“When will our computer project(s) be finished?”, we are often asked. Even after 50 years of trying, there is no easy way to explain what it takes to get “done.” However, one of our industry’s finest leaders offered the best advice 40 years ago. “We’ve never done this before, so how can we estimate how long it will take,” said the late Mike Reeder, our first VP of Engineering.
Yet, examining the arc of innovation depicted here gives us great hope for the future. Tomorrow’s software will be built on top of the many hundreds of man years of development that has brought us to where we are today. And, it will be the product of the needs of the thousands of component manufacturers who have used it and who continue to shape it today.