Best and worst products, 1996-2006
Published: 13 Jul 2006
BEST PRODUCTS, 1996-2006
Google
Search engine
What would we do without Google? The market-leading search engine, founded in 1998, dominates to the extent that it has become a verb ('I'll just Google that'), having seen off the previous search leader, Alta Vista, and kept challengers like Yahoo! and MSN at bay. Initially characterised by an uncluttered interface and a unique search algorithm (PageRank), Google added keyword-linked advertisements in 2000, giving it a viable business model.
Thanks to the company's 'twenty percent' initiative (engineers are urged to spend 20 percent of their time working on individual projects), Google has also developed a wide range of ancillary products, including Gmail, Google Earth, Google Desktop, Google Page Creator, Google Calendar and Google Spreadsheets. Along with the bought-in Writely word processor, Google's roster of Web-based programs can now provide an (albeit considerably less feature-laden) alternative to many of Microsoft's productivity applications.
Returning to the core search engine, though: we can't think of a single product or service that has had more impact on all of our daily lives over the last ten years.
Intel Centrino
Mobile computing platform
The modern mobile landscape began to take shape in March 2003, when Intel launched a major redesign of its notebook platform, which it called Centrino. When the speeds, feeds and features were digested, and the notebooks tested, even seasoned and cynical Intel-watchers had to admit that the combination of the Israeli-designed Pentium M (Banias) processor, the 855 chipset and the PRO/Wireless 2100 Network Connection was a winner. Notebook performance and battery life were both improved, and (802.11b) Wi-Fi was both integrated and considerably more user-friendly than before. Intel's mobile platform has since moved on, through Sonoma and Napa, and remains ahead of anything its rival AMD can come up with.
VMWare
Virtualisation software
There's something peculiarly satisfying about the fact that one of the most important developments in modern computer technology is something that barely exists. Virtualisation is yet another idea nicked from mainframes, and one based on the simple observation that everything in computers is logic or data -- both of which can be expressed in hardware or software. Take something that used to be just hardware -- a processor, for example -- and express it in software, and you can do all those lovely software things with it like duplicate it, back it up, stop it and start it at will. Security attack? Just delete the computer and restore it. And you can multitask it, managing it with far greater precision than you ever could an obdurate chip.
VMWare is the best exemplar of this, not just because its technology works -- although it does, quite magnificently. You can run virtual Windows under Linux, Unix under Windows, Linux under Windows under Linux. The best thing about VMWare is that it's got the hang of giving the basics away while concentrating on the hard problems of manageability and enterprise-level functionality. Thus, one of virtual computing's biggest problems -- getting people to understand what's happening and why it's important -- turns into a matter of cheap experimentation and self-education, while the real money rolls in as the message gets out.
Mac OS X
Operating system
As the huddled masses of Windows users endure the seemingly interminable wait for Vista, it's all too easy to forget that the Apple Mac faithful have had an OS with many of Vista's advantages for some time now. Built on technology developed by NeXT (Steve Jobs's first post-Apple project), Mac OS X 10.0 (codenamed Cheetah) made its debut on the desktop in March 2001, and is now on version 10.4 (Tiger), with 10.5 (Leopard) waiting to pounce. Fancy graphical interface with transparency and other 'eye candy'? Vista's Aero is playing catch-up with OS X's Aqua. Mini-applications that run right on the desktop? For Vista's forthcoming Sidebar and Gadgets, read OS X's well-established Dashboard and Widgets. Advanced desktop search? Mac OS X has had Spotlight since 10.4 Tiger came out in April 2005. We could go on. And on.
RIM BlackBerry
Smartphone with push email
Today's mobile professionals primarily require 'live' email on the move, and RIM (Research in Motion) was the first to supply this, via its BlackBerry smartphones and BlackBerry Enterprise Server software. BlackBerry technology is now found on a variety of third-party devices, and the back-end platform can deliver a range of other enterprise applications and data to the smartphones. For some workers, BlackBerry and its technology has been as life-changing -- and addictive -- as Google.
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