SECTION 1: The Computer and Technology Revolutions
◄ Michael Dell with one of his computers
WITNESS HISTORY 
AUDIO
A Young Entrepreneur
In 1980, a Texas teenager named Michael Dell bought his first computer. He immediately took the computer apart to see if he could rebuild it. Though Dell entered college intending to become a doctor, his real interest lay in the computer company he started from his college dorm room. By 2003, that small company had grown into a global corporation called Dell Inc.—the most profitable company in the computer industry.
“There were obviously no classes on learning how to start and run a business in my high school, so I clearly had a lot to learn. And learn I did, mostly by experimenting and making a bunch of mistakes.”
—Michael Dell, 1999
Objectives
- Describe the development of the computer and its impact on business and industry.
- Analyze the impact of new technology on communications.
- Explain how globalization and the rise of the service sector affected the American economy.
Terms
- personal computer
- biotechnology
- satellite
- Internet
- globalization
- multinational corporation
- service economy
NoteTaking
Reading Skill: Categorize As you read, fill in a flowchart like this one to help you categorize technological changes and their impact.
Why It Matters During the twentieth century, the rate of technological change sped up dramatically. New technology touched every aspect of life, including how Americans worked, played, and communicated. At the same time, globalization transformed the American economy, bringing both new challenges and new opportunities. Section Focus Question: How have technological changes and globalization transformed the American economy?
Technology Changes American Life
The 1900s was a century of unparalleled change. In 1903, Orville Wright flew the first airplane. Less than 70 years later, astronaut Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. During that same span of time, television went from a novelty at a World’s Fair to a standard household possession, and sophisticated microscopes and telescopes unveiled previously hidden worlds. One of the most important innovations was the development of the computer.
Developing the Modern Computer
Intense rivalry between enemies during World War II brought about a life-and-death race to develop new technologies, such as the computer. The U.S. government funded research that led to the creation of the first modern computer in 1946. This huge machine occupied the entire basement of the research lab. It calculated artillery ranges and performed computations for the atomic bomb.
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