Hashim's Musings

Today, the 5th of December, 2005 marks 12 years, 4 months and 16 days of having started my IT career.

So what does IT mean to me after this period?

It wasn't IT when I started - it was just Computers. DOS and SCO Unix. Everyone worked on a standalone machine, carried files on floppies - the real floppies! - and were command prompt experts!

Then came Win 3.1. Using a mouse, seeing graphic data and using word processing and spreadsheets became routines. The 4 and half inch floppy became compact - 3 inches and people began trying to "link" computers.

Windows 95 followed and brought in the era of GUI. Drag and drop of objects delighted us all - we were slowly but surely forgetting the DOS command prompt! Networks became a rage. Connecting to each others computers to share files made life simpler.

Then came the Internet - computers became Information Technology machines! Mail, ftp, chat - communications reached a new high. Walking around in office was a rare phenomenon.

This was followed by the dot.com boom and a couple of years later the crash. Internet websites mushroomed to do all kinds of business. Those that sustained are major IT players today!

ERP - that set in next - promised the nerds in IT the moon in automation. It is surely and steadily stabilizing.