Information technology and personal computers: the relational life cycle

This paper aims to identify the characteristics of the spread of information technology. Our hypothesis is that this process is intimately linked to the nature of technological innovation in the personal computer sector. According to this hypothesis, this paper highlights the technological trend in the personal computer industry and shows how it has encouraged the spread of information technology, broadening its field of application from computer science professionals to mass users. To this end, around 840 models on the personal computer market between 1988 and 1997 were considered. The paper shows that the impact of technological innovation on the personal computer sector consists of a rotation effect and a lengthening effect of the price-performance curve. These two effects together have given information technology that all-pervading character which has allowed it to branch into all sectors of society. Moreover, the paper highlights the existence of a relational life cycle between the personal computer and information technology. This relational life cycle is characterised by four phases: introduction, up to the early 1990s; development, from the early 1990s to the mid-1990s; expansion, from the mid-1990s to the second half of the 1990s; and maturity, starting in the second half of the 1990s.