The most influential technology product of the past 25 years is Microsoft's oft-derided web browser, Internet Explorer, according to a survey of IT professionals.
The survey was carried out by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), a 25-year-old trade body which certifies IT professionals and is funded by major vendors, including Microsoft. Out of the top five products in the poll, only one — the iPod — is not a Microsoft product.
Internet Explorer, which garnered two-thirds of the vote, was launched in 1995. Originally based on the little-known Spyglass Mosaic browser, its main competitor at the time was Netscape. By the time Internet Explorer version 5 was released in 1999, it had become the world's most popular browser. It still holds that position today, although it is facing steadily increasing competition from the open-source browser Firefox, seen by many as a more stable and secure product.
Second place in the poll went to Microsoft Word, selected by 56 percent of respondents. Windows 95 was third (50 percent), followed by Microsoft Excel and Apple's iPod in joint fourth place (49 percent). Respondents were able to vote for multiple technologies.
Microsoft and CompTIA have traditionally been closely aligned, particularly in the fight against open-source software — both are key members of the Initiative for Software Choice, which frequently takes an anti-open-source stance. Earlier this year, CompTIA threw its weight behind Microsoft in Redmond's fight against an EU report which allegedly favoured open-source software. On another occasion, when the European Commission fined Microsoft last year for not sharing or licensing protocol information with its rivals, CompTIA called the $357m (£175m) fine "arbitrary and capricious".
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CompTIA's survey was completed by 471 IT professionals and was carried out in May and June of this year. Other products which made the top 10 include (in order from sixth to tenth): the BlackBerry, Photoshop, McAfee VirusScan, Netscape Navigator and the PalmPilot.
Do you agree with CompTIA's top 10? Post your comment below.
Talkback
They must have been smoking crack.
The most influential technology I can think of in the last 25 years has probably been the language C, although there are quite a few other things that have changed the whole game -- what about the TCP/IP network stack, for example? That was around even before MS networking was still running on their stupid and crippled old NetBEUI protocol.
These guys apparently would not know an influential technology if it slapped them in the face.
This is hilarious, I can't stop laughing. What IT professionals did they ask? Employees of m$? I would wager if you checked the code of the first IE you would find Netscape's IP ensconced, as everything M$ came out with was copied, or stolen from other companies. This whole list is a joke.
Acording to my MS calculator this result is based upon 311 people. I would have thought it would be hard nowadays to set up a survey which attracted this few contributors.
All very valid comments there, folks. I am however interested to know why this story has been so badly rated - is it an expression of disagreement with CompTIA's survey, or is it a reflection on my writing?
If I was a more sensitive individual I'd be hurt, y'know
By the way, if anyone really did think I was feeling sorry for myself there, let me just add that I attempted to write the word "sob" in angled brackets before and after that last sentence, but our system didn't accept it...
Note to tech department: enable tech humour!
My thoughts were not directed at the writing, David. I broke my teeth on the Commodore computers, they were for the masses. Cheap, easy to use, expandable and left you wanting the next one in line. Yet, they were not mentioned. The Apple IIe was also left out. Plus Netscape was the most widely used browser before M$ started putting IE on all computers sold. The only thing IE did for me was to make me want something faster, more secure, and more stable. I was looking for things that were already in place before M$ was started, like the TRS-80, Commodore, Apple, CPM, IBM, etc.
I wasn't concerned with the (excellent) comments so much as interested in the "did you find this story useful" ticks and crosses we have at the bottom of the story. This story seems to have been rated as pretty darn useless, and I was wondering whether this was a reaction to CompTIA's survey (in which case the messenger has been well and truly shot!) or a judgement on the story itself...
For my part, I was objecting because the survey itself was such outrageous rubbish. I meant no criticism at all of your story about it, which was well-written.
My gut instinct is that most of the 'Not useful' votes would be cast on the same basis.
Do you think that the voting facility about the usefulness of an article very often produces a sort of lightning rod effect like this?
That's exactly what I was wondering...
I'm mystified.
Ok accepted, the survey was for the most influential tech product of the last 25 years. C is not a product, nor is the tcp stack.
But if you go back to 1982, was there a PC on everyone's desk? Or a mac? No
In terms of technological change influencing our lives over the last 25 years, the personal computer (of any make) has surely had the most influence.
Without it, we would have no web, no email, no MP3s, no 3d PC gaming, no internet banking, no digital photos, ... the list is endless
Do tech professionals have such short memories they cannot remember those days 25 years ago when we didn't have this? Maybe this is the real proof that the personal computer has had such an influence. We cannot remember what life was like before it.
For anyone to give IE as the most influential product is incredibly short sighted. IE is if anything one of the flies in the ointment when it comes to web development due to its poor implementation of standards and proprietary extensions which in many ways gave us the mess that HTML has become, which is only now beginning to get sorted out.
No, products such as the Commodor 64 and Apple II Sinclair ZX81 have to be the most influential products because they changed they way in which computers were though of generally. The Commodor 64 and ZX81 gave many home users access to computers for the very first time and the Apple II did likewise for many businesses. WIthout products such as these computing would not be where it is today. IE on the other hand at least in its first incarnation was a rather poor web browser which was no where near as good as the competition at the time. Its success is purely to the fact that it came with Windows whether you wanted it or not and that Microsoft could pour millions of dollars into creating it in the first place.