without question, the transistor. without this fundamental invention, we'd still be using vacuum tubes

MP3 compression. Changed the face of the computing and entertainment industries.

1. transistor
2. von neumanns machine
3. integrated circuit board
4. ibm 360
5. ibm 360 operating system
6. fortran compiler
7. microprocessor

I'd say, file compression in general. GIF and ARC come to mind immediately.

DRAM comes to mind also.

My pick for one of the wonders of the computing world would be the U.S. Air Force 1950's era SAGE mainframe air defense system. It was far ahead of its time and pioneered many computer concepts and architectures that we take for granted today. It was housed in a four-story block house and was made with over 40,000 vacuum tubes. On every shift change, Air Force technicians would receive a print out of what tubes needed to be replaced.

The tubes generated both heat and light which made them attractive to moths. The moths and other bugs would sometimes short out vacuum tubes. Thus the term "de-bug" was coined. The SAGE hardware lived on for many years after it was replaced by transistorized systems in numerous science fiction movies. Its lighted console with an assortment of switches and dials can still be recognized in si-fi movies of the 60's and 70's.

It was and remains a fascinating example of early state-of-the-art computing.

The Internet.

Boolean Algebra was the basis that drove the
development of the intergrated circuit ie "chip"
and the x86 cpu's.

VisiCalc - the killer app that jumpstarted the PC revolution

[1] the microprocessor
[2] the compiler
[3] the multi-user operating system
[4] communications protocols
[5] graphical user interface
[6] low cost memory
[7] internet

Semiconductor memory.
The first mainframe I worked on had magnetic core memory. 512!!! and the two towers were massive. The memory was assembled by asian women, because they had small fingers. Modern computing could exist without semiconductor memory.

Hardware: the integrated circuit, Jack Kilby
Com: the Internet, J. C. Licklider
Software: Visicalc, Dan Bricklin

MySpace

You need to divide this between hardware and software. I'll address software

1.Spreadsheet Software

2.Word Processing Software

3.CAD Software

4.Compuserve, give em there due, it WAS the place eveyone was at before the WWW.

5.Internet Bulletin Boards, FIDO, RIME, etc

6.MAC Operating System, not a MAC person but they drove Windows to where they are today.

7.Adobe Reader-first real universal ANYTHING on the PC

1. The Personal Computer - Power to the People
2. Tivo - Power to the Couch Potato
3. The Internet - I hear it is a series of tubes
4. The Automobile - navigation, safety, fuel efficiency, etc. Computers may have killed the shadetree mechanic but they have improved cars tremendously.
5. Microsoft Windows - As a fan of both Linux and OS X, it hurts to say it, but Windows lets any idiot do almost anything with a PC.
6. The relational database - So important, so ubiquitous, so indisposable to almost everything we do. Like air - you only appreciate it when you don't have enough.
7. The computer hacking criminal - no matter how much we work to secure everything, they keep on breaking in. Will 'computer security' ever cease to be an oxymoron?

The relational database.

The concept provided a platform for thinking about information as individual related pieces as opposed to a single monolithic element.

Things as simple as the web links we use on web pages owe thier existence to this pattern of thinking

I see Visicalc noted here but I think the real breakthrough ap for personal computing was Lotus 123. Unlike it's predecessor spreadsheet aps, 123 allowed user written macros that opened up the world of real computer aided data analysis to literally millions of people. It made the personal computer into a valuable tool (for business and for life) whereas before it had only been a curiosity.

The Mouse
Ethernet
SmallTalk
Graphical User Interface

All came from Xerox!!

1) boolean logic => digital electronics
2) transistor
3) magnetic storage
4) the integrated circuit
5) the printed circuit board
6) the laser
7) optical fiber

These are so fundamental that computing as we know it wouldn't exist without them.

Error correcting codes. Complex digital systems would soon break down without a means of protecting data integrity.

Hamming's memoire on the subject points out several of his engineering colleagues thought it impossible at the time he made his initial demonstration.

1. PC-DOS, later MS-DOS - it revolutionized the industry and led to the desktop
2. 8086 CPU - started it all on the Intel platform, regardless of the OS
3. First Cray Supercomputer
4. Internet and TCP/IP
5. Object Orientation - led to GUI's and a new way of thinking for programmers
6. Relational Database
7. HTML - put programming in layman's hands
8. Mouse - ease of use
9. NETBIOS - began real networking
10. Xerox and IBM - many technologies originated there

The Apple ImageWriter I. With its 72 dpi, b&w output, it allowed computer users to print any text, any graphic, and any font they or their friends could cook up. The hi-resolution LaserWriters and desktop publishing that followed just refined that revolutionary leap forward. (Bonus: my 22-year-old ImageWriter I still works!)

1. Burroughs B5500 & MCP

2. Xerox Star

3. x86 processors

4. Internet

5. Linux

6. VisiCalc

7. Integrated circuits

Most of the comments look much more like a computing 'Hall of Fame' rather than 7 Wonders.

To me, 7 Wonders are unique achievements that are singlularly extreme accomplishments.

There are lots of stadiums, but only one Roman Colosseum; there are lots of walls, but only one Great Wall of China.

In that vein, I would think a wonder would be something more like Wal-Mart's backoffice retail computing systems; UPS or FedEx's tracking systems; or maybe Google's data center. I am sure there are better examples...

The first computer I used was a transistorized giant housed in the basement of MIT's Lincoln Laboratories. I was 8 years old and Dad had me for a Saturday morning. I was hooked! So my list is:
1. Any computer pre-dating 1962 - all the early machines set the stage
2. the microprocessor - permitted computers for the general public; that transistorized computer required dedicated technicaians 24x7.
3. the Apple - it fired our imagination, computers are not just for geeks (well, it turns out there are far more geeks then we thought).
4. Ethernet - SUN's "the network is the computer" is still being realized; caused the great abandonment of minicomputers for cheap PC networks
5. ARPANet - I think this preceded and was the basis for the Internet
6. Netscape Navigator - triggered a global inflection point and broke the Internet wide open
7. Google - when was the last time you went to a library?

In 1981 IBM launches the first PC. This started the whole comcept of distrubuted computing and later led to the portable computing boom. Intel came up withthe chips, but IBM was was the first one to integrate them into a desktop computing device.

Where would IT be without
1. A. Turing
2. J. von Neumann
3. E. Dijkstra
4. T. Codd
5. C. Date
6. T. Berners-Lee
7. W. Woolfolk

1 : Transistors
2 : WAN Protocols and Cisco Routers
3 : Open Source, GNU License... (Free World)
4 : Compilers in general
5 : Optic Fiber
6 : The virtual machines
7 : Web 2.0 and mythical websites (Google, Youtube, Mappy, Napster and p2p softwares)

1. Transistor - no more relay switches or vacuum tubes.
2. Integrated Circuits - Millions of them on a single chip
3. Apple II - Making modular computers popular for the first time
4. CP/M - Making standardized programs possible across diverse manufacturers' systems, leading to MS-DOS
5. Windows 3.1 evolution to Windows Vista - used by the majority of users today
6. Linux Torvalds' Minix Operating system - evolution to the current popular versions of Linux - a single benevolent ruler consistently guiding the Open Source Movement to greatness
7. dBASE II - a practical programming language designed to keep record of football scores used by 3 Million - evolution to Visual Foxpro, five times faster than SQL Server. What you learned 20 year ago still relevant and powerful today.

Here a couple of bonus wonders to make it into a baker's dozen:

8. BASIC - making programming popular - but now crippled by constantly changing methods to access data
9. C Compilers and language - squeezing out the most out of CPUs without writing Assembly code.
10. ARPANet evolution to Internet - The whole world communicates with web and email.
11. 8080 evolution to X86 Architecture - World standard in compatible computing - with two (or three) main corporate sponsors
12. HTML and the World-Wide Web - evolution to Blogs and Web 2.0 and Web 3.0
13. Java - a language NOT written "to bring down "The Evil Empire" - failed in that utterly but is still very popular today for Web and Internet

1. The Internet - without this the world would still be invisible.

2. The microprocessor - without this we would still be using our slide rules.

3. Relational databases - confusion, trivia, and marketing is now organized like never before.

4. Transistor - miniaturization becomes feasible.

5. The PC and its kid, the laptop - we no longer have the excuse of forgetting and crashing takes on a whole new connotation.

6. The creation of universal formats (jpeg, mp3, pdf, etc.) - now my garbage becomes your inspiration.

7. Search engines - I can find what I want when I want it.

And the top candidate for a nonwonder:

Al Gore inventing the internet.

1. Visicalc - made personal computers relevant for business use, the ultimate killer app of the past 30 years. Thank you Dan Bricklin.

2. Internet - made personal computers essential for all.

3. Napster - introduced peer-to-peer to the masses, ultimately destroying the traditional music business model.

4. PARC - these folks gave us the future on a platter, it just took another 10 years to realize it.

Definitely the LAMP webserving platform needs to be mentioned, Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP/Perl/Python have helped make most of the content on the internet thats taken for granted.

1. ARPAnet
2. Moore's Law
3. Ethernet
4. Email
5. Personal Computers
6. GUIs
7. Mosaic/Web browsers

In one word WIRELESS!!
It's amazing how far wirelss technology has come - from our first wirelss connections to the NASA astronuts of the 60's to wireless connections virtually everywhere!

You have to have a concept before any work could be done.. This was truly a 'wonder' at the time.
1945 - Von Neumann - first draft - concept of a stored program.

limiting the wonders of the MODERN computing world to only seven is difficult, but here are the 7 I would choose. I offer the emphasis on the word 'modern' not to diminish the accomplishments of folks like von Neumann and Touring, but I would seperate the IT industry's foundations from the modern era.

1. Jobs and Wozniaks Garage (Graphical User Interface etc. etc.)

2. NCSA (Nat'l Center for Supercomputing Applications at the U. of Illinois - birthplace of the browser.)

3. CERN - (Laboratory in Switzerland, Berners Lee's seminal work on the WWW )

4. Microsoft Office - anyone who had to work with separate word processing, graphics and spreadsheeting software will understand why. Anyone who came to computing after 'Office' - simply count yourself lucky.

5. Palo Alto Center for Research - PARC - if you don't know what this place is or what it has meant to computing, look it up. you'll be surprised.

6. (Tie) Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Stanford University Electrical Engineering Dept.

7. The Search Engine - Web Crawler, Lycos, Alta Vista, Excite, Dogpile, Yahoo, Google

1.- ENIAC, made possible the creation of the transistor, due to the fact that size for more powerful computers was unfeasible.
2.- Transistors which became LSI, VLSI, etc.
3.- Microprocessors, starting with the 6400 series of Motorola used in Apple and industrial process system, later 8088 from Intel used in PLC at the beginin and later in Z80.
4.- Comodore, Radio Shack and Atari, they are the one that started the PC revolution but with a non friendly operating system.
5.- IBM people that saw the potential of the home PC and forced Microsoft to develop a comprehensive OP system.
6.- MAC OP System, it is the base of today´s Windows or Vista.
7.- Internet, made possible to be informmed and up to date

About mp3 - it remains preprietary and therefore is not valid as a wonder of the computing world. It is still illegal to use if with *nix systems.

oog, on the other hand is better and legal to use on any system, player, etc.

It is the real wonder in this area!

Ok, some repeats but couple new.

- Willingness to establish and maintain standards. Standard programming languages (html, css, xml, blah blah), standard UIs, standard storage devices (USB is a prime example), standard of data transmission (TCP/IP, ethernet) etc.
- data storage technology (anyone remember punch cards besides me?). Just the ability to store data easily and use it in multiple ways in general.
- GUI. For me, Apple gets the credit. We would still be looking at the ol' IBM green screens without the MAC!
- Usenet/Internet.
- Lotus 1-2-3. Before Lotus 1-2-3, the personal computer was a novelty item. Moved the PC into a real business usable machine.
- eBay (got people spending online, increased usability of the internet for the masses)
- Free interactive sites. Example, Google (I don't think there is a person on line that hasn't used Google to search for something), Wikipedia, Skype, blogs and forums, etc. Without people willing to let us interact for free on their sites, who would be out there?

Confusion above about Apple and Mac.
The Apple computers used the 6502 - NOT Motorola - only the Mac used the 68000.

And the MS Office - the concept was pioneered by Apple in the AppleWorks program for the Apple II, and MS Office is just an updated imitation of that!

1. ARPANet
2. the NSA
3. PARC
4. Bletchley Park
5. the US Postal Service (how do you think they get your letters across the country for 41 cents?)
6. the HP garage
7. Silicon Valley

Internet and TCP/IP
Web browsers
Mouse
Relational Databases
Tandem systems for intro to fault tolerance
Cray system for speed
Modems
Email

Internet. It provided huge information for everyone, which in turn accelerated progress in all inventions and publications as well.

The Internet

Let's be realistic!

The TOP WONDER of the Modern Computer World has got to be the IT person that supports it all.

Who else can balance outrageous schedules, limited budgets (and a lot of times "older" equipment), end users, and some semblance of a home life while trying to keep up to speed on all the new stuff that'll hit the workload at some point in time!

1. Transistor
2. WiFi
3. Internet
4. GUI
5. Linux
6. Email Systems
7. Office Suite (anyone, basic for daily to daily work)

The 7 wonders

1. Boolean algebra
2. the Transistor
3. the Integrated circuit
4. von Neuman
5. magnetic memory/storage devices
6. Fortran compiler
7. the personal computer

It depends on how far back the "modern" computing age goes.

We wouldn't be anywhere if not for the Jacquard loom. The first machine controlled by a stored program on cardboard punch cards. Not the 1950s. All the way back to 1801!

1. PDP-8 - small embedded computer
2. PDP-11 - powerful minicomputer
3. VAX-11 - elegant architecture
4. VMS - a truly bulletproof environment where users could crash each other
Data Networking in general - I'm old enough to remember sneakernet
5. TRS80 - the hobbyist computer
6. all of the recent great stuff, google, MP3 etc.
7. what will come next (there will always be something!)

It's tough, do you start from events that precipitated the computer, or only events after the computer - and what's a computer? Plus, you said computing, not computer.

Eniac/Manchester SSEM(1948)/MU1(1949) (UK); Cambridge EDSAC(1949) (UK); Ferranti Mk 1(1951) (UK); LEO (UK)(1951); UNIVAC (US)(1951); EDVAC (1952)(US);
Transistor
Fortran
ARPANet
Ethernet
Visicalc
PC

You could start another list for "after the PC"

You could also start seperate lists for software, hardware, OS, netorking and inter/itranetworking.

As an "old-dog" I have another entry in the "Top 10"list.

1. Transistor
2. Microprocessor
3. CPM operating system
4. Graphic Processor - No more Text Only
5. WordPerfect Office suite
6. Super-Calc - The first real spreadsheet
7. DRAM memory
8. Any development of PARC. - Everybody stole their genius.

The request is for wonders of the MODERN computing world. Most of the posts have been wonders of the computing world in general. You can't consider the transitor a wonder in the modern computing world - that's like saying a chisel is a wonder of the ancient world because without it we wouldn't have any of the amazing pyramids, castles and other stone sculpture.

My vote is for the Global Positioning System. While developed for military applications, we now use it in cell phones, cars, etc. Much business couldn't be done without it.

I notice that most entries are lists of historical wonders -- all very good and significant. However, I feel the spirit of "wonders of the world" should be things that you can use or visit or see right now. The loss of accessibility of the ancient wonders is why these were replaced by a new list. Accordingly, for the computer seven wonders, let us look at what we use right now. In no particular order:
1. Micro electronics / photronics (the cellular structure)
2. The Internet (the backbone)
3. The World Wide Web on the Internet (the brain)
4. Virtual Worlds on the Internet (the brain on drugs)
5. CGI photo-realism / animated realistic actors (the face)
6. telepresence (the hands)
7. robotics (the inheritors)

1. Transistors to LSI to Integrated Circuits (impacts everything from the microprocessor to the controllers to power regulator in the power supply)

2. The evolution of the hard drive. (Shugart, IBM/Hitachi, Seagate, Rhodime, etc)

3. All the host of "little" computers that pre-dated the first PC...the TI-99-4A, the Commodore PET and 64, etc). They laid the foundation that Apple and IBM built on, that ordinary people can make use of a real computer.

4. Optical Storage...CD/DVD etc

5. Relational Database...revolutionized the way data was stored and used.

6. THE mouse (thank you Xerox)

7. Compaq...took and and beat IBM at thier own game...

8. MS Windows 95...took us from DOS PLUS Windows to a fully integrated Windows based OS...sorta...and thank you Apple for PUSH.

9. Novell - proved that "shared" resources were beneficial and that a SERVER had a purpose...just sorry you couldn't keep up with the marketing hype

10. Email...internal, external, web...you name it...email is now right up there at the top of applications that are considered "mission critical" for most major corporations...

11. The WEB...more than any other single technology or event or product or achievement, the whole WWW has made the world a much smaller place...hey, you have access to all kinds of information, all kinds of companies, all kinds of goods and services, and a whole host of "naughties"...from nearly anywhere in the world...it changes the way we shop, communicate, learn, meet people, manage our lives, and even speak...not necessarily all for the better...but WOW...just think about what you can do today vs. 20 years ago.

12. Virtualization...this stuff is AMAZING!

13. Finally...SPAM and Viruses...without it thousands of people that think they're acutally going to "sell" something would be out of work...not to mention software developers and hackers...so...if you like this send it on to 12 of your best friends you'll have good luck for the next 30 seconds...if not, you'll get hit by a garbage truck on the way home and smell terrible for the next 7 days! :) (don't ya just love it)

[1] the microprocessor
[2] stored program computer
[3] PC
[4] the compiler
[5] the multi-user operating system
[6] communications protocols
[7] internet

The World Wide Web - it has changed the way human beings think and act

The United States government - for the way they will not allow control over the internet to be a world wide effort

The world wide public, and especially the United States public, for the way they will support any new effort - everything is possible

Satellites
Internet
Wireless Networks
PDAs
Image Capture (ccd/cmos)
Nano Technology

FWIW my two cents...

Epson Valdocs GUI
DR GEM and Ventura
MIDI
DSP Processing and Gate Arrays
Database driven anything! (LDAP)
Delta only changes
Non-Linear search and storage
Philippe Kahn's Sidekick
WordStar
Wozniak's Sweet-P

1. Integrated circuit devices
2. The Internet
3. Open source collaboration
4. Graphical user interfaces
5. Open IT standards, e.g., RFCs, W3, etc.
6. Optical storage devices
7. Digital multimedia data formats

1. IBM PC
2. Internet
3. Amiga
4. MP3
5. Nano Computing
6. Google
7. Virtualization

I think the 7 Most Transformative HARDWARE Wonders were

1. Jacquard's Loom
2. Hollerith's Punched Card
3. Eckert & Mauchly's ENIAC
4. US Army and IBM's SAGE mainframe for interconnected computers and the keyboard
5. Jack Kilby & Texas Instruments' Integrated Circuit
6. IBM System/360 mainframe from Gene Ahmdal
7. Intel's ubiquitous 8086 and PARC's mouse

and the 7 Most Transformative SOFTWARE Wonders were

1. The using of the punched card
2. von Neumann's programmed machine
3. U S Army's SAGE Operating System ( 1st Real Time System )
4. IBM's OS/360 - 1st multiple-platform, and variable devices, OS
5. Apple's GUI
6. IBM's and Codd & Date's Relational Data Base
7. Tim Berners-Lee's Internet

1. Transistor
2. Microprocessor
3. TCP/IP
4. Mouse
5. Unix
6. Graphical user interface (GUI)
7. sendmail

1. The Von Newman architecture.
2. The VAX 11/70
3. OpenVMS OS with file and device protection.
4. VAX clustering of hardware.
5. The VAX Storage Works disk array with supporting redundent disk controllers.
6. The VAX disk shadow set.
7. Symetric multiprocessing.
8. Parallel processing.
9. Fortran language.
10. C language

I'm going to pass on the 7 wonders of the modern computing age, but would like to say that the reason that the "the old Seven Wonders of the World aren't as, well, wonderful anymore." is actually because they - with the exception of the Pyramid at Giza - Don't exist anymore.

Riverbed Steelheads are to WANs,
what CAT5 was to LANs.

Integrated Circuits
Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) Bus
Relational database
Dynamic memory allocation
Ethernet
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
XML

Binary numbers: All of what man knows, his art, his music, even the genetic material that is at the core of what makes him exist can be reduced to a string of ones and zeros, amazing when you think about it! I guess we were given nine superfluous fingers.

COBOL -- source of wonder and consternation, what in IT will ever last as long as it has?

On a more serious note, I think it's great that E. Dijkstra is on the list -- his contribution is timeless. In my opinion, one should be looking for a quality of timelessness in what one marvels over, at least as far as is possible in a world of the transient.

Bell Labs. Like most of the ancient wonders of the world they aren't what they used to be but they developed digital theory, invented the transistor, created Unix . . .

1. EZ Pass
2-7. some other stuff...

Of all the technologies and services ever invented, I can think of no other which:

We all pay tolls and the service/technology makes this bit of drudgery faster and easier.

If you put it on your credit card, they never bother you. Every couple years just update your expiration date.

With your credit card, they don't even require you to make a down payment.

It always works. How many times in history has a quazi-governmental effort ever been able to claim this!

All of this and they give you a discount! Come on. This is the best technology ever!

The list needs to have items that were way ahead of their time when first introduced that have had and continue to have a major impact now and into the future. Therefore I present my list

1. Integrated Circuit, makes it all possible
2. Arpanet, Myspace Google and Youtube would not exist without it
3. TCP/IP, see #2
4. Visicalc and Wordstar, The first real applications for regular folks
5. TRS-80, precursor to the PC on everyone's desk today
6. E-mail, I wouldn't be responding to this stupid list without it. And Bill Gates paid me $50,000.00 just for forwarding that e-mail (no really, it actually happened).
7. Commoditizaion of the PC, instead of paying for a $2000 computer that lasts 8 years now people happily pay $600 for a piece of junk every 2 years (for the math challenged that is $2400). Making PC resellers even more money. Thank you

Phoenix Technologies IBM PC compatible ROM BIOS.

They had the adacity to take on the largest computer company in the world and create a licenseable BIOS that took the "IBM PC" out of the corporations and into pepoles homes.

If we were still stuck with IBM & Apple's propietary software and hardware secenarios, home computing would not be the driving force it is today.

Hands down: THE INTERNET.
This is a major wonder of the modern computing world.

Second: The microprocessor. This made Personal computers a reality.

Third: Celular Phones. This has allowed us to be in touch almost anywhere we go in the world.

Well my tuppence worth

1 The Colosus designed and built by Tommy Flowers and Alan Turing for Bletchley. Shame Winston ordered all those first computers smashed into bits no larger than a fist and we had to keep silent about building the first electronic computers till just a few years ago

2 The internet, all of its usefullnes and nastiness

3 The Transistor, the start of silicon heaven

4 The IC, silicon heaven just got a lot more crowded

5 Hard Disks, finaly something with decent capacity that doesnt mangle everything you store on it when you actually need it

6 Flash Memory devices, being able to carry about gigs of data on your key ring

7 TFT Displays, no more monitor sunburn from spending hours coding infront of a CRT

1. Internet
2. Xerox PARC inventions
3. Transistor
4. Microprocessor
5. Digital imaging

the mouse
GUI
MS DOS
Apple II
Mac
punch cards (hanging chads and all

1) Logic - without this computing wouldn't exist
2) Grace Hopper - She Rocked!
3) Semiconductor devices - all kinds
4) Alan Turing's Turing Machine - goes with logic
5) Gary Kildall's DRI - matched OS to micro devices
6) Jolt Cola/Coffee/your favorite stimulant
7) fast storage devices - for the impatient

The Bell System - to include Bell Labs
Fiber Optics

Adobe Flash Player

1) desktop calculators - first end-user accessible computer, my 1st handheld was the size of a cordless phone.
2) microprocessors - Z80, 8080, 8086 allowed computer manufacturers to create computers for the home.
3) modems - allowed users to share files "instantly", leads to: networks, internet, everything else is just a way to connect modems faster.
4) "C" - the new assembly language
5) Internet - it's made the world even smaller.
6) VPN's - allowing people to work from home.
7) "Winchester" based hard disks - brought hard drives to the masses.

All of these items are still in use today.

Visit Video - Northern Telecom's desktop computer-based phone/video/screen-sharing collaboration with Apple Computer, introduced for circuit-switched broadband, ten years before its time, in 1991

The Bowmar Brain (first mass-market electronic calculator)

The Internet protocol stack

MPEG compression, the lingua franca of multimedia communications

Adobe Photoshop - at the same time one of the greatest threats and greatest boons to democracy. Don't like the truth? Then edit it out!

Aldus PageMaker - which completely transformed the publishing business in the mid-80s

Alan Turing, The Bomb and World War 2. Once the military understood the value of computing, money and research were no longer an issue.

I don't have 7 but I think one of the most important is human ingenuity. Without it, none of this would exist.

Next would be the human brain. The ultimate computer and what all silicon computers strive to imitate.

finally, I would have to say the impact computers have had on our lives. From gaming to banking and the health care break troughs that we have because of computers.

As for the rest, all of what has been mentioned has played a great role in the development of computers and computing, but nothing mentioned inspires awe like the seven wonders are supposed to and I can think of nothing in the computing world that would. it will all get recycled in a couple of years or updated to something better.

Using the same tack as the previous poster who mentioned one of the Pyramiads of Egypt; if we use the qualifer that a "Wonder" was here before us, and we expect the "Wonder" to be around long after we are gone, what exactly are the IT Wonders?

If we use an arbitrary algorithm i.e.
100 calendar years = 1 Technology Year

What do we have that would be considered a "Wonder"?

Voice Recognition ??? (keyboards and mice will become obsolete) ??

Just fodder for the conversation.

A wonder exploits fundamental technology advances to build something greater than its parts. Hence, my nominated wonders are:

[1] Babbage's Mechanical Computers.
[2] IBM System 360.
[3] The C Programming Language.
[4] Unix and its Progeny.
[5] The Internet.
[6] World Wide Web.
[7] Google's Search Engine.

It's hard to pass up things like the transistor and integrated circuit, but I see these more as technological enablers. Here's my list of seven wonders.

Windowed GUI with Mouse - Not really a new development, but without this from Xerox PARC literally millions of people would never have even tried to use a computer.

Laptop/Notebook/Tablet Computer - fifty years ago how large a building would have been needed to provide the computing power you can now carry in your briefcase / backpack - and it runs on batteries, not an entire electrical substation.

Wireless Networking - Whether in a cafe or airport terminal or even on the road you can still be connected (WiFi, cellular, etc.) to your home, business and the web.

Internet / WWW - Even 20 years ago no one would have imagined the extent of information available and business being conducted over this system. And much of it is between individuals all across the planet.

PDA / Smartphone - when was the last time you used (or could find) a "pay phone"? With built-in camera, radio, digital music player, contact list, appointment calendar, text messaging, e-mail, WWW access and custom Java programming, the fact that it also makes phone calls from almost anywhere is nearly an afterthought.

GPS - a mind-boggling technology that would not be possible without the advanced ICs to seek out and decode data from multiple orbiting satellites. Pinpoint your location to within 10 feet and get turn-by-turn driving directions from a computer in your car.

Open Source Development - who would have thought that "development by committee" could be so much more successful than "management by committee".

The program "WIZARDRY".

It was soley responsible for selling enough Sinclairs and TRS80's to get the idea of owning a computer off the ground.

1. Transistor - its the basic building block of all computing today
2. von Neumann Architecture - computing's basic operational concept
3. Univac - first real, commercial computer
4. Cray I - first 'Supercomputer'
5. ANSI - developing the standards for the computing environment
6. Internet - basis for all communication today
7. HTML - the initial 'language of the web'

Perhaps, "the old Seven Wonders of the World aren't as, well, wonderful anymore," because only one of them still exists.

Flat Panel Displays.

Eliminated heat, emisions and a lot of polution. Freed up a lot of workspace. No more strained back muscles. Facilitated the miniaturization required for the hand held devices.

Here's my list:

1. The Internet.
2. Comunication Technology.(Fiber, Wireless,etc)
3. A.I.
4. Optical storage.
5. Magnetic Storage.
6. Microprocessor.
7. Linux.

1. transistor
2. GUI/mouse
3. Unix
4. packet transfers to assure delivery
5. Mosaic => Netscape (HTTP)
6. SSH
7. Wireless connections

(1) Microprocessor - without it we'd be on all Mainframes
(2) Programming Languages - compilers
(3) semiconductor memory
(4) portable memory -- diskettes, CD's
(5) GUI - dragged in the world to a relatively exclusive club
(6) ARPAnet - became Internet
(7) Broadband Digital communications

Very difficult to choose seven... here are some that I did not notice in the prior lists.

1. Card punches and punched cards
2. Stored programs
3. Assembly language
4. Compiled & Interpreted languages
3. Peripheral storage devices
4. Multiprogam computers
5. Parallel processing
6. Networking
7. Grid computing

My personal Top Ten...

1) Transistor (No more tubes!)
2) Time-sharing (No more punch-cards!)
3) MAC user interface (No more commands!)
4) VisiCalc (No more asking for help!)
5) Ethernet (No more wiring mess!)
6) Disk storage (No more waiting!)
7) Fortran (No more machine coding!)
8) The WWW (No more boundaries!)
9) iPod (No more commercials or lousy songs!)
10) Wireless (No more cables!)

"Wonder" , to be amazed to be awed. to admire..
normally a spectacular sight. e.i. The Grand Canyon,not the water that formed it.
Therefore my votes" not necessarily in order:
1. The Internet
2. Microsoft
3. Intel
4. Yahoo
5. EBAY
6. IEEE
7. Google

Claiming that the transistor or integrated circuit is a "wonder" is like an ancient Egyptian saying the same thing about the invention of the brick. True, these things make modern life possible, but they're things that we take for granted today. If you can take it for granted, you certainly don't wonder at it, do you?

Inventions are fine, but it's what people build with them that really matter. Two other people have mentioned SAGE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi_Automatic_Ground_Environment) and Bletchley Park -- I thik they have the right idea and I'd include them on my list. Others:

1. Public key encryption.
2. The relational database.
3. XML
4. The Internet
5. The IBM System 360

7 wonders of the Modern Computing World:

Personal computers - desktops/ laptops
Internet - world wide web
Satelites
Wireless/ mobile phones and computing - PDA's / blackberry
e-Commerce
Storage - flash drives/ usb drives
Search engines

7 wonders of the modern world:

Transistor radio
Solar energy usage
Television
Video/ dvd's
Calculator
Computers/ keyboard/ mouse
Microwave

The 7 Wonders of the Modern Computing World?

1) It's a wonder why a crazed C programmer never
killed Kernighan & Ritchie for making "="
and "==" mean different things.

2) It's a wonder why John McCarthy never received
royalties for each and every use of open and
closed parentheses.

3) It's a wonder why Richard Stallman didn't
start by building the kernel.

4) It's a wonder why we have fridge cams and
remote soda machine monitors accessible
from all over the planet.

5) It's a wonder why 7 years ago Florida was
using punch cards for its ballot system and
they caused the defeat of a proponent of
the Internet.

6) It's a wonder why we're still working on the
paperless office but we did make it possible
for hamsters to dance.

7) It's a wonder why no one's listed "FUBAR",
"RTFM", "BEGIN", "GOTO", or "main()" on
this thread.

Intel's Pentium processor ... the move from X86 architecture to a branded microprocessor created more consumer awarenesss in the mainstream - not just early technology adopters were interested in the PC anymore. This was an 'inflection point' as one of the company's founders, Andrew S. Grove, would say in his Hungarian accent.

The Pentium raised the bar for CPUs initially but I believe is one of the primary driving factors why our parents and grandparents have PCs at home and got the technology revolution started. -ld

1. The transistor
2. John Von Neumann?s idea of the stored program
3. The fortran compiler
4. Integrated circuits
5. The Turing machine
6. The GUI interface, it made computing available to the masses
7. The idea of the personal computer, it also made computing available to the masses

7. UNIVAC
6. The Apollo Project
5. Pong
4. Timex LED Wristwatch
3. Cray
2. PARC
1. Anything Apple by Jobs

I'd say one of the wonders of the computing world must be VIDEO CONFERENCING.. where it came from and where it is now.

- Dawn

Heck with the transistor, the vacuum tube! Without it, we wouldn't have awesome guitar solos in rock music. Transistors sound stale.

I haven't read all the notes, but I'm thinking Object Oriented Programming ought to be considered.

In no particular order:

VLSI Chip Fabs -- These billion+ dollar wonders create the incredibly complex microprocessors with insanely small feature sizes. This is the real bleeding edge of the modern computer hardware age.

VMS and VAXclusters -- This, unfortunately lost, technology represented the pinnacle of coordinated, layered and integrated operating system design not likely to be equaled in our lifetime. VMS and VAXclusters worked because of that design discipline and the willingness to take a clean-sheet-of-paper approach. With all due respect to Linus Torvalds outstanding stewardship, all the major operating systems today are hopelessly derivative and inherit too much uncoordinated design to achieve the elegance and simplicity of VMS.

The Cell Phone Network -- Ubiquitous telephone communication has changed the way we live, work, and socialize. 3G, video, and the next wanna-be "killer" handset application are irrelevant. The real wonder is anyone can talk to anyone else at any time and anywhere in the world.

Virtual Machines -- Virtual machines, though extant for decades in the mainframe world, have emerged as the new paradigm of computing. We noe literally have so much computing power in even our personal laptop machines that we can break it into smaller pieces to do with as we see fit. They are making the day when the question "what O/S are you running?" irrelevant, to be replaced by the question "how many O/Ss are you running?"

The world-wide credit card processing system -- Say what you will about their business practices, onerous fees, etc., the ability to travel a large percentage of the globe with nothing but a credit card and a passport is a wonder.

Relational Database Management Systems -- What started with rules from Code and Date has grown into one of the cornerstones of modern information technology. The very nature of the RDBMS has allowed it to be applied to the entire spectrum of data management applications at every scale from the PDA to credit card processing and fraud detection. While there are still all kinds of systems that exist on other information storage technologies, no other has proved to be as universal as the Relation Database.

Internet Search Engines -- The internet itself could be considered a wonder however, it's real utility is realized by the availability of the top search engines. Search engines make it possible to find products, services, people, and information in the giant sea of the web; they solve the proverbial "needle in a haystack" problem that would otherwise make the internet virtually useless. One of the more telling artifacts of the web is that, even after identifying the web site of interest, it is often easier to find the specific piece of information with Ask, Google, or Yahoo than by using the site's own "search" feature.

1. The internet - changed how we send and receive information/news/entertainment/advertising/etc. Has become a part of daily life. Just growing and becoming bigger.

2. Microsoft Windows - Although not the most efficient OS, it helped to usher in masses of people to home computing and office computing

3. Cray Computers - These supercomputers were used to create all types engineering studies and re-creations while at home the best we could do was play games with jagged edge "rendering".

4. Instant Messaging - Text, sound, video: conncted families and friends anywhere in the world when no other means were cost effective or affordable.

5. Wireless networking - To disconnect the cords and still connect made an amazing impact on computing.

6. Voice recognition - For those with accessibility issues to those who didn't feel like typing, voice recognition for computing helped to bring us one step closer to the science fiction reality of voice controlled computers

7. The mouse - Where would we be without this little 'point and click' device?

Other notables:

-WYSIWYG
-Digital imaging
-Handheld devices

I agree with most all the others, and that 7 is too few to recognize the all the Real Wonders.

My addition to the list: Frank Wanlass, the inventor and his invention: CMOS technology. Elegant, enabling... memorable!

The Personal Computer - brought computing to the masses and revolutionized the workplace.

GUI - goes hand-in-hand with bringing computing to the masses (i.e., no green screens)

Relational Database - Just about everything these days utilizes a relational database in some manner.

The internet and search engines - has changed the way people live through providing instant communication, instant information, instant independence.

Wonders are things that amaze you - make your jaw drop! I've closely watched the technical evolution for many years. These are the things I could never imagine 30 years ago, but are now taken for granted, but they still amaze me. While not all are 'computers' per se, they are all derived from computerization...

1. LCD Monitors - what a jump from the old b&w or 'green screen' monitors (or banks of flashing lights!)

2. Cell Phones - instant communication from and to just about anywhere, anytime! Look out, Dick Tracy! Your wrist radio now communicates with the world - not just your station!

3. Portable GPS Units - know exactly where you are or where something is in relation to your position any time you want. Even get directions to where you want to go!

4. USB 'Thumb' drives - who could've imagined - even five or six years ago - that you could carry dozens of gigabytes of data on something in your pocket smaller than a matchbook?

5. Voice recognition and text-to-speech - when's the last time you had a human operator answer a support line? Are you always able to tell the difference?

6. DVD Videos - movies and music concerts in your own home with theatre quality sound and picture!

7. Portable MP3 players - carry your entire music collection with you and listen to what you want when you want it.

I could go on, but these all still completely awe me. Most kids graduating from high schools today have never known life without these things. It's hard to believe that many hadn't even been imagined twenty years or so ago.

Nice post, Deb! Thanks!

In my opinion, they are:
1- DNA computer (imagine that you can have the whole information of the world in a grain size computer implanted in your hand that responds to your voice commands).

2- You Tube (It has changed the way news are made, now people can make the news).

3- Nano Technology (how about nano robots that can track your health changes and report it wirelessly to the nearest hospital).

4- RSS.

5- Wireless technology (RFID, WI-MAX,Zig Bee, wi-fi, wireless electricity charging, RFID future shop in Germany...etc.).

6- Google Earth.

7- Surface Computer.

1. The Microsoft windows - The comfort given to every novice to work on computers
2. The Unix - which gave raise to multi user,mutli session all whatever business computing needed, and above all FREE code to improve
3. The Silicon Chips which get faster and Faster
4. The Internet
5. E-commerce
6. The search Engines
7. The Brains which asked for the above and those which gave the above

The Commodore 64 broke the price barrier in the early 80s over the Apple 2. Almost the same machine at almost half the price.

1. Transister
2. The disipline of programming (code, compilers, alogrithms, etc)
3. The junk that make's Moore's theory a Law
4. Email
5. The protocols that digitize all formally analog information
6. IP
7. Hypertext

Way too early to tell.

Notice that both the first and new 7 wonders of the world specify structures, completed edifices. In computing - everything is still in flux and former "wonders" are now old hat (even when they led to newer, more spectacular "wonders"). The 7 Wonders of the world are "permanent" or at least very long-lived, computers and related technologies are transient.

Examples:
Great Wall of China - obsolete for it's original purpose but still is there, still is a wonder and in some cases is still repaired & maintained.

The Taj Mahal - Same story.

No computer, principle or other tech idea has achieved such permanence as something one can look at or visit or have present in some way for everyone, every day of the year.

We've been victimized by commercial tech hype and we victimize ourselves with arrogance into believing any of the things suggested for "wonders of computing" will last 1000 days, let alone 1000 years. Half the people in the world have not even seen a computer screen ("GUI") nor could they understand what they are seeing or make any use of it. They COULD see pictures of the Great Wall or the Taj Mahal and at least in theory could visit it and would UNDERSTAND what they saw and would know how to "use it."

To even think that computers are comparable to any version of "world wonders" is making the mistake of comparing apples to oranges. They are not the same thing.

When "computing" causes the appearance of a permanent "universal" human experience which eveyrone on Earth can access and understand - THAT will be the ONE wonder of computing. It is very unlikely there wll be SEVEN of that kind of thing in "computing." To know what the Taj Mahal of computing science will be... now that is something worth knowing!!

In reverse chronological order:

World Wide Web
The Internet
SQL

Fiber Optics
Integrated Circuits
Solid State Switching (The Transistor)

The General Purpose Computer

The process control computers produced by SDS, Scientific Data Systems, in the late 1960's and early 1970's were the leading edge in providing computer control of manufacturing processes.

After reading through most of these. I would say:
1. The Desktop PC begining with the Radio Shack TRS-80 and VisiCalc. A lot of small business's productivity was multiplied many times buy these tools.
2. Global Positioning System (GPS) Is one of the most enabling technologies of today. From the Road mates in cars, the handhelds to the Military use.
3. The Internet has opened up the world to so many people. Commerce and Communication alike.
4. The Windows Operating systems, regardless of where they started from.
5. Semiconductor Manufacturing, that builds the components for these systems
6. The Relational Database systems that tie the all of the Data in the World together and allow travel with only a Credit card and a Passport.
7. Simulators that allow testing and training to take place without the real world dangers.
8. Goggle Earth ? this one totally amazes me.
9. Video games, these must really be amazing by now.
10. Computer Aided Manufacturing

Moore's law

In reading all of the posts, it seems this could be divided into 4 categories ancient hardware/software and modern hardware/software. The ancient being 50 or so years ago (5000 technology years - according to one post). Many of these wonders are "virtual wonders" having no physical existence.

On the ancient side, (and this is probably mixed hardware and software) in no particular order:

1. ASCII Code - Bob Bemer 1963 - before ascii, computer makers invented their own system of representing information. Standards virtually always result in fundamental improvements. The ASCII code was, and to a large extent still is THE universal code for computers, without which communication between computers would not be where it is today.

2. Baudet Code - Jean-Marie Baudot 1873 - invented the 5 bit telegraphic alphabit which is the foundation of modern data communications. We still use his name to rate communication speed over telephone wires (baud rate).

3. The modem/ARPAnet and the X.25 standard - like so many inventions the modem and the internet have their origins in the military. These two inventions led directly to the internet. Of these two, the modem is by far the more significant as ARPAnet would not have been possible without it, although one might argue that ARPAnet was conceived first and the modem was invented to implement it. The X.25 communication standard led to public access to the networks and to the era of bulletin boards and Compuserve, as well as the invention of modern fax machines.

4. Mechanical analytic engine - Charles Babbage - a fundamental pre-cursor to the computer. This was the first introduction to the concept of a universal computing machine.

5. The Punch card - Herman Hollerith - originally designed for an automated loom in the 1800's and pressed into service as a data storage medium for Babbage's machine, it is a fundamental precursor to data storage.

6. The floppy disk - 1967/68 invented by a team headed by Dave Noble at IBM. The precursor to all modern computer mass storage. Magnetic tape was not as significant - the disk made possible RANDOM access to vast amounts of data.

7. The mouse, keyboard and numeric keypad as the standard computer Human Interface Device - Doug Englebart 1967 - although the usefulness of the mouse was not recognized until much later.

8. The OSI model - another invention arising out of the millitary and ARPAnet - although one might argue that OSI was somewhat descriptive at first rather than prescriptive, and therefore not as significant as the development of the various implementations of the layers. Nevertheless, the OSI model has been a fundamental guide in the development of modern computing technology, particularly the internet, and it is arguable that we would not have advanced as far as we have without it.

9. TCP/IP - like the development and almost unversal adoption of ASCII, the transition from ARPAnet and the hodgepodge of other networks led to development of the TCP/IP standard(s) which was a fundamental pre-cursor to the internet.

10. Bulletin Board Software/Compuserve - The private and public bulletin boards run by computer enthusiasts drove the popularity of sharing of information to critical mass needed to allow the internet to become what it is today. Compuserve was a huge milestone.

All of the developments listed are "wonders" in that the development of computer technology has transcended all geographic, political, ideological, and cultural boudaries. The progress has also continued in spite of, and in some cases because of human conflict.

As for modern wonders, I have only one for now, the OLPC project (One laptop per child) may be one of the most significant developments in the history of the planet! If this project can become a reality, I believe it has the possibility of drastically reducing illiteracy and poverty in the world.

I want to correct the note from Bill Thompson.
Vacuum tubes are called that because they are sealed and inside condition is in vacuum. Bugs cannot get inside.

Grace Hopper was early programmer on computer [not SAGE] that used relays for switching operations. A moth was found between a relay leafs. She removed it hence the term 'debugging'.
I have been programming computers for 49 years and still do. It is fun remembering the 'good old 'days' but programming today is a lot more interesting.
My first computer was Bendix G-15 that had a rotating drum of 2000 29 bit words of memory. That was it and NO software. All programming was in octal machine code.
Thanks
Ken Thompson

[1]the microprocessor
[2]the Dynamic memory allocation
[3] the multi-user operating system
[4] WAN, communications protocols
[5] Graphical user interface (GUI)
[6] Optic Fiber
[7] internet

binary man!!

we couldn't do nothing without it.

My pick is based in technology / computing innovations that have had bootstraping effect on the industry:

(1) Transistors - enabled future hightech development
(2) Windows Operating System - Mass Computing enabler
(3) Personal Computer - Computing power at your desk moved from the 4 block building
(4) The internet - Communication revolution. Caused massive Disintermediation and Business model disruption.
(5) Search Technology - Enables effective productivity boost
(6) Open source software and computing standards in general - power of community collaboration, such power has been witnessed in generations in mankind history
(7) Chip Manufactuting (the art of reducing the chip size) - has had a profound impact on what technology can do today, vastly reduced the physical footprint of circuits

1-Transistors - even though it's no the base of computers (valves where), they allowed mass production
2-IBM PC - first pc for people (not corporations)
3-Basic - even Fortran or C are much more powerful, it brought programming to regular people
4-DOS - what can I say, we used it for almost 20 years until Windows 2000 (like OS not program)
5-Instant messaging - I personally don't like it, but it's a revolution in communications.
6- Internet (www/mail/ftp/p2p/etc...) - this is the real new world order (or chaos)
7- VisiCalc, Wordstar and AutoCad

HAL9000

7 Wonders of the "Ancient" IT World:

1. First Transistor - The first root
2. First IC - Start of the era
3. ENIAC - First "computer" that did something useful
4. DEC VAX - first mainframe to not be despised
5. Osborne - (Early hobby PC)
6. IMSAI - (Early PC)
7. Commodore - first real affordable "home" computer

7 Wonders of "Modern" IT World:

1. Internet - Affects everyone, even my mother
2. Google - Is there something they don't affect?
3. Digital Signal Processing - Math theory put to use for manknd
4. Multi-Terabyte Supercomputers (U pick one) - Stretches the human mind in incomparable directions
5. GPS - Things from space that directly help us here on earth
6. Cell Phone - Hate 'em, but would you go without?
7. HDTV - Finally, a truely improved TV picture and sound experience

Assuming you have the givens of "transistors, mice, and Internet", I'd vote for RSS (Really simple syndication) for bringing Internet content to my machine instead of me having to go out searching for it daily.

The next time we revise the list? Multi-touch interfaces. I see them more than just an iPhone application, but as the replacement to the mouse.

Claude Shannon (Bell Laboratories). Besides Shannon's theory of communication, he published a classic paper "A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits." This paper pointed out the identity between the two "truth values" of symbolic logic and the binary values 1 and 0 of electronic circuits. Shannon showed how a "logic machine" could be built using switching circuits corresponding to the propositions of Boolean algebra. This paper along with von Neumann and Turing's pivotal papers established the framework for the entire computing world.

I've been in the computing arena for more than 20 years. In my career, computing really soared with the advent of personal computing. The next shift came with the globalization of the Internet. And my personal favorite, MP3 technology.

Porn.
Yup, had someone never figured out how to do a picture of a nude woman in ASCII characters for a printout back in the punch card days, (I saw the printout) sex might have never entered the picture (no pun intended) and billions of dollars would have never been spent to help develop the infrastructure that drives so much of the Internet today. Sex was one of the driving forces to develop better and better graphics cards.
Sad to say, the sex industry drove the development of home video, first with Beta machines, then the VCR, and now DVD's and now live streaming video.
It was not unusual back then for people to spend an hour downloading a single .gif file of a nude woman over a 300 baud modem. Heck, many people spent the big bucks to jump to 56K baud modems just to get their porn faster, and later upgraded to DSL to be able to view videos online.
Love it or hate it, you have to admit that wihout it, computers and the Internet wouldn't be where they are today.

I vote for:
FORTH, BASIC (C-64 BASIC was the best), Commodore64 (drove pc's to a higher standard and lower price),
Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter,
Big Trak (First toy you could program)

Binary logic. It still amazes me that to this day, it all comes down to 0's and 1's, True/False, Yes/No and the gathering of them together to create an interface, solve formulas, etc.

The wonder of it all? Why can't people do that?

1 Spreadsheet, Visicalc, 123
2 Wordprocessor, Wordstar
3 IBM
4 Transistor
5 Networking
6 Graphic Interface
7 Relational Database

Internet with everything that lies underneath and/or behind it (hardware and software), I guess this makes the list longer that 7. It summarizes the concept of global village putting those other wonders -old and new- just a click away.

1. x86
2. internet and high speed connection
3. microsoft --set standard for easy to use software and an example for other companies to follow
4. spreadsheet software
5. PDA(palm, blackberry, pocketpc)
6. instant messaging
7. google search

I nominate the COBOL programming language. I believe it still accounts for a very large amount of all code running today.

Since the Altair 8080, from Micro Instraments and Telemetry Systems (MITS), was the first available desktop programable computer that started the home computer revolution, I would place it on the list of the 7 wonders of the computing world.

UNIX should also be on the list as it is the most elegant of operatihng systems. The iPhone runs on UNIX.

Anything to do with Microsoft should definately not be on the list. Microsoft has worked hard to suppress inovation.

Next, both the operating system, now OS X, and the hardware definately belong on the list. Next created optical storage. NextStep was actually better than OS X.

Ted Nelson is another wonder. The inventor of HTML once said he only discovered it. Where would the Internet be without HTML?

Fiber Optics is another wonder. We would all be in the dark ages were it not for the dazeling speed of light. Can anyone imagine accessing the Internet with only slow copper as the backbone?

The laser is my final nomination to the list. Without the laser we would not be able to cut chips from wafers on which they are made. We would not be able to have CDs, DVDs, etc... How would we be able to print fast enough? There are just too many reasons why we would not be were we are in computing were it not for the very versitle laser.

Will not risk to venture opinion on Wonders 1-6, that's for braver souls, but No7 is surely DEC VAX VMS, the only operating system to EVER work without crashing 3 times daily !

1. The Integrated circuit
2. OS GUI
3. IP
4. Router
5. Fiber Optics
6. DVD
7. FLASH Memory
8. DSL
9. 10Gb Ethernet
10. EV-DO (3M now and with premises of GIG wireless)

1. The Integrated circuit
2. OS GUI
3. IP
4. Router
5. Fiber Optics
6. DVD
7. FLASH Memory
8. DSL
9. 10Gb Ethernet
10. EV-DO (3M now and with premises of GIG wireless)

So many great comments!

My favorite break throughs coming from a mainframe background and working my way out to PCs before they were networked has to include the advent of the LAN and using network cards to run 3270 emulation so we didn't have two cards in a PC - one for 3270 and one for the LAN. Also DOS 5 that gave us a real text editor and did away with that horror "edlin". Next up was the Macintosh, screen TOO small but wow! What an improvement over the DOS world Microsoft was still stuck in.

I admit I didn't read every single comment but at a glance I didn't see digital photography listed. I'm sure it must be here somewhere and if it isn't it should be. Talk about computing magic! Who would have guessed at what you can do with photography and printing - color laser - yummy yum!

1 Digital Audio - everyone becomes a producer and rapper
2 Digital Photography - everyone's a photographer and artist
3 Digital Video - everyone becomes a director and film critic
4 Cell Phones - connected anywhere, anytime
5 Wireless - computing goes everywhere
6 Flat screen monitors - computing becomes stylish
7 USB - is there anything that can't be run 3.5 volts and hooked up to a computer?

1.- Microchips
2.- Palm With cell phone (PAD/PC)
3.- Windows operating Sistem
4.- Internet
5.- Laptops
6.- E-goverment and E-Comerce
7.- PC-DOS...

A tough one...but here goes...

1. The Internet
- Not a solid product, no, and not a single invention, but would anyone argue it hasn't changed our world completely?

2. "Solid State" electronics (transistor / integrated circuit)
- Fundamental to any form of modern computing, from Blue Gene/L to the budget PC in Junior's room.

3. Apple
- Jobs and "The Woz" took what was essentially a hobbyist box and turned it into something else entirely. Then they gave the world the Macintosh and the GUI.

4. Microsoft
- Say what you want, without this behemoth, the PC and tech landscape would be very, very different.

5. Commodore 64
- Many of its technologies were ideas ahead of their time - and it outsold Apple!

6. ENIAC
- Okay, perhaps it wasn't the first, but it was the first programmable electronic digital computer to be built and used regularly. As such, it set the stage for what would follow.

7. The Analytic Engine
- Yeah, much of it's design had to be "re-invented", and it was never fully constructed, but, Babbage's Baby deserves its rightful place in computerdom.

What did I miss? CP/M (The foundation for the future design of Intel-based computers), John von Neumann (von Neumann architecture ["stored program computer"], game theory, and a lot of other stuff), Fortran (the first true high-level computer language), the MIPS Altair 8800 (the "box" that started the micro revolution)...the list is long.

My vote for the seven wonders is.....

Steve Jobs

Steve Wozniak

Bill Gates

All the software and hardware engineers who developed the semi-conductor industry and made computing possible! Thanks Guys!

IBM for making the world safe for cloning.

DARPA and FIDO NET

The Internet as we know it.

Token Ring Adapter. Without it in 1960 there would be no internet today.

I have trouble culling to seven. Here is my list. Hardware:
1. Integrated Circuits -reliability and miniturization
2. 8086 - Computer on a chip
3. Fiber Optics - lots and lots of bandwidth
4. Internet (is it hardware, software or a combination of both.

Software:
1. OS/360 - first commercially available OS that was very multipurpose
2. PC/MS DOS really led the PC revolution.
3. Relational Databases
4. Browser Technology (WWW) - made the internet usable by the masses.

All the different ways you can spell viagra!

IP v6
Fiber Optics
Web 2.0
Adobe Acrobat

On the software side, the following killer apps should be contenders:

the spreadsheet
email
the web browser

If not already brought up: the 0 0 0 's and 1 1 1's Binary Number system is First, without, nothing else works

It seems to me if we are discussing Modern Wonders of the Computer World, then they have to be things that we can see/use today and not simply historic things that laid the ground work for computing so:

1) The Internet
2) Fortran
3) HTTP/HTML
4) GIF compression
5) SMTP
6) IPv6
7) Cobol

I wanted to clear up a misconception I saw in an earlier posting:

"VMS and VAXclusters -- This, unfortunately lost, technology ..."

Both VMS (now called OpenVMS) and VAXclusters (now called VMSclusters) are alive and thriving on VAX, Alpha, and Itanium Systems. They may be among "the best-kept secrets in computing," but they're far from lost.

My list in no particular order.

VISICALC the original killer app
VMS still best OS
ALPHA PROCESSOR consistently fastest for over a decade
INTERNET great utilty, amazing amount of human coordination, yet remarkably distributed
HTML killer app #2
DEC ENGINEERING CULTURE a little bit of PARC and Bell Labs and a lot of application resulting in products
RDBMS the foundation for organizing data
ETHERNET right technology at the right time
IBM 360 the original computer architecture, which is responsible for it's long life
PDP-11 another long-lived architecture and the one that introduced computers into new places

1. The transistor
2. The printed circuit board
3. Microprocessors
4. Spreadsheets and word processors
5. Networking (Ethernet, TCP/IP)
6. The Internet
7. E-mail
8. Wireless communication (couldn't stop at 7)

With Credit to Dan McGarigle and slightly modified:

I think the 7 Most Transformative HARDWARE Wonders were

1. Jacquard's Loom
2. Hollerith's Punched Card
3. Eckert & Mauchly's ENIAC
4. IBM's 650 & 704 computers for business usage
5. Jack Kilby & Texas Instruments' Integrated Circuit
6. IBM System/360 mainframe from Gene Ahmdal
7. Intel's ubiquitous 8086 and PARC's mouse

and the 7 Most Transformative SOFTWARE Wonders were

1. The using of the punched card
2. von Neumann's programmed machine
3. IBM's OS/360 - 1st multiple-platform, and variable devices, OS
4. DEC VAX 11/780 & VMS - 1st effective virtualization of a computing environment
5. Apple's GUI
6. IBM's and Codd & Date's Relational Data Base
7. Tim Berners-Lee's Internet

The 7 Wonders of the Modern Computing World.

To prepare my list, I began with the observation that people elected 7 incomparable man-made structures. These monumental structures represent the collaboration of ideas, invention of materials and techniques as well as significant skilled human labor.

The computing world is still evolving, so in my opinion the wonders are still works in process. Abstracting this observation and applying it to the modern computing world, my list would look like this:

1. Central Computing: ENIAC, UNIVAC, IBM main frame and mini computers, and the ongoing evolution of related hardware, software and technology advances.

2. Personal Computing: Mitac, Commodore, Apple, IBM, HP, Intel, AMD, DELL, Toshiba, Sony, PC Clones, MS-DOS, Basic, GUI/Windows, and the ongoing evolution of related hardware, software and technology advances. iPod, Tablet PC, Personal eBook reader

3. Internetworking (fixed wire/fiber infrastructure) – Bulletin Boards, Compuserve, Ethernet, WWW, TCP/IP, AOL,Netscape, Google, eBay, YouTube, MP3,VOIP , and the ongoing evolution of related hardware, software and technology advances

4. Distributed Computing, client/ server, parallel computing, collaborative computing, Unix, Windows NT, Netware, Apple (Mac),

5. Wireless - cellular phone and related cell-based networks, text messaging, cameras, GPS, satellite technologies, broadband access – anywhere, anytime communications paradigm. Motorola, Apple iPhone.

6. Microsoft – proprietary collaboration: Bill Gates, Paul Allen, operating systems, desktop applications, software development tools and methods, small business and enterprise applications, hardware advancements, re-defining market leadership, eat-your-own-dog-food, commitment to excellence/constant improvement, r & d investment, Gates Foundation.

7. Linux - open source collaboration: Linus Torvald, GNU public licensing model, operating systems, desktop applications, software development tools and methods, small business and enterprise applications, hardware advancements, re-defining free-market leadership, commitment to collaborative excellence/constant process improvement, open innovation.

7, hey?!?

Let's start with the absolute number one!

1. Electricity (duhhh, obvious)
2. The human mind and his will to copy and automate his own charateristics / make his dreams come true.
3. Murphy's law (without it, evolution probably would already have ended)
4. Star Trek (count the inventions in that series we're using today as common....you'll be amazed..)
5. And i'm not proud to say this, War... The need for development grows mega in these periods. The truth is, some very good developments are born in the hour of our greatest need.
6. Miniaturisation of electronic parts.
7. As a former system admin, and this is my true believe, the O/S OpenVMS. Still unhacked, rocksolid, scalable, and so on, and so on. There isn't anything better today.

OpenVMS - Operating system of Gods...

1) Univac, the first commercial computer.

2) COBOL, a business programming language.

3) The PDP series of DEC computers made office computers affordable.

4) The Intel 8080 chip led the way for personal computers

5) Tha Apple Lisa, first personal computer with a GUI.

6) The Columbia Data Products MPC 1600, the first commercially available IBM clone was the forerunning to a number of huge clone-producting companies, such as Dell, Gateway, etc.

7) The VMScluster, origianlly called the VAXcluster, is still the gold standard for clusters.

I think that computer has changed our lives so subtly and wonderfully that even without realizing we are reaping its fruits in every field of Science & Technology and every walk of life. Therefore, the list is so huge but I shall only highlight the different affected areas and fields out of which judging which one is wonder and which is not remains only matter of personal choice and one's attachment to a particular area, field or gadget. Following is the list:

1) INFORMATION/COMMUNICATION TECHNLOGY
i) LAPTOP COMPUTER
ii)WINDOWS OS's
iii) INTERNET
iv) WORLD WIDE WEB
v) SEARCH ENGINES
vi) WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY viz. Firewire, Bluetooth, Zigbee, WiFi & WiMax etc.
v) Virus
vi) Biomatrix

2) TRANSORTATION
i) Air Bus 340/370 & Boeing 737/747 series Aircrafts.
ii) Choppers
iii) Magnetic Levitated Trains
iv) Advanced Navgational Systems Employed in most of the transporting means specially in ships which are realized due to GPS.

3) MASS PRODUCTION
i) CAD/CAM
ii) INDUSTRIAL PROCESS CONTROL (Here I belong)
iii) ROBOTICS

4) HI TECH
i) Satellites
ii) Space Shuttle
iii) Planetary Probes
iv) War Weapons in general and specially Jet Fighters, Choppers, Carriers and Subs.

5) CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
i) Electronic Watch
ii) Laptop computer & Accessories.
iii) ATM Machine
iv) Digital Camera
v) Cell Phone
vi) Digital Audio Video Players of all type.
vii) LCD Full HD Panels/TV's.

6) HEALTH/MEDICAL/EMERGENCY/SAFETY
i) MRI
ii) BioMedical Intruments and Systems in general and specially Patient Monitoring Systems and Robotic Cum Endoscopic Operating Systems.
iii) Laser Surgery
iv) Bionic/Sensory Implantations for the Disables of various nature.
v) Weather, Earthquake and other Natural Disaster Mnitoring Systems.
vi) Advance/Smart Fire Detection & Fighting Sytems.
vii) BioMatrix Systems.

7) RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
1) Super Computers.
ii) Particle Accelerators.
iii) Human Genome Project.
iv) AIDS/CANCER & other Desease Research Projects.
v)International Space Station (This is my Choice. Even being at zero gravity has much attraction for me).
v) Hubble Space Telescope
vi) Space Misions & Probes.

Although the list is not so complete but is enough to give an idea to us what marvels modern Computer has done to us. In the last, I would like to appreciate all contributors for bringing computer upto todays level. Whether those are individuals or organations, I salute them all.

You're kidding!

All these dudes lining up to answer this, and not a one says

unlimited free porn

Of course, you guys are the professionals. Maybe you found the limit?

The configured multimedia phone .. voice, data and video on a handset ... on your horizon now...

cheers,
Gary

My first choice goes to the ABC or the Atanasof Berry Computer. That was the first digital computer, fitting as it were between holerinth cards and the Eniac. There were analog computers before that. I believe it was also the first stored program computer.

My choice for second would be Blaze Pascal and Lady Lovelace and their work, but I don't suppose you'd call them wonders of modern computing.

1. Transistor
2. Microprocessor
3. Personal Computers
4. GUI-based OS
5. Mouse
6. User-friendly Software
7. Internet

Compression algorithms.
Think about what compressing music into an .mp3 file did to and for the music industry. Without compression, the iPod probably would have never been built, and Internet Radio would not have been invented. 100Mb for a single .wav song verses 4Mb for the same song in .mp3 format is a big difference.
Now, with better and better video compression, sites like You Tube and Google video can send millions of videos out each day. As little as ten years ago, this technology didn?t exist. Now thousands of people actually get their news broadcasts on line while multi-tasking, instead of having to plop down on the couch while munching chips.

My favorites (no particular order)

- Blaise Pascal & Ada Byron. They develloped boolean algebra WAY before machines to use it were built. (Both have a programming language named in their honour)

- Douglas Hofstadter's Goedel, Escher, Bach
Gives _DEEP_ insight in meta data constructs and algorithms. Dates from 1979 and is still very modern.

- (Open-)VMS & VMS clustering. Any other OS boasting over 10 year uptime with all hardware and software being replaced on the fly?

- Bill Gates & Microsoft - They educated "the world" to accept that computers can and will crash, and that you just have to accept your data being damaged or lost.

- DEFCON 9 - Thousends of hackers trying to hack or crack each others systems. After 2 days the game masters had to declare OpenVMS "Cool and Unhackable"

Updated the map page to use Google maps. You can now link right to Google maps and enter your address for directions, zoom in and out, use the terrain setting or satellite setting.

Countries like Canada, Sweden, and South Korea have better, faster Internet connections. People in Japan can download an entire movie in just two minutes, but it can take two hours or more in the United States. Yet, people in Japan pay the same as we do in the U. S. for their Internet connection. Not only do they have the technology for higher speeds, but a larger percentage of people in those countries have access to high speed connections. The United States has fallen to 16th place behind other...