An Overview of the AAVSO's Information Technology Infrastructure From 1967 to 1997

TL;DR

This paper reviews the evolution of the AAVSO's IT infrastructure from 1967 to 1997, highlighting technological advancements, organizational changes, and comparisons with industry trends over three decades.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive historical overview of the AAVSO's adoption and adaptation of computer technology, illustrating its development in relation to broader industry practices.

Findings

Significant growth in computational resources used by AAVSO

Alignment of AAVSO's technology adoption with industry trends

Detailed account of hardware and software evolution within AAVSO

Abstract

Computer technology and data processing swept both society and the sciences like a wave in the latter half of the 20th century. We trace the AAVSO's usage of computational and data processing technology from its beginnings in 1967, through 1997. We focus on equipment, people, and the purpose such computational power was put to, and compare and contrast the organization's use of hardware and software with that of the wider industry.