What the Tech?! Decentralized and Cloud Computing

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20 Aug 2023

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Decentralized computing services unlocked a whole new part of the Tech sector.

If you’re of the younger generation that grew up with iCloud, Dropbox and other cloud based services then like many, you’ve already had plenty of exposure to cloud resources. However it might surprise you to know that in the early days of computing and the internet, that there was also another form of decentralized computing. It was called TimeShare, and it allowed companies to access resources without having the financial penalty incurred by procuring large systems to operate in house. In today’s article, we’ll be looking back at some of those timeshare days to see how they laid down the foundations for today’s cloud based services. What the Tech is going peak 1960’s. Lets do it!

The Beginning
To look at the beginnings of TimeShare, we need to go back many decades to the 1960’s. With the excitement of the space race, the establishment of nuclear energy and the proliferation of television, telephones and other tech based consumer device’s, this was the era of technology with many global citizens excited about the promises yet to come.
However this period in time, whilst exciting and promising much to the citizens of the world, had one distinct problem to deal with. The size, cost and scale of many computer and electronic devices was still an issue. While the transistor and other forms of miniaturization were available, they were still yet to proliferate in the ways needed to provide the technological revolution that they promised. Because of this, despite computers being available to those who were willing to pay they were large awkward devices compared to what we were used to using today.
Tubes, Transistors and IC’s were all part of the journey toward miniaturization.

To get a feel for how it was back then and how quickly things changed we’ve thrown in a few tidbits of information to help you get a feel for how things were. During the time frame between 1960 and 70, the world saw many firsts to help propel technology forward. We had Telstar, the worlds first commercial satellite launched in 1962. The US Peace Corps was also established 1961, and the television revolution was firmly in swing with close to 90% of houses in America having a TV in their household for the first time. However the novelty of personal computing had not yet taken hold, with the computers that were available mainly being machines that were used for business purposes.

PDP-1, an extremely successful unit that came to life in the 1960's

Despite this business computing was storming ahead, being used for everything from accounting and management right through to scientific and mass data analysis for military, along with everything in between. At this point, IBM had a firm hold on the market being able to regularly release new models with innovative features.
However we can’t look back at this time and not look at a specific machine, namely the PDP-1. Why? Because this machine was responsible for many things, including being quite significant in regards to the development of today’s “hacker culture”. This machine was a large influence to many, and was an essential step in the road map to the technology that we use today.
The first steps with regards to our usage of TimeShare services occurred in 1961 with a feasibility study that was undertaken by MIT. The success of this program led to further development, and by 1964 it had moved from concept to practice with the introduction of APEX. APEX, which used a TX-2 machine provided the first steps toward leveraging this new technology commercially.

The TX-2 provided transistor based technology to timeshare services. Source: Wikipedia

The Boom:
With the demand for computing powering increasing by the year the establishment of the technology gave retailers a unique situation to be in.
Because this period was the sweet spot between establishment and development, there was a large gap in the market due to the fact the personal computing revolution had not yet occurred. So computers, whilst being essential to business had no real cost effective competitors on the private market. This meant that the responsibility of providing these services fell back on to the manufacturers, with the provision of these services promising to provide a significant boost to revenue.
To make the most of this demand, many companies established large warehouses packed with the latest technology allowing the provision of TimeShare services around the clock. Not dissimilar to things like the AWS warehouses we see today, these warehouses were the worlds first form of cloud computing. They were merely different from the cloud we are used to today. Let’s turn it over to chatGPT for a look at how a typical timeshare arrangement would work.

INPUT: Break down how timeshare would work, including peak and off peak services.

Output: Timesharing occurs when multiple users share a single computer simultaneously. Here is a breakdown of how timesharing would occur, including peak and off-peak services:

1. Users would connect to the timesharing system through a terminal or remote connection.

2. The timesharing system would divide the computer’s processing time into small slices, giving each user a turn to interact with the system.

3. Users would be charged for the amount of time they spent using the system. The pricing model for timesharing services could vary, depending on the provider and the time of day.

4. Peak hours would typically be during the day when demand for computing resources was highest. During peak hours, timesharing services might be more expensive to reflect the higher demand.

5. Off-peak hours would typically be during the night when demand for computing resources was lower. During off-peak hours, timesharing services might be less expensive to encourage users to utilize the system during these times.

6. The pricing of timesharing services could be optimized to balance the demand for computing resources with the cost of providing those resources.
In summary, timesharing occurs when multiple users share a single computer simultaneously. Users would connect to the timesharing system through a terminal or remote connection and be charged for the amount of time they spent using the system. The pricing of timesharing services could vary depending on the provider and the time of day, with peak and off-peak hours having different pricing models. The pricing of timesharing services could be optimized to balance the demand for computing resources with the cost of providing those resources.

Thanks GPT. With that, we now have a clearer understanding on how the whole timeshare system worked.

Winding it Down:
As we mentioned before, manufacturers within this period had a significant advantage with regards to maintaining their market share. However this was not to last forever, with many things contributing to the eventual downfall of timesharing services.
IBM’s 360 was a rugged, reliable computer that saw commercial service well into the 90's

The first of these began in the 1970’s, when the mass implementation of transistors into civilian technology lead to a downturn in demand for computing technology. This eventually led to a full blow recession with a subsequent decline in both demand and research occurring as a result of this.

The next problem for the manufacturers occurred as the computing revolution moved into the personal realm, with systems being available and more cost effective in the late 1970’s and into the 80’s. While it would take some time for this to proliferate into homes the same way that television did, it helped set the stage for mass adoption of technology that the world is used to today.
The TRS-80 gave many their first taste of personal computing. Source: Wiki

However despite these being significant issues, the biggest problem manufacturers faced during this time was a change in the culture of how computers were perceived. Whilst in the early days much of technology was deemed “too hard” and left for the manufacturers to pursue and implement for commercial use, miniaturization reversed this trend entirely.

This meant that business were more open to obtaining their own hardware and while in the early era decentralization was king this trend was now entirely reversed with businesses serious about taking on the benefits and productivity potential the new technology had to offer.

However timesharing systems simply didn’t disappear. Unlike other post boom busts, this wind down was gradual and we still see evidence of timeshare programs and systems well into the 1990s including many companies listed on stock exchanges.

Ultimately these services didn’t disappear until the dot com boom, when the general adoption of the internet meant that implementation of personal networks became easier and available to larger numbers of the population. Some may argue that time sharing services never really stopped, and simply did a slow morph in to the cloud based services that are so commonplace today.

Regardless of your viewpoint, these shared services were an essential step towards the connected world we accept as part of everyday life today.

What the Tech is our recurring, twice monthly piece that looks at items of technology that were essential in shaping our modern world. If you enjoyed this article, we’d encourage you to subscribe for updates to receive our next articles direct to your inbox.

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