The Software Revolution

So far as I know, no one else has written about this - even though everyone, even remotely connected with the Industry - will admit that it has happened. Why?

There were many reasons:

The Software Revolution happened at the same time as many other technical revolutions - so many of them, in fact, that people felt them to be one huge event.

The Coming of the Internet, for example, was like the Coming of Christ - it changed everything. I am not being facetious here - both were historical events, and both had enormous consequences.

The Internet changed the way Software was put together, the way it was sold, what machines it operated on, and what larger components it was part of.

Software Development was greatly affected by the large amounts of excellent free software that was available for it to use. This had never happened before, in the history of the world. And was something of a shock for the traditional businessmen, who thought everything had a price on it - and a price they could control. But it greatly lowered the price of software.

New methods of Project Management were developed, that allowed different teams, from all over the world to participate in building Software projects. These methods were quickly adopted by other industries - such as Aircraft Construction, to assemble components made by many vendors.

Methods of testing these components, as they were being assembled - and even after they had been sold - were developed. These products were so huge, there were bound to be bugs in them.

Microsoft keeps finding these in its Windows operating system. And issues updates frequently. This is one of the huge advantages of Software - it can be updated continuously.

Computer Software was also affected by Computer Hardware - and vice versa. The outstanding example is the Phone (or SmartPhone) that is now found everywhere in the world. And usually runs on the free Android software, provided by Google.