In which decade did the practice of time sharing or resource pooling evolve to make more efficient use of computing power via the mainframe?

The practice of time sharing and resource pooling began to evolve in the 1960s, significantly enhancing the efficiency with which computing resources, particularly through mainframe systems, were utilized. Time sharing allows multiple users to access a mainframe computer concurrently, giving each the illusion of their own dedicated machine. This innovation was vital for optimizing the expensive and powerful mainframe systems of the time, as it facilitated better utilization of computing power and improved accessibility for multiple users.

While the 1950s were marked by the development of early mainframe computers, it was really in the 1960s that the concept of time sharing started to be implemented and popularized within the computing community. The foundations laid during this era paved the way for modern computing paradigms, including cloud computing, by allowing for shared access to resources among multiple users, thereby maximizing the return on investment for computing resources in organizational settings.