Martin Campbell-Kelly, author of the first book on the history of the software industry, visits CWI on July 10. He is one of the speakers at the Colloquium History of Computing held on July 10 and 11 at CWI.
Most books on computer history are traditionally focused on hardware. From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog: A History of the Software Industry is the first book to give a broad overview of the development of the software industry. It sketches the start of the first programming services for mainframe computers in the Fifties, continuing up to 1995 when software has grown into a multi-billion market. Notably, the book addresses the widespread image of Microsoft dominating the software industry. According to Campbell-Kelly Microsoft's position is not as strong as many people believe.
The Colloquium History of Computing is a two-day workshop for computer historians from the Netherlands and Belgium. Among the speakers is Gerard Alberts (CWI, University of Nijmegen), who will give a preview of his biography of Aad van Wijngaarden, former director of CWI and founding father of the Dutch computer science.
More information can be found on the publisher's website
