This year is our 36th year in business, and how things have certainly changed in those times! CTS were founded in 1986 but we thought we would take a look at the decade that they really took off and reminisce.

1990 – The World Wide Web was born!

The 90’s was the time when World Wide Wide was born. Many had tried but failed due because of security breaches, limited funding or complexity, the bottom line was that you’d need a genius to make it work. Good thing Tim Berners-Lee was on the case! To cut a long story short, the secret ingredient to success was HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocols) which he created in just 3 months! With that in hand, Tim Berners-Lee had everything he needed to officially launch the first truly global, accessible network in the world.

1991 – Linux was here!

There are 2 things a successful operating system needed in the 90s: a great user experience a mascot. The Linux OS, invented by Linus Torvald, perfected both by taking a totally different approach to what the competition was doing. How did it do this? By ditching the annoying Clippy for their penguin mascot named Tux and by going open-sourced.

These day’s we are very familiar with open-sourced software in 2020 but back then this was an extremely bold move. The Linux Kernel itself was the piece that a user downloaded, similar to a blank canvas with just enough code to get started. From there, users could program literally anything they wanted into their operating system.

But what does Linux do for us now?

• 85% of all smartphones use Linux
• 100% of supercomputers run on Linux
• Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Shrek and Titanic’s CGI were done with Linux
• 90% of all cloud infrastructure is Linux based

1993 – Pentium Processes Rule!

We know full well that that everyone had at least some working knowledge about computers. People wanted to know that their computer was powered by the best technology available.

Enter the era of absolutely wild hardware advertisements! The biggest offender being Intel’s Pentium range of processors.

1995- Hello Java

As a programming language, its “Build Once, Run Anywhere” design made it the weapon of choice for cross-platform, multi-channel, and database software around the world. Choosing to go object-oriented in its design, it also made legacy code quite a bit easier to handle further down the line. Today, Java has some really tough competition (with Ruby and Python which are the most popular) and it’s a language that you either love or love to hate.

While we’re in the 90s, let’s talk about the most important thing for any company at the time. Java’s mascot: Duke. A character designed by Joe Palrang who would later design familiar Dreamwork’s characters like Shrek.

1999 –  Welcome home Wifi

Wifi for us is a kind of middle ground when we talk about technological advancement but it does deserve an honourable mention. Essentially, Wifi has created the most complete, connected network of computers that has ever existed. From anywhere, at any time, you can access a world of information from whatever device you happen to be carrying at the time.

For business purposes or organisational processes on the move, this is perfect. For your average, everyday human interactions, it can get in the way.

To see some of our past advertising and history, take a look here: