' History Project | Epimeta

History Project

admin

We need your help understanding what happened. The transistor and then, poof, we had smartphone filled with all of the world's knowledge in our hands, wherever we might go.

The digital computer and the world wide data network transformed the way we think, learn and share our knowledge. The history project aims to tell the story of how we ended up here today. We want to capture the best written and oral explanations from the people who designed and built the future so we can understand what went right, what veered off course, and how we can design and build the next future.

You can help by telling us what stories need to be told. Many topics like the birth of the iPod or the life of Steve Jobs have been told several times. We're searching deeper.

Please fill out this form with suggestions. We want:

  • Moments where the course shifted as when a railroad engineer throws the switch and send the train down a different track. Perhaps it was when a new approach succeeded and replaced the others. Perhaps it was when a standards committee voted. Maybe it was just the slow aggregation of millions of market decisions.
  • Teams that crafted the future. What choices did they make? How did they come together? What gave them focus and defined their strategy?
  • Technical innovations that changed the game. Maybe it was a new power saving chip that allowed the batteries to last all day. Perhaps it was an algorithm that ran 1000 times faster. Maybe it was a new architecture that provided just enough resiliency to be trustworthy.
  • People who saw the future. Sometimes a person will see the way to greatness. Perhaps they stumble upon the path. Perhaps they build a grand vision.
  • Slow, hidden revolutions. Not every new technology appears in a grand, dramatic birth like Athena from the forehead of Zeus. Some are the result of long, careful evolution that takes us to a place that's entirely different even though each small step along the way seems inconsequential.

Help us find these stories that should be told.