Since the 1980s, innovations in electronics and communications technologies have utterly transformed the way in which Americans lead their lives. Computers and the Internet have dramatically reduced the time needed to complete dozens of mundane tasks, such as finding directions, searching library catalogs, or researching products. Cell phones, e-mail, and instant messaging now enable people to com…
In 1985 American adults typically had one phone number for the house and one for work. By 2004, many techsavvy Americans had added such alternate communications as a cell phone, a fax line, an instant messaging account, an e-mail address for business, another for home, and still another to ward off spam. Communication has undeniably been one of the central motivations behind the technical strides …
The explosive growth of electronic and communications technologies since the 1980s was fueled in no small part by corporate America's desire to make money. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, such high-tech companies as Microsoft and Intel strove to create affordable computers, Internet technologies, cell phones, and a variety of electronics-based products for use in the office and at home. A h…
New technologies introduce new problems into a society. Those technologies that became widespread in the 1980s and 1990s were no exception. Cell phones, the Internet, computers, and other forms of digital technology have fueled epidemics in identity theft, intellectual property theft, and other crimes that most people were hardly aware of in the 1970s. Brand new crimes related to advances in infor…
For many Americans, new technologies simply mean new toys. Nearly every advancement in consumer technology since the 1980s has in some way been tied to entertainment. Table 5.1 shows the amount of money Americans spent between 1998 and 2001 for media content, which included pay-TV subscriptions, video games, home video, and music. On average, most American adults spent $683.33 on all media in 2001…
Knowing how to use an Internet browser has become as important a skill in modern life as knowing multiplication tables. Internet illiteracy restricts a person's access to job listings, e-mail communication, online information sources, and dozens of convenient, efficient tools that make work and life easier. Aware of this, high schools and colleges in the late 1990s increased efforts to expo…
Since the 1990s, government bodies in the United States at the local, state, and federal level have made a concerted effort to use the Internet and other information technologies to streamline their operations and their dealings with the public. Much of this effort has been focused on making information available via the Internet. Local and municipal governments began posting meeting minutes and a…
Prior to the Internet, finding the latest information on a health issue typically required access to a university or medical library and specialized knowledge of the subject. Most medical studies and information existed in expensive books and journals, which were generally written for those with formal training. The Internet gave rise to a plethora of accessible, informative Web sites that average…
Since the early 1980s, high tech has been creeping into every aspect of life, becoming as invisible in many Americans' everyday lives as running water or refrigeration. Many Americans think nothing of going online to check the weather, buy tickets, plan holidays, look for religious inspiration, or find information on hobbies from coin collecting to rock climbing. The Internet also contains …
Since the advent of the Internet, the Gallup Organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., has polled Americans about everything from their general use of computers and the Internet to the trust people place in online health-care advice. Data from a Gallup poll conducted in April 2003 revealed that 79% of Americans used a personal computer at their office, place of work, or school. A December 2…