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1947 The first commercial computer, the Ferranti Mark 1, was released. 9 were sold.

1951

1973 1975

1981 James Russell invented the world's first CD (compact disc) player. ABBA was the first artist to have an album produced on CD.

1982

1964 1969

The World Wide Web1991

The World Wide Web was launched, created by Tim Berners-Lee. The first web page explained the purpose of the World Wide Web.

First Social Media Site1997

The first social media site Six Degree was founded by Andew Weinreich.

SearchEngine1998

The search engine Google was founded.

FirstSmartphone1996

The first smartphone was released. The Nokia 9000 Communicator was the first phone with a full keyboard.

FirstSmartwatch1998

Seiko released the first smartwatch, the Ruputer.

FirstMP3 Player1998

The first MP3 player was released, replacing portable CD and tape devices.

iTunes 2003

The iTunes Music Store launched. As more people downloaded music, sales of CDs declined.

Facebook2004

Facebook launched, leading to a new rise in the use of social media.

YouTube2005

YouTube launched. The first video uploaded featured its founder at the San Diego zoo.

Twitter2006

Twitter launched. The first tweet by its creator said “just setting up my twttr”.

Broadband2007

Half of all internet users started using broadband connections, significantly faster than dial-up.

Instagram2010

Instagram launched. The first 2 posts were shared by its founders - a dog, and South Beach Harbor at Pier 38.

iPod2001

The first iPod music player was released by Apple.

iPhone2007

The first iPhone was released by Apple. This featured a more innovative use of touch screen technology.

Drone2010

The first drone to be controlled entirely by Wi-Fi using a smartphone was released.

1940-1960

John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley invented the transistor, the basic building block for all modern computer technology.

The first fully portable laptop computer, the Osborne I, was released. It had a 5” screen, nearly the size of a match box.

1961-1970

1971-1980

1981-1990

2001-2010

The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was created, enabling 4 university computers to communicate and share resources. This built the foundations of the internet.

The first desktop computer, Programma 101, was released. About 44,000 computers were sold, each with a price tag of $3,200. It was the size of a typewriter.

The first digital camera was created at Eastman Kodak. This was the size of a large toaster, and held 30 black and white images.

Inspired by Star Trek, Martin Cooper invented the first mobile phone with the company Motorola. It weighed 1.15kg.

1991-2000

2019

2011-2020

The 5G network was introduced.

2011 Google began testing driverless cars.

2015 Apple released Siri, the first mainstream, voice activated virtual assistant.

2015 Wireless earphones were released.

2016Pokémon Go was released. The mobile game uses augmented reality to show virtual Pokémons in a physical area, which you can find and catch using your phone.

2020The proportion of the world's population owning a smartphone reached approximately 45%, or 3.5 billion people*.

2020 Globally, active internet users reached 4.54 billion**.

For the first time cables weren't required to connect to a media player, smartphone or to each other.

Key Moments in the Digital Journey

*Newzoo (2019), Newzoo, “Newzoo's Global Mobile Market Report: Insight into the World's 3.2 Billion Smartphone Users, the Devices They Use & the Mobile Games They Play”, 30 March 2020

**Simon Kemp (2020), DataReportal, "Digital 2020: Global Digital Overview", 30 March 2020