many businesses. COBOL is still widely used today. 1961 IBM introduces the 1400 series, replacing cumbersome vacuum-tube technology with transistors, shrinking the size and cost of computers. 1968 IBM breaks new ground again with CICS (Customer Information Control System) transaction- processing code, replacing batched punch-card tallying. Companies use CICS to store customer information and conduct online transactions. 1969 ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) launches a data communication system funded by the US government, which forms the basis of the internet. Connects research centres at UCLA, Stanford, University of Utah, and University of California, Santa Barbara. ARPANET uses IMPs (Interface Message Processors), a network of small computers similar to routers. Based on packet switching – disseminating one bundle of data to multiple IMPs at once,