This entry is primarily a recap of a recent article published by IDC (Carl Olofson) titled "The Third Generation of Database Technology: Vendors and Products That Are Shaking Up the Market". My disclaimer for this entry is that I cannot attach the original article published by IDC (due to copyright). Therefore, I will attempt to summarize and discuss the salient points in the article. It will not be a complete summary or review of the article, due to time and relevance to this audience. At times, I may inject my own thoughts and comments (highlighted).