In 1997, the showrooms were closed and I went into the Business call centre. The first dial-up disks were beginning to emerge that allowed customers to have a BTconnect (later BTinternet) email address. So, the Internet was becoming a thing ...
There is an article from 2016 if you want to read more.. Later, Indio Square was launched.
Also in 1998, BT were showing us case studies (now called use cases). One of the most memorable for me was how a, butcher from Yorkshire was able to sell his locally produced Black Pudding into Japan as he had commissioned BT to build him a website. The sales were through the roof and the, butcher's exports were way above the cost of the website. We were on a roll. Yahoo was the main home page for BT Internet customers and we all had a Yahho.com email address.
We saw the launch of Google in 1998, now one of the biggest Tech companies in the world, dominating not only the Internet search market (we say, "Just Google it!"), but also a 50% market share in mobile phone operating systems, in the form of Android OS.
Then came the incremental surge in registering domain names as having an online presence became increasingly important to be ahead of the game. Some unscrupulous people were registering some obvious domain names to sell at a profit, before the practice of domain squatting became something to be frowned on by the law.
Amazon had been an online book retailer, launching in 1994, but we really didn't hear of them until the late 90s/early noughties as the UK was just embracing the internet and the USA were a few years ahead with this way of doing business.
I have been fortunate to have been on the front line (crest of the wave) in lots of ways and hence I am still in the industry. Another area which I have seen a massive change is in the mobile phone arena. In 1996, when I was selling hardware and contracts for BT Business, Nokia and Motorola were once the King and Queen of the hardware market, with Ericsson a very close third in the Market.
Did you know, Motorola is widely credited for manufacturing the first portable phone in 1973, however, Ericsson had designed and made a suitcase-sized car phone, weighing 40 kilos, way back as 1956!
1997 was the transition from analogue mobile phone technology to the digital, SIM-card-based GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and international roaming became a thing! You didn't have to run around trying to find a pay phone in France when your car had broken down was the plus side; obviously early costs for International Roaming were quite high compared to these days.
And all of a sudden, we had Blackberry dominating the Global market. There are many videos on YouTube about the rise and fall of Blackberry, one of the most secure email systems in the world which is no longer with us!
To be continued,.
If you feel inspired to find out more then do call me on 07555 807700 or leave a comment below and I'll be in touch as soon as I can.