Expert reflects on the history of IT

18:00 26th November 2008

IT expert Malcolm Bridges reflects upon his 25-year career with a retrospective on the IT industry, reports Echo News.

Responsible for implementing IT training initiatives across south Essex, from a base in Basildon, the IT expert has witnessed a sea change within the IT industry over the past two-and-a-half decades.

He harks back to the days when IT was an emerging sector and was viewed with much incomprehension.

"We used to joke you never saw an IT person, you just slid a plate of food under the door, and they slid the plate back again, empty. But that won't work any more. They have to know how to present themselves and their work, and communicate."

He added that it wasn't long before people realised the IT industry presented a vision for the future and an increasing number of people chose to re-train within the IT sector.

Ford Instrument Computer is the first known computer, manufactured in 1915, to detect the co-ordinates of naval guns.