1990’s

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RISE OF THE COMPACT COMPUTER 1946 world’s 1st electronic digital computer, called ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), went into operation Weighing over 30 tons, the machine was the size of a small house. Robert Noyce designed the 1st integrated circuit, a complete electronic circuit on a single chip of the element silicon, making circuits much smaller and easier to make. Noyce formed Intel, a company that revolutionized computers with the creation of microprocessors that further reduced the size of computers + increased their speed. Many electronic companies opened in an area south of San Francisco, giving it the nickname Silicon Valley.

HOW DID COMPACT COMPUTERS CHANGE THE WORKPLACE? Compact computers linked employees within an office or among office branches. Compact computers became essential tools in every kind of business. Many workers used a home computer and electronic mail to telecommute–do their jobs at home via their computer.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS REVOLUTION During the 1970s, 1980s, + 1990s, the deregulation of telecommunications created an explosion of creativity & competition in the telephone and television industries  new technologies In 1996 Congress passed the Telecommunications Act that allowed telephone companies to compete with each other, send television signals, & permitted cable television companies to offer telephone service.

RISE OF THE INTERNET Digital electronics made worldwide communications possible with the creation of the Internet, a global information system. The roots of this networking system began with the U.S. Defense Department’s Advanced Research Project Agency in 1969. Known as ARPANET, this system linked government agencies, defense contractors, + scientists at various universities. The use of the Internet expanded by almost 300% between 1997-2000. The Internet also created a “dot.com” economy selling products & advertising online.

BREAKTHROUGHS IN BIOTECHNOLOGY Computers aided scientists in biotechnology, the managing of biological systems to improve human life. Researchers have used this to develop new medicines, animal growth hormones, genetically engineered plants, & industrial chemicals. The first break in biotechnology occurred in 1953, when American molecular biologist James Watson and his British colleague, Francis Crick, deciphered the structure of DNA, the genetic material in cells that determines all forms of life. With the development of supercomputers, it was possible to map out the human genome, recording the DNA sequence in our species. The Human Genome Project began at the National Institutes of Health in 1990. All their data was placed on the Internet free of charge with the hope that no single nation or private laboratory will control the outcome or limit the use of genome findings.

A NEW GLOBAL ECONOMY In the latter part of the 1900s, computer technology + the Internet helped to create a global economy. The sale of American-made goods abroad had been essential to American prosperity. By the 1970s, however, there was a serious increase in trade deficits–Americans purchased more from foreign nations than American industry + agriculture sold abroad. China became important in world trade. The World Trade Organization (WTO) administered international trade agreements and helped settle trade disputes. American supporters of WTO felt it would benefit consumers. The opposition felt it left no veto power to the United States and poorer nations could outvote it.

GLOBAL CONCERN - ENVIRONMENT During the 1980s, nations began to be concerned about the environment. To help stop nuclear proliferation, or the spread of nuclear weapons to new nations, Congress passed legislation that cut off foreign aid and imposed sanctions on nations looking to acquire nuclear weapons. Many environmental activists began to push for a ban on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) because these chemicals had the potential to deplete the earth’s ozone. Ozone protects life on Earth from the cancer-causing ultraviolet rays of the sun. In the early 1990s, some scientists found evidence of global warming–an increase in average world temperatures over time. Concern about global warming led to an international meeting in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997 38 nations & EU signed the Kyoto Protocol promising to reduce emissions. Few countries put the protocol into effect. U.S. withdrew from the treaty in 2001.