Personal computers, mobile phones and internet

If we compare life in Australia and the other advanced democracies today with earlier decades, three technological innovations, which were barely envisaged in 1979, and still had very limited presence in 1989, have transformed people's daily lives. The three tables on this page chart the very rapid and all but universal diffusion of these innovations.

The first was the personal computer (PC), which changed the way most people work, increasing productivity and convenience by a huge amount. They have become so much a part of everyday life that it is almost impossible to imagine life without them. So it may be surprising to recall just how recent their invention and spread have been. They began in a small way in the early 1980s, but take-up was relatively slow. By 1988, the first year for which we have systematic data, they had established a firm foothold in offices and among some professionals, with around one in 15 people having one. However, as Table 12.1 shows, by 2005 there were almost two personal computers for every three people – including business and home computers.

Even in the first five years of the 21st century, the number of personal computers in relation to population was growing as rapidly as it had been in the 1990s. The figures for Australia and Japan would have been higher but the latest year for which there was data was 2003.