From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog

A History of the Software Industry (History of Computing)

Hardcover, 388 pages

English language

Published March 1, 2003 by The MIT Press.

View on OpenLibrary

3 stars (1 review)

From its first glimmerings in the 1950s, the software industry has evolved to become the fourth largest industrial sector of the US economy. Starting with a handful of software contractors who produced specialized programs for the few existing machines, the industry grew to include producers of corporate software packages and then makers of mass-market products and recreational software. This book tells the story of each of these types of firm, focusing on the products they developed, the business models they followed, and the markets they served.

By describing the breadth of this industry, Martin Campbell-Kelly corrects the popular misconception that one firm is at the center of the software universe. He also tells the story of lucrative software products such as IBM's CICS and SAP's R/3, which, though little known to the general public, lie at the heart of today's information infrastructure.

With its wealth of industry data and its …

3 editions

Subjects

  • Computing and Information Technology
  • History of specific subjects
  • Information technology industries
  • Computer Industry (Economic Aspects)
  • Software Development
  • Business & Economics
  • Business / Economics / Finance
  • Business/Economics
  • Corporate & Business History - General
  • History
  • Industries - Computer Industry
  • Technology / Social Aspects
  • Industries - General
  • Programming - Software Development
  • Computer software industry