Most evolutions occur over eons of time. The evolution occurs so slowly that the steps in the evolution are not observable on a day-to-day basis. Watching the daily progression of an evolution makes watching paint dry look like a spectator sport. However, the evolution of computer technology has progressed at warp speed, starting in the 1960s.

The evolution of technology
Once upon a time, life was simple when it came to the computer. Data went in, was processed, and data came out. In the beginning, there was paper tape. Paper tape was automated but stored a minuscule amount of data in a fixed format. Then came punched cards. One of the problems with punched cards was that they were in a fixed format. Huge volumes of punched cards consumed huge amounts of paper and dropping a deck of cards led to a tedious effort to get the cards back in order.