The 14th top technology is dBase II, the program responsible for making databases accessible to non-programmers. Heck, it even created an industry standard that has withstood the test of time.

The amazing thing about dBase II is that before it was released for microcomputers the segment of data management really didn't exist.

Brought to life by the company Ashton Tate, dBase II was a command line driven database program. I can still remember the first time I used dBase II and was presented with the prompt. You felt so small and insignificant until you started creating data entry screens.

My first programming job was in dBase II and then I moved on to Progress, a relational database. I still remember the day a compiler was created for dBase programs, which allows anyone to run your database program even if they didn't own dBase.

dBase II wasn't perfect, but it was the leader.