20 Years of SyncBack

Author: Conrad Chung & Michael Leaver, 2BrightSparks Pte. Ltd.

Since 2003, SyncBack by 2BrightSparks has been used by hundreds of thousands of users worldwide to safeguard their important data. For 20 years, SyncBack has gone through thousands of feature additions, changes, bug fixes as well as several version iterations.

2023 was the 20th anniversary of the first release of SyncBack. In this article we look back at how the world of technology has evolved since.

July 2023: SyncBackPro/SE/Free V11 released
October 2021: SyncBackPro/SE/Free V10 released
June 2019: SyncBackPro/SE/Free V9 released
June 2017: SyncBackPro/SE/Lite/Free V8 released, SyncBackLite first released (V8)
October 2014: SyncBackPro/SE/Free V7 released
December 2012: SyncBackFree V6 first released to replace the old SyncBack Freeware
October 2011: SyncBackPro/SE V6 released
August 2008: SyncBackPro first released (V5), SyncBackSE V5 released
June 2005: SyncBackSE V4 released
February 2005: SyncBackSE first released (V3.2.7)
March 2004: SyncBack Freeware V3
December 2003: SyncBack Freeware V2
October 2003: SyncBack Freeware first released

Social Networks

In the late 1990s, social media platforms were still in their infancy, while instant messaging platforms like ICQ were popular. Social media that were once popular, like Friendster and MySpace, also started to emerge around the period of 2002-2003. In addition, some of the most popular social media platforms came into the scene when SyncBack was launched, starting with Skype which was founded in 2003. A year later, in February 2004, arguably the most popular online social media platform, Facebook came on the scene. Following that, Twitter was launched in July 2006.

Apple

In 1999, Apple was struggling to make a profit and find acceptance in the mainstream market. A lot of graphics specialist favoured Apple hardware due to its ease of use. All that changed with Steve Jobs back at the helm as Apple released innovations almost on an annual basis. The iTunes store was launched back in 2003, and several notable hardware successes like the iPod and iPhone, two stylish multimedia devices that everybody wanted to get their hands on.

Phone Revolution

Mobile (cell) phones have evolved rapidly from clunky bricks in the 90s, to candy bar phones from Nokia and PDAs from Palm, which were considered cutting-edge technologies at the time. However, the phone industry changed forever with the launch of Apple’s iPhone in 2007, the all-in-one digital music player, phone and internet browser. App-enabled smartphones dominated the market after the iPhone’s release and Google’s open-sourced Android platform followed closely behind, first released in 2008, making it possible for phone manufacturers like Samsung, HTC, LG and others to create smart devices based on the mobile operating system.

Moving from Desktop Apps to Web Apps

In the past decade, we have evolved the way we use our applications. Ten years ago, most applications are installed on your desktop. These days however, some popular applications are served to you from Web servers and run from within your browser. This allowed more flexibility in the way people work, as access to these important applications can be done from anywhere. There is a wide range of Web applications now available. Some applications are also cloud-based.

Internet for Everyone

Back in 2003, most Internet services are still considered somewhat slow and most offices that require dedicated Internet access must sign up for either the expensive leased lines (T1, etc) or slightly cheaper ISDN or ADSL lines. Fast speed Internet started mass market adoption around 2006 when broadband prices started to drop dramatically. Today, almost every office and home in the urban city are connected to the Internet, sometimes with speeds up to 1 gigabit or more.

Emergence of Digital Music

The release of portable MP3 players began the change in how music lovers listen to their favourite songs. Back in 2003, we start to see the decline of CDs and the number of people listening to digital music began to increase steadily, until it took over CDs around 2006. Today, music streaming services are on the rise that do away with the concept of music ownership.

Videos

Back in 2003, 66% of U.S. home entertainment spending was on DVDs, with its popularity reaching its peak in 2006. The DVD/Blu-ray industry started to see its decline around 2010 as digital streaming like Netflix continue to dominate and spread its presence. In March 2010, there were over 14 million Netflix subscribers and the era of physical videos is on its way out.

Artificial Intelligence

Since 2003, the field of artificial intelligence (AI) has experienced profound transformations that have revolutionized countless aspects of our lives. Back then, AI was still in its early stages, with limited applications and capabilities. However, significant advancements in computing power, data availability, and algorithmic breakthroughs have propelled AI into a new era. Machine learning techniques, such as deep learning, have become prominent, enabling AI systems to process vast amounts of data and extract meaningful patterns and insights. This has led to remarkable progress in areas like computer vision, natural language processing, and speech recognition, empowering AI to surpass human performance in various tasks. Furthermore, AI has found its way into numerous industries, including healthcare, finance, transportation, and manufacturing, streamlining processes, improving efficiency, and enhancing decision-making. Today, AI is not just a technology; it has become an integral part of our daily lives, transforming how we work, communicate, and interact with the world around us.

Internet of Things (IoT)

The IoT has connected everyday objects to the internet, enabling them to collect and exchange data. This interconnected network of devices has led to advancements in areas such as smart homes, industrial automation, healthcare monitoring, and smart cities.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity has made significant strides since 2003, driven by heightened awareness and education, advanced threat detection and prevention measures, stronger encryption standards, widespread adoption of multi-factor authentication, the automation and orchestration of security processes, improved security standards and regulations, increased collaboration and information sharing within the cybersecurity community, and a focus on addressing human factors through training and awareness campaigns. These advancements have collectively bolstered the protection of sensitive data and systems, but the evolving threat landscape requires continued vigilance, adaptation, and adherence to best practices to mitigate emerging cyber risks.

Summary

As the world progressively evolves into cloud and streaming services, SyncBack is keeping up with this trend and offering backup services to cloud storage. Today, SyncBackPro can connect to all major cloud services and will continue to expand with future version releases.

Local file storage is still widely used today, and it is very important to back them up with a backup application like SyncBack.

Visit our webstore today to get your copy of SyncBackPro.