The second industrial revolution lasted from about 1875 to 1930. It was powered by
inventions such as electricity, the telephone and the internal combustion engine and
automobile, as well as new synthetics and alloys and new applications of steel and
oil. These advances were made possible by the unprecedented availability of capital
and the creation of the modern business organization. Among the revolution's many
socio-economic effects were greater mobility, a growing middle class and the
beginnings of more widespread leisure time5.
Although different in many ways, these industrial revolutions shared certain
characteristics. First, each was founded upon one or more new technologies that
fundamentally changed manufacturing processes in a number of industries. Second,
the adoption of these new technologies made it possible for manufacturers to
improve productivity, which ultimately resulted in greater purchasing power and
higher standards of living for broad segments of the population. Finally, these new
technologies exerted profound and lasting effects on how people worked, socialized
and used their leisure time.
Today the Internet is at the heart of a third industrial revolution. Made possible by
technological advances in computer hardware, software, and telecommunications,
the Internet has forced companies everywhere to reinvent themselves and the way
they do business. This transformation in business practices has fueled
unprecedented gains in productivity, generated both by improvements in efficiency
and the creation of new markets. At the same time, the Internet is profoundly.
