Democratized computing beginning in the 1990s

I wanted to quote something regarding the democratization of computing so that literally anyone who could get access to a computer and could read, write and learn how to use a computer could begin to communicate worldwide if they wished.

Here is a quote from "Race Against the Machines" from Chapter 2 (I don't have page numbers because I'm reading and quoting from my Kindle version of it). (But I can say I'm 29% into the book if that's any help) by my percentage counter.

Begin quote:
"The personal computer, for example, democratized computing in the early 1980s putting processing power in the hands of more and more knowledge workers. in the mid-1990s two major innovations appeared: the World Wide Web and large-scale commercial business software like enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. The former gave companies the ability to tap new markets and sales channels, and also made available more of the world's knowledge than had ever before been possible; the latter let firms redesign their processes, monitor and control far-flung operations, and gather an analyze vast amounts of data.

These advances don't expire or fade away over time. Instead, they get combined with an incorporated into both earlier and later ones, and benefits keep mounting. The world Wide Web, for example, became much more useful to people once Google made it easier to search, while a new wave of social, local, and mobile operations are just emerging. CRM systems have been extended to smart phones so that sales people can stay connected from the road, and tablet computers now provide much of the functionality of PCs.

The innovations we're starting to see in the second half of the chessboard will also be folded into this ongoing work of business invention. In fact, they already are.  The Geofluent offering from Lionbridge has brought instantaneous machine translation to customer service interacitons. IBM is working with Columbia University Medical Center and the University of Maryland School of Medicine to adapt Watson to the work of medical diagnosis, announcing a partnership in that area with voice recognition software maker Nuance. And the Nevada state legislature directed it's department of Motor Vehicles to come up with refulations covering autonomous vehicles on the state's roads. Of course, these are only a small sample of the myriad IT-enabled innovations that are transforming manufacturing, distribution, retailing, media finance, law, medicine, research, management, marketing, and almost every other economic sector and business function.


end quote from:
Race Against the Machine" Chapter 2 (from 29% to 31%) at bottom of my Kindle book.

When you consider that every sector (pretty much) " Of course, these are only a small sample of the myriad IT-enabled innovations that are transforming manufacturing, distribution, retailing, media finance, law, medicine, research, management, marketing, and almost every other economic sector and business function." is being changed by IT nationwide and also worldwide it is not surprising that many Older style jobs are disappearing.

So, the smart person wanting to be employed figures out what is now needed (not what was needed in 2007 or 2006) because we are in a new hiring world with new jobs than before. So, whether you are management, white collar or blue collar learning what companies now need and what People in general need (if you want to start your own business) is helpful if you want to be gainfully employed working for someone or even starting and running your own business.