The Digital Revolution

The shift from mechanical and analogue technology to digital computing and networks.

Background

The invention of the transistor in 1947 and later the integrated circuit made electronic computers smaller, cheaper and more reliable. Early machines were used by governments, universities and large firms for calculation and data processing.

Course of events

Personal computers reached homes and offices in the late 1970s and 1980s. The ARPANET of 1969 grew into the internet, and Tim Berners-Lee proposed the World Wide Web in 1989. Mobile phones, search engines, social media and smartphones then transformed communication, commerce and media.

Legacy

Digital technology changed how people work, learn and get news, and created new industries. It also raised questions about privacy, misinformation, automation and the concentration of economic power.