Born in the 90s

While 2020 has seemed to move at varying speeds, in many ways the year 1990 doesn’t seem that long ago. However, in reality it’s 30 years’ ago … hard to believe right?

The 1990s bought so much into our lives such as Friends been broadcast on TV (for the first time), the first sheep (Dolly) was cloned, the Hubble telescope was launched, the Channel Tunnel opened, Titanic ruled the world, Toy Story took us all back to our childhoods, we fell in love with Forest Gump, were petrified by Dr. Hannibal Lecter, saw Dinosaurs come back to life in Jurassic Park, stayed at home with Kevin in Home Alone and saw the Spice Girls take over the charts.

The 1990’s, and years since, have also seen many pivotal events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Gulf War, the release of Nelson Mandela from 27 years in prison, the tragedies of 9/11 and more recently the Black Lives Matter protests across the globe. The events that have happened across the world during this time are quite astonishing when you look back, and it’s these events that have helped to shape and make the world that we now live in.

It has also been a time of great innovation (not all hits) with the launch of things such as the Sony Discman, Shell Suits, Tamagotchi’s, the bleeper, the iMac G3, a PlayStation console, the Blockbuster card and who can forget the launch video for Windows 95 and the live on stage dance as it was unveiled. But these really are only a few – let’s take a look at some more …

  • On 6 August 1991, CERN publicised the new World Wide Web project
  • Y2K spread fear throughout the world – however, no real failures occurred when the clocks rolled over into 1 January 2000
  • The first Pentium microprocessor was introduced and developed by the Intel Corporation
  • Email became really popular and, as a result, Microsoft acquired the popular Hotmail webmail service
  • Instant messaging and the buddy list feature became popular
  • Businesses such as Amazon and eBay started to build e-commerce websites
  • The first MP3 player, the MPMan, was released in late spring of 1998
  • Hand-held satellite phones were introduced towards the end of the decade
  • Microsoft introduces Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Windows 98, which gain immediate popularity
  • The development of web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer makes surfing the World Wide Web easier and more user friendly

So many right? Now, not all of these have stood the test of time, but it’s these innovations that opened the door to so much more and technology that is just a natural part of our society today.

Without the bleeper would we have had the mobile phone? Without Windows 95 would we have had Windows 10 and the constant stream of updates and improvements? Without the MP3 player, would we have got the iPod or iTunes? Without Instant Messaging would we have WhatsApp or Microsoft Teams? Where would we get out next day deliveries from if it weren’t for Amazon? Where would any of us be without the Internet? And yes, without the Blockbuster card would we have had Netflix?

Now many of you reading this blog may not even have been born in the 90s, but on 19 November 1990 Phoenix Software Limited was officially formed so we will be celebrating 30 years of business and serving the UK Public Sector.

Through the use of these constantly evolving technologies, ensuring people have the skills they need and driving the adoption of these solutions, we’ve been lucky enough to work with and assist thousands of organisations to keep up with the trends that are delivering the outcomes that they need on a daily basis, both for their staff and those they serve and support. We see it as our responsibility to keep up to date with all of these changes as they happen (and sometimes before) and to always be asking “What’s Next?” so that we are always there when we are needed to ensure that we all transform and innovate together for a better tomorrow.

To quote a rather famous film from the 90’s “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.” This seems to be truer than ever so let’s all pull together, make a difference and ensure that we move into the future stronger than ever.