CW@60: Six stories for sixty years
A six-decade tour of technologies that reshaped how we work and live, and the practical lessons they offer as society faces another disruptive shift with artificial intelligence.
Useful takeaways from this story.
Each decade brought a technology that changed everyday agency: calculators, video games, consumer electronics, online banking, and more.
Past disruptions show that tech can expand access and convenience but also shift roles and require deliberate inclusion strategies.
The useful part
Six stories for sixty years | Computer Weekly Home Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software Essential Guide View All Guide Articles By Simon Paris Published: 17 Sep 2026 On 22 September 2026, Computer Weekly turns 60. for their perspectives on how tech has changed their lives over six decades. Computer Weekly's 60 th anniversary is a great opportunity to reflect on what we have learned.
How it works
- about the positive contribution different technologies have made to work and life in general.
- Perhaps not quite as catchy a name as the version two former employees, Jobs and Wozniak, went on to build but it showed technology can open up new opportunities.
- Again, these technologies are a long way off the likes of Spotify and Netflix, but they gave consumers choice about how, when or where they listened or watched.
- They give users agency emphasising their utility and ability to offer unexpected value.
- What I find interesting is how society and the financial services industry has reacted to technology change.
What to take from it
It just requires rule breakers and risk takers, willing to stake their reputations on something that not everyone can imagine. Yes, this has disrupted the way banks serve customers which has had consequences for roles within retail banking, but it has also increased convenience and given consumers more choice in how they engage with banks. In the case of AI, I would argue that it is not the technology that is the problem, but perhaps how certain people might use it.
Example or evidence
- What the last 60 years has taught me is that when we make technology human-centric, enabling and empowering users to access its utility, it can have surprising and positive life-changing effects on...
- In the coming 60 years we'll continue to see technology help society to progress by giving users agency.
- In each of Computer Weekly's six decades there have been breakthroughs which have been greeted with positive and negative reactions.
- Reflecting on six symbolic technology stories that have emerged during each of the past six decades, I suggest there are lessons for us today as we consider the next disruptive innovation that is artificial...
Details worth keeping
To mark the milestone, we asked some of our friends. experts, parliamentarians, IT leaders and suppliers. the calculator The first electronic calculators started appearing in the 1960s and the prototype of the portable calculator, the " Cal Tech," was revealed by Texas Instruments.
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