BOSS turns eight!

Today is Birmingham Open Source Solution’s eighth birthday, and during our time we’ve seen a massive changes in computer technology and how we use it.

When we first started, the iPhone 3GS was the latest model from Apple (the iPhone 4 is younger than us by just a few months!), the first iPad was only about a week old, and Google was on the brink of releasing Android 2.2 (Froyo was released almost exactly one month after the company was formed). There was no support for NFC (it was added in Android 2.3), and the Bluetooth 4.0 specification had yet to be officially adopted. Angry Birds was still new and hot, Fruit Ninja was released on the same day, and Cut the Rope had yet to hit the App Store.

On the desktop, Microsoft Windows was at version 7, Mac OS was at 10.6 Snow Leopard. We were still running 1st generation Intel Core or AMD Turion processors, with 2 to 4 GB of RAM, and 250GB or 500GB hard disks (yes, the old “spinning rust” types!). 2010 was the mid-point for games consoles, almost exactly half-way between the XBox 360 and the XBox One, the Playstation 3 and the Playstation 4, and the Nintendo Wii and the Wii U.

In terms on Internet technology, OpenStack had yet to make its initial release, npm had only just been released, PHP was at version 5.3, MySQL was shipping at 5.1 (but MariaDB just released their 5.2!) and MongoDB at version 1.5. Laravel didn’t exist, CodeIgniter still hadn’t reach 2.0, AngularJS was still waiting for an initial release, and ReactJS was still cooking privately in the labs at Facebook.

Is anyone else feeling particularly old right now? 🙂

Having seen the rise and fall of so many different technologies and methodologies, we’re just as keen to see what the next eight years brings. As we approach the upper limits of our current processor technologies, quantum computing may start to become more mainstream. We rely more and more on artificial intelligence to manage our lives, and the capabilities of these digital helpers will only grow. Technology is helping us to live longer, be healthier, be more connected with the world around us, entertain us and inform us.

But we’re not just going to sit back and watch from the sidelines – BOSS is committed to working with the latest and greatest, even before they’ve achieved fame and glory. We love working with startups, and with established organisations, to bring their new ideas and products to life. We can bring our knowledge and experience into your projects, to avoid mistakes from the past and to choose the best path forwards, from initial planning to final release. Get in touch and find out how we can work together to make your project a success.