Digital Innovation Days
39 episodes - English - Latest episode: 11 months ago -Impactful digital innovation that happened on this day.
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Episodes
1 April 2004 - Gmail launch
April 01, 2024 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.93 MBWhen Gmail was launched on the 1st of April, 2004, many considered it to be a huge joke by Google. Today, this free email service boasts a user-base of 1.8 billion users worldwide. Written in Java, C++, and JavaScript, Gmail is available in 105 languages. Gmail came with vast storage, a fresh new interface, and instant search, among other existing features. Initially, Gmail was an invite-only service and until 2007, users could sign up only through invites. From the very start, Google striv...
31 March 1951 - First commercial computer unveiled
March 31, 2024 09:00 - 2 minutes - 2.01 MBAs the U.S. Census Bureau signed the contract for the first commercially produced digital computer in the U.S., it marked the beginning of a new era in technology. Short for “Universal Automatic Computer”, UNIVAC was dedicated a few months later and was able to perform classification for an average citizen, classifying them into categories of sex, age, marital status, birthplace, residence, education, and employment, etc. At the time of its creation, it was the fastest business machine built...
21 March 2006 - Tweeter founded
March 21, 2024 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.9 MBWith the first-ever tweet made by Jack Dorsey, co-founder and CEO of Twitter, on the 21st of March, 2006, the immensely popular social media platform was launched. Interestingly, this tweet was sold for $2.9 million early in 2021 with its buyer Malaysian-based Sina Estavi likening it to Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. The tweet, which said “just setting up my twttr”, laid the foundation to what has now become a company with a market capitalisation of around $50 billion. Today, Twitter boasts ...
12 March 2008 - Hulu launch
March 12, 2024 09:00 - 2 minutes - 2.01 MBWhen Hulu launched for the general public on the 12th of March, 2008, it offered access to all within the United States. Previously, a beta version of this video streaming platform had also been privately launched. Although Hulu offered only a selection of content (television shows, films, and news) free of cost, users could now watch content on the internet without paying satellite television or cable providers. It took this website only a year to become the fourth-largest video site in the...
2 March 1995 - Yahoo! official launch
March 02, 2024 09:00 - 2 minutes - 2.07 MBFounded by David Filo and Jerry Yang, graduate students at Stanford University, Yahoo! was incorporated on the 2nd of March, 1995. Initially, the site was called “Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web” but as it grew in popularity, it was renamed Yahoo!, an acronym for “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle”. Back then, it was only meant to be a useful guide to navigate the world wide web, and not a business. Today, Yahoo! provides users with information, online utilities, and ac...
22 February 1999 - First internet-only bank
February 22, 2024 02:00 - 2 minutes - 1.98 MBOn the 22nd of February, 1999, the First Internet Bank of Indiana (First IB) opened its virtual doors to the public. This was the first state-chartered FDIC-insured institution to operate only through the internet. Marketed as the first “extended value online bank”, it provided a full range of real-time internet banking products as well as personalised interactive services. Today, it offers services in all 50 states where customers can have checking and savings (both regular and money market...
16 February 1984 - IBM portable PC introduced
February 16, 2024 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.89 MBThe introduction of the IBM Portable Personal Computer 5155 - a product whose roaring success surprised many, including IBM itself - on the 16th of February, 1984 popularised personal computers for everyday use. Weighing about 30 pounds, this computer had the following specifications: built-in ROM Basic, 256K memory standard, 9-inch 25x80 monochrome amber screen which could display graphics, DOS, and Intel 8088 4.77MHz CPU. The keyboard could be detached or folded and snapped shut in the cas...
8 February 2005 - Google Maps launch
February 08, 2024 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.75 MBThe revolutionary launch of Google Maps on the 8th of February, 2005, transformed the way we use maps for directions and navigate the world with our smartphones. Initially, it was launched for desktop as a solution for people to get from one point to another. Today, it’s a gateway to exploration - whether you are travelling by car, bike, public transport, boat, wheelchair, or on foot. Google Maps makes use of a combination of data sources such as aggregate location data, real-time users fee...
4 February 2004 - Facebook launch
February 04, 2024 09:00 - 3 minutes - 2.21 MBFacebook was founded on the 4th of February, 2004, as “The facebook” by Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Chris Hughes, and Dustin Moskovitz, following the high popularity of Facemash. In 2003, these four Harvard students created Facemash, an online service to judge and rate how attractive their fellow students were. The pictures received 22,000 votes from 450 students. However, since this was in violation of the university rules, Facemash was shut down after just two days. Zuckerberg, howev...
22 January 1984 - Macintosh introduced
January 22, 2024 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.88 MBThe introduction of Macintosh by Apple on the 22nd of January, 1984, revolutionised the computing industry by making computers easy to use for any and everyone, not just experts. The Macintosh, or Mac as it is now known, is a series of several lines of personal computers, developed by Apple. The original Macintosh was the first commercially successful personal computer that included two known yet unpopular features at the time - mouse and graphical user interface (GUI) instead of the command...
15 January 2001 - Wikipedia goes online
January 15, 2024 09:00 - 2 minutes - 2.01 MBOn the 15th of January, 2001, Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger launched Wikipedia, a free and collaborative online encyclopedia. Written and edited by the internet community, it is the largest of its type of websites and is available in over 300 languages besides English. With more than 6.3 million articles and 42 million users, it is ranked among the most visited sites on the internet today. In 2000, Bomis, a web advertising firm owned by Jimmy Wales, among others, launched Nupedia. This was a...
9 January 2007 - Apple introduces iPhone
January 09, 2024 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.83 MBThere are very few technological events in recent history that can rival the introduction of the iPhone by Apple on the 9th of January, 2007. Dubbing it the “reinvention of the phone”, the company claimed that it was a revolutionary product that was five years ahead of any other mobile phone. Starting at $499, this first-generation iPhone offered a 3.5-inch diagonal screen, had a 2-megapixel camera, and featured the then-new multitouch features. This device was marketed as a combination of t...
3 January 2009 - Bitcoin launched
January 03, 2024 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.96 MBWhen Bitcoin was created by its mysterious pseudonymous developer Satoshi Nakamoto on the 3rd of January, 2009, the world was introduced to a completely new form of currency - cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is a form of binary data which acts as a payment medium. Since then, thousands of cryptocurrencies have been launched taking the current total to over 7,812. However, Bitcoin remains the most popular and traded cryptocurrency in the industry. In fact, the price movement of Bitcoin strongl...
1 January 1985 - Domain Name System created
January 01, 2024 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.68 MBThe creation of the Domain Name System (DNS) on the 1st of January, 1985 transformed the way the internet was browsed. Essentially the phonebook of the internet, the DNS allowed users to access information using domain names instead of IP addresses. Each machine or device connected to the internet has a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address that is used to find and interact with a particular device. These IP addresses can be in the IPv4 format (such as 192.168.1.1) or the newer, alphanumeri...
24 December 1990 - First ever web server release
December 24, 2023 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.76 MBWhen the world’s first ever web server (http://info.cern.ch/) went live at CERN (the European Organisation for Nuclear Research) on the 24th of December, 1990, it marked the creation of one of the four essentials of the World Wide Web: HTML, web protocol, web browser, and web server. Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, set up a NeXT computer at CERN as the first ever server. However, this web server was more of a small intranet for information sharing among CERN physicists r...
18 December 1987 - First release of Perl
December 18, 2023 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.74 MBLarry Wall released the general-purpose programming language Perl on the 18th of December, 1987. It was meant to offer text manipulation, web development, network programming, system administration, and Graphics User Interface (GUI) development, among other tasks. With its tagline, “easy things should be easy and hard things should be possible”, Perl was designed to make computer programming easier and faster. With the advent of the web, Perl also gained momentum. In fact, it became the dom...
11 December 2008 - Google releases Chrome
December 11, 2023 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.72 MBGoogle marked the release of its web browser on the 11th of December, 2008, when it launched the first stable public version of Chrome. Although the tech giant had previously released 3 versions for testing, they were beta versions. With the release of version 1, Chrome entered a market where users were growing frustrated with Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox was gaining momentum. By 2013, Chrome was dominating the web browser industry, clearly surpassing Internet Explorer and Firefox. ...
2 December 1991 - Apple releases QuickTime
December 02, 2023 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.65 MBOn the 2nd of December, 1991, Apple released its first public version of QuickTime and brought video to Mac users. This original version contained graphics, animations, and video codecs and garnered Apple much popularity as a leading multimedia technology giant. Though it was a huge win for the company, the reason QuickTime was highly celebrated at its release is that it brought videos to personal computers, a major ambition in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Since bringing video to persona...
22 November 2005 - Xbox 360 release
November 22, 2023 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.77 MBThe Xbox 360 was released on the 22nd of November, 2005, to glowing reviews and stellar sales. In fact, the launch event was a wild time in itself with a Best Buy representative announcing that everyone who wanted an Xbox 360, would be able to leave with one. This happened at the “Zero Hour” event in the Mojave Desert where Microsoft launched its new Xbox. This seventh generation video game console is the successor to the original Xbox and competed with Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s w...
19 November 2007 - Amazon introduces Kindle
November 19, 2023 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.66 MBWhen the Kindle by Amazon went on sale on the 19th of November, 2007, it entered a market where tablets, phones, personal computers, and e-readers existed. Notwithstanding, this device was sold out within 5.5 hours and was even dubbed the “iPod of reading”. Then what was so revolutionising about this e-reader? Kindle’s main aim was to bring books to people and this is one goal that it has consistently stuck by and which has allowed it to evolve through all these years. This device was never ...
12 November 1990 - World Wide Web conception
November 12, 2023 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.87 MBThe idea for the world wide web officially surfaced on the 12th of November, 1990, when Tim Berners-Lee, the British computer scientist who invented the world wide web, submitted a proposal for a hypertext project. This was termed “WorldWideWeb” (W3). At this point, Berners-Lee was working at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, and this project was meant for automated information-sharing between scientists in universities and other institutes around the world. Almost three ...
5 November 2007 - Android introduction
November 05, 2023 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.82 MBThe world’s most used mobile operating system, Android, was launched on the 5th of November, 2007, with the release of the Android beta version. It is primarily an operating system for cellular phones and tablet computers. The idea behind Android began as early as 2003 when Android Inc., an American technology company, started working to develop an operating system for a digital camera. However, the plan soon changed to an operating system for a smartphone. In 2005, Google bought Android In...
23 October 2001 - iPod launch
October 23, 2023 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.88 MBOn the 23rd of October, 2001, Apple Inc. started its line of portable media players with the release of the iPod. With its tagline of “1,000 songs in your pocket”, this device came with a 2-inch 160x128 pixel screen, included a state-of-the-art 5 GB hard drive, used a scroll wheel for user interface, and had a battery life of 10 hours. Initially, the iPod was released for the Macintosh platform but in the next year, the company introduced a version for the Windows operating system as well. ...
18 October 1958 - World's first video game developed
October 18, 2023 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.81 MBOn 18th October 1958, physicist William Higinbotham developed what is considered the world’s first video game - an invention that would later lead to a $180 billion industry. Called “Tennis for Two'', this was an electronic tennis game with controllers connected to an analogue computer. An oscilloscope served as the screen which could display different curves including the path of the bouncing ball (just a dot). A knob was used to adjust the angle of the ball and a button was pushed to throw...
13 October 1983 - First commercial cell phone network went online
October 13, 2023 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.74 MBWith more mobile connections than humans in the world today, it is difficult to imagine a time without cell phones. However, it was nearly 4 decades ago, on 13th October, 1983 when the first commercial cell phone was launched by Ameritech, which is now a part of AT&T. While the world of cellular connections has reached 5G technology today, it started with a simple 1G network. Advanced Mobile Phone System or APMS went online in Chicago first where people could make and receive calls. The fir...
6 October 2010 - Instagram launch
October 06, 2023 09:00 - 2 minutes - 2.08 MBWhen Instagram was launched on the 6th of October, 2010, many disregarded it as just another photo-sharing application that would sooner rather than later fizzle out. However, its co-founder Kevin Systrom believed that the visual medium held an untapped market and foresaw immense technological growth in this domain. This proved true when within its first week, 100,000 people were using Instagram and by December 2010, the application had over a million accounts. The platform had such a remark...
21 May 1952 - IBM announces its first electronic computer
May 21, 2023 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.96 MBWith the introduction of IBM 701, the company’s first electronic computer, the tech giant entered the computer business. The development of this machine for commercial purposes was viewed as a radical move by many considering IBM was the largest supplier of punched card equipment and supplies worldwide at that time. However, 701 proved highly successful for the company with nineteen machines being built - a record volume for a computer of this type back then. This was the first production co...
11 May 1997 - Deep Blue defeats world's best chess player
May 11, 2023 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.99 MBWhen IBM’s Deep Blue defeated the then best chess player in the world on the 11th of May, 1997, the surprise was widespread. Developed by IEEE senior members Murray Campbell and Feng-hsiung Hsu, Deep Blue was a chess-playing supercomputer by IBM which competed against the best chess player in the world and became the first machine to defeat a reigning chess champion. This machine consisted of 2-meter tall towers, had more than 500 processors, and included 216 accelerator chips. This superc...
9 May 2023 - IBM Watsonx unveiled
May 09, 2023 09:00 - 3 minutes - 2.51 MB12 years after winning the game show Jeopardy with its software Watson, IBM unveils Watsonx, a new product suite aimed at helping companies develop and deploy artificial intelligence more efficiently. Based on the Red Hat Openshift platform, the solution comprises three main offerings: Watsonx.ai, Watsonx.data, and Watsonx.governance. Watsonx.ai provides access to prepackaged AI models and datasets, allowing users to train generative AI models and neural networks without starting from scrat...
7 May 1954 - IBM 704 introduced
May 07, 2023 09:00 - 3 minutes - 2.13 MBThe introduction of IBM 704 on the 7th of May, 1954, marked a significant milestone in the history of computers as it was the first mass-produced computer in the world that featured indexing and floating-point arithmetic hardware. This was essentially a high-speed, electronic calculator which was controlled by an internally stored programme. A large-scale machine in its size, the 704 had extensive usage. To achieve high-speed computational power and versatility, this machine used stored prog...
28 April 2003 - iTunes music store Launch
April 28, 2023 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.92 MBWith the launch of the iTunes Music Store by Apple on the 28th of April, 2003, the music world was forever altered. A software-based online digital media store operated by Apple, this was Steve Job’s attempt at creating a digital marketplace for music. It allowed users to burn an unlimited number of CDs and put music on an unlimited number of iPods. Customers could find, download, and purchase music for just 99 cents per song, without any subscription fees. With over 70 million songs today a...
21 April 2011 - Zoom founded
April 21, 2023 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.99 MBWhen Zoom was launched on the 21st of April, 2011, it entered a very competitive video conferencing market. Today, it stands as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the remote work boom due to the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic. With astonishing statistics such as 300 million daily meetings and 3.3 trillion annual meetings, it is no wonder that Zoom is among the leading video conferencing giants in the world with a market cap of $78.92 billion. Funnily enough, Zoom was indirectly founded ou...
8 April 1991 - Java development begins
April 08, 2023 09:00 - 2 minutes - 1.96 MBThe development of Java, a high-level, object-oriented programming language, began on the 8th of April, 1991. An American technology company named Sun Microsystems started this project, with a team retreating to an unrevealed location to work on the development. It was initially called “Oak” and was later renamed to “Java”, as it is now popularly known. Today, Java is the number one programming language for developers and billions of devices run on this programming language. Java was market...
Welcome to the digital innovation days
January 01, 2023 06:00 - 55 seconds - 687 KBNow more than ever, digital technology has become a staple in our professional and private life. The revolution can’t be ignored as it is changing the way people travel, work, interact & organize their daily activities. And it does it at high speed. With some of the enthusiasm brought by this digital age, this podcast is about celebrating impactful innovations on their day of birth. We’ll find out how some brillant minds set the path with new ways to solve old business problems, create n...
8 February 2005 - Google Maps lunch
February 08, 2022 02:00 - 2 minutes - 1.78 MBThe revolutionary launch of Google Maps on the 8th of February, 2005, transformed the way we use maps for directions and navigate the world with our smartphones. Initially, it was launched for desktop as a solution for people to get from one point to another. Today, it’s a gateway to exploration - whether you are travelling by car, bike, public transport, boat, wheelchair, or on foot. Google Maps makes use of a combination of data sources such as aggregate location data, real-time users fee...
15 January 2001 - Wikipedia goes online
January 15, 2022 02:00 - 2 minutes - 2.01 MBOn the 15th of January, 2001, Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger launched Wikipedia, a free and collaborative online encyclopedia. Written and edited by the internet community, it is the largest of its type of websites and is available in over 300 languages besides English. With more than 6.3 million articles and 42 million users, it is ranked among the most visited sites on the internet today. In 2000, Bomis, a web advertising firm owned by Jimmy Wales, among others, launched Nupedia. This was a...
11 December 2008 - Google Releases Chrome
December 11, 2021 02:00 - 2 minutes - 1.72 MBGoogle marked the release of its web browser on the 11th of December, 2008, when it launched the first stable public version of Chrome. Although the tech giant had previously released 3 versions for testing, they were beta versions. With the release of version 1, Chrome entered a market where users were growing frustrated with Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox was gaining momentum. By 2013, Chrome was dominating the web browser industry, clearly surpassing Internet Explorer and Firefox. ...
13 October 1983 - First Commercial Cell Phone Network Went Online
October 13, 2021 00:00 - 2 minutes - 1.74 MBWith more mobile connections than humans in the world today, it is difficult to imagine a time without cell phones. However, it was nearly 4 decades ago, on 13th October, 1983 when the first commercial cell phone was launched by Ameritech, which is now a part of AT&T. While the world of cellular connections has reached 5G technology today, it started with a simple 1G network. Advanced Mobile Phone System or APMS went online in Chicago first where people could make and receive calls. The fir...
6 October 2010 - Instagram Launch
October 06, 2021 06:00 - 2 minutes - 2.07 MBWhen Instagram was launched on the 6th of October, 2010, many disregarded it as just another photo-sharing application that would sooner rather than later fizzle out. However, its co-founder Kevin Systrom believed that the visual medium held an untapped market and foresaw immense technological growth in this domain. This proved true when within its first week, 100,000 people were using Instagram and by December 2010, the application had over a million accounts. The platform had such a remark...