in which Internet users and music lovers alike could effortlessly share their music files through the Internet. (Algoe, n.d.) The music “sharing” idea of the two students consisted of a program that allowed personal computer users to actively exchange media files via a centralized file server. (“Napster: Then and Now”)

The inception of Napster occurred in 1999, after Shawn Fanning went with out sleep for nearly three consecutive days writing a source code for the program that would be known as Napster. The Napster platform would grant users the ability to complete music searches while at the same time, functioning with various file sharing servers. The Napster platform also offered users the option for one-on-one communication with other “pirates”, otherwise known as instant messaging. (“Napster: Then and Now”) Napster would prove to be successful among Internet users, but was immensely hated by the Recording Industry Association of America, as the Napster platform was completely illegal.

The overwhelming commercial, yet illegal, success of Napster struck a cord with Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Jobs realized there was a substantial void in the music industry and Internet world when it came to consumers and purchasing music. The illegal peer to peer network was viewed as much more than an illegal means for users to download music. According to the feature article “The Complete iTunes History – Soundjam MP to iTunes 9, Steve Jobs would “develop a way to leverage the Napster revolution into the next killer Mac App.” The new music platform would be required to be built from scratch, as other audio players were already significantly more advanced than Apple Computer’s QuickTime audio player. (Simon, 2009)

Steve Jobs was now on the lookout for a new and innovative music platform for Apple Computers to offer to users. In the year 2000, Jobs approached Robin Cassidy and Michael Greene to negotiate their SoundJam MP audio application. The SoundJam MP audio application was an extremely powerful digital encoding program that looked strikingly similar to the QuickTime media player currently being offered by Apple Computers. (Simon, 2009) Jobs worked quickly to acquire this new audio platform for Apple Computers. (Simon, 2009)

The first version of iTunes was released at a Macworld Expo ten months after Apple’s swift acquisition of the SoundJam MP audio application. About 275,000 copies of the first iTunes were downloaded within the first week of being released. For most users of Apple’s Macintosh computers, iTunes was an introduction to digital music. Support for Microsoft Windows had not yet been added to iTunes at that particular point in time. The original released version of iTunes was still without a means of hosting an online music mega store; but this feat would soon be conquered.

The next released versions of iTunes would surely affirm Apple’s place in the music world. The initial release of iTunes 3 in mid 2002 marked the integration of Microsoft Windows capabilities for the iTunes music program. iTunes 4 was released in April of 2003 with the first presence of an online music store. Users were able for the first time to purchase music over the Internet. Apple had successfully developed an online digital music experience that was certainly the first of its kind. The initial version of the iTunes Store platform released offered some 200,000 high quality songs from multiple record labels, all in a completely legal format. (Simon, 2009)

The iTunes Store offered by Apple started a significant change in users online music experience, or, those who chose to adopt the new wave of legal music transactions. Like Napster, the iTunes Store allowed for users to purchase music with one click purchasing for less than $1 per track. Within the first week of being open to the public, the iTunes Store sold over one million tracks to eager music lovers across the world. Within four months, sales in the iTunes Store had surpassed ten million units. (Simon, 2009) This was quit an achievement for iTunes; as they had single handedly began restructuring the online music experience.

Since the introduction and success of Apple’s iTunes digital music store, a slew of other companies have been trying to gain market share in the digital music world. The presence of multiple online retailers, including a newly revamped Napster, offering relatively cheap prices for audio and video files has not yet curtailed the illegal file sharing practices demonstrated by an extremely large portion of the online community.

The large portion of the online community that is currently still engaging in illegal file sharing does not necessarily view it as completely unlawful and criminal. Illegal peer to peer file sharing users often refer to such an activity as spreading of culture across the globe; cultural unification, in a sense. As stated in the article “Culture Wants to be Free”, “Copyright law is outdated. A society where culture and knowledge is free and accessible by everyone on equal terms is a common good.”

Although purchasing music in digital formats through online media retailers has been adopted by millions of people across the world, the ongoing music industry struggle is far from over. The stance held by numerous members of the online community on copyright law is hurting the music industry terribly. In the post – Napster internet era it is still common for users to argue the importance of free file sharing as a means to spread culture and ignore copyright laws. (“Culture Wants to be Free!”) This idea, of course, is detrimental to the music industry.

Users argue for free legal file sharing, proclaiming that this technological development is necessary in the digital age. Copyright laws are being questioned as more and more users of peer-to-peer file sharing users attempting to “spread culture” emerge. Users of these file sharing platforms state that a shorter commercial copyright life span needs to be placed in order for various cultures to properly take advantage of others copyright materials; build off of it, if you would. (“Napster: Then and Now”) This argument favors the innovation and widespread use of culturally copyright works, but ignores the artistic integrity that comes along with creating such works.

In the end, it is ultimately the users decision as to which method is used for attaining desired music.

Works Cited:

Algoe, S. Napster vs. iTunes. Retrieved from: http://hubpages.com/hub/Napster-vs-Itunes

Culture Wants to be Free! Retrieved from: http://www.ungevenstre.no/politics/translated-items/culture-wants-to-be-free?set_language=en

Napster: Then and Now. Retrieved from: http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/spring01/burkhalter/napster%20history.html

Simon, M. (2009). The Complete iTune sHistory – SoundJam MP to iTunes 9. Retrieved from: http://www.maclife.com/article/feature/the_complete_itunes_history

What does MP3 Stand For? (2004). Retrieved from: http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/4910

Wiki Article #2: Web Browsers

Abstract

Numerous technological innovations have occurred since the World Wide Web was conceptualized. This paper will explore these major technologically innovative leaps that have occurred in the development of web browsers since the Internet was introduced to the general public. The original browser and three major competitors will be discussed along with the extraordinary web battle surrounding the platforms.

Web Browsers

The first web browser is quite different than the web browsers used in today’s technologically innovative world. The first web browser cannot be classified as being a browser, but more fittingly described as a browser-editor. Tim Berners-Lee wrote WorldWideWeb, the name of the first web browser, in the year 1990. Tim Berners-Lee had conceived the only way for everyday Internet users to see the web and is considered to be a lead innovator in the development of web browsing technology. (Berners-Lee, 2010)

Tim Berners-Lee named the WorldWideWeb browser as such to correlate with the abstract information space known as the Internet, which is now often referred to as the World Wide Web. After some time, the WorldWideWeb browser was renamed to Nexus to help eliminate any confusion between the World Wide Web, or, the Internet, and the WorldWideWeb browser. (Berners-Lee, 2010)

Tim Berners-Lee wrote the WorldWideWeb program using a NeXT computer. NeXT computers were home computers produced founded by Steve Jobs. NeXT computers were made up of powerful hardware and software in ways that had never before been configured. (“A Short History of NeXT,” n.d.) Berners-Lee usage of NeXT computers allowed for him to take advantage of the advanced configurations of the NeXT systems. Incorporating NeXT computers in to the development of the WorldWideWeb browser allowed for Berners-Lee to work in an efficiently and speedy manner. Tim Berners-Lee stated, “In fact, I could do in a couple of months what would take more like a year on other platforms (operating systems), because of the NeXT, a low of it was done for me already.” (“A Short History of NeXT,” n.d.)

According to Berners-Lee, full advantage was taken of the application builder on the NeXT computer platform. The application builder on the NeXT computer platform allowed for Berners-Lee to make all browser menus as quickly as he could create the idea for them. According to Berners-Lee, the NeXT computing system included all of the software features to a WYSIAWYG (what you see is what you get) document. This allowed for Berners-Lee to directly manipulate the text presented on the screen as it appeared on the browser page. (“A Short History of NeXT,” n.d.)

Berners-Lee’s WorldWideWeb browser was the first web browser to include a graphical user interface. The WorldWideWeb Browser could in fact be classified as a graphical web browser, although the browser was not capable of displaying web pages with graphics embedded within the web page itself. It was not until the introduction of the Mosaic web browser that a true graphical user interface was available to the general public. (“A Short History of NeXT,” n.d.)

Designed by NCSAs Marc Andreessen and a team of innovative thinkers, Mosaic was the first official graphical user interface Internet web browser designed for the everyday computer user and was also the first multi-platform Internet web browser. Mosaic is credited as being the leading pioneer in the web browsing, as it was the first user-friendly Internet web browser to allow users to easily navigate through textual and graphical information displayed on the World Wide Web. This browser is slated as being responsible for the overwhelming success of the World Wide Web and is the basis for many other popular browsers. Mosaic is also the predecessor of the extremely successful Netscape web browser. (Wilson, “Mosaic”) (What was the First Web Browser?”, 2006)

The Mosaic web browser was viewed as being an extremely innovative technology for its time of development. The browsers’ user-friendly interface was filled with a multitude of features that had not yet been available to the general public for web browsing. The web browsing technology included in a version of Mosaic provided users with a changed web browsing experience. The inclusion of a web-history in the Mosaic browser is viewed as being one of the major leaps in user technology for the world of web browsing. The development of web site bookmarks and history files are states to be the key features of the Mosaic browser that aided in the browser’s viral-like spread amongst web users. (Wilson, “Mosaic”)

Marc Andreessen thought the World Wide Web grasped the potential to grow in to something much larger that it currently was in 1991. Andreessen saw an opportunity to develop a browser with the ability to surpass Mosaic in performance and that would meet consumers’ unknown browser desires. Netscape, originally named Mozilla, was released to the world in October of 1994. This browser was unlike any other browser available to the public during this time. Netscape quickly evolved and allowed for a much more customizable user experience when compared to the Mosaic web browser. (Holter, 2002)

Almost immediately following the release of the Netscape browser Microsoft Chief Executive Operator Bill Gates decided it was time for Microsoft to become involved in the browsing world of the World Wide Web. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 1.0 originally shipped as an Internet Jumpstart Kit in Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95. Although Internet Explorer was integrated into Windows 95, very few Microsoft Windows users actually used it as Netscape was the preferred web browser at the time. (Schnoll, 2001)

For some time, Microsoft’s Internet explorer developed rapidly in order to be considered a substitute for the Netscape browser. Internet Explorer was offered free of charge and was included in the Microsoft operating system, where as users had to pay a fee of $50.00 USD in order to use the Netscape web browser. The integration of Internet Explorer in the Microsoft Windows operating system marked the beginning of many competitive advantages Microsoft would gain over Netscape in the months and years to come. (Wilson, “Netscape Navigator”)

Microsoft released Internet Explorer version 3.0 in the summer of 1996. The release of Internet Explorer 3.0 marked the beginning of a massive consumer switch from the Netscape web browser to the Internet Explorer platform. The question of which browser, Netscape or Windows Internet Explorer, was superior became a topic of much discussion amongst Internet users. Issues such as common features, support for latest Internet technologies, and other Internet standards were often discussed in great detail. It is said that the release of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer version 3.0 was the main culprit in the beginning of the “browser wars”. (Schnoll, 2001)

With the release of Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.0 and the number of Internet users switching from Netscape to the new Microsoft platform growing greatly each month, Microsoft began to gain on Netscape’s overall share of the browsing market. The release of Internet Explorer version 4.0 in October of 1997 marked a permanent shifting of user preference in the browser wars. Version 4.0 of Internet Explorer was much faster than the previous version and was seen as more reliable when compared to Netscape version 4.0. (“Browser Wars.”)

A plethora of other occurrences assisted Microsoft’s Internet Explorer in crushing the competitor Netscape. In 1997 Microsoft was able to make licensing agreements with multiple other tech companies. America Online agreed to use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer as the main browser for the Internet service provider. This licensing agreement of course meant the elimination of Netscape from the America Online platform. Microsoft was also able to sign an agreement with Apple Computers to make Internet Explorer the default browser on all Macintosh computers for five consecutive years. (“Browser Wars.”)

By the end of 1998 the Netscape browser was acquired by America online and was no longer an independent browser. The activities demonstrated by Microsoft did not go unnoticed. In the same year of the elimination of Netscape as a competitor, an antitrust case was brought forth on to Microsoft. The case states that Microsoft had dominated the web browser market in an unfair manner in order to knock out the competition. (“Browser Wars.”)

Microsoft was able to successfully eliminate its primary competitor and proved supreme by the end of the first browser war.

Work Cited

A Short History of NeXT. Retrieved from: http://simson.net/ref/NeXT/aboutnext.htm

Berners-Lee, T. (2010). The WorldWideWeb Browser. Retrieved from: http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/WorldWideWeb.html

Browser Wars. Retrieved from: http://www.velocityguide.com/internet-history/browser-wars.html

Holter, E. (2002). Browser Battles. Retrieved from: http://www.newfangled.com/history_web_browsers

Schnoll, S. (2001). The History of Internet Explorer. Retrieved from: http://www.nwnetworks.com/iehistory.htm

What was the First Web Browser? (2006). Retrieved from: http://www.boutell.com/newfaq/history/fbrowser.html

Wilson, Brian. Mosaic. Retrieved from: http://www.blooberry.com/indexdot/history/mosaic.htm

Wilson, Brian. Netscape Navigator. Retrieved from: http://www.blooberry.com/indexdot/history/netscape.htm