316 a short history of the united states
Microsoft Company, headed by Bill Gates, provided the necessary pro-
gramming software. Suddenly, an electronic industry emerged, espe-
cially in a part of California between San Jose and San Francisco,
known as Silicon Valley, which supplied the country with the hardware
that opened up a new world of communicating. The speed and capacity
of microchips improved almost every other month, so that computers
became more portable and essential in conducting one’s business and
private affairs. In time computers became so vital to business, govern-
ment, and individual activity that any breakdown of the computer sys-
tem could paralyze the normal functions of daily life.
The Internet made it possible to access information in a matter of
minutes, both at home and at work. Instant communication between
individuals and between companies was provided via e-mail. And the
World Wide Web, created in 1991 , made it possible to access informa-
tion on every imaginable subject or activity with just a few clicks on the
mouse on the computer. Web sites grew in number and importance
each year. The nation entered an Information Age that demanded
high-speed transmission among and between individuals and corpora-
tions. Personal computers became an essential part of everyday life.
This technological age both created new jobs and destroyed old ones.
Computers frequently took the place of the go-between, that is, those
who play the role of an intermediary between a client and a product.
The invention of wireless telephones or cell phones and BlackBerrys
added to the speed with which Americans could communicate with
one another. The United States became a nation that supplied services
of many kinds as well as a producer of physical products that could be
packaged and sold around the world. And the invention of the transis-
tor in 1947 ushered in the digital age.
The scientific advances in the last half of the twentieth century were
spectacular not only in producing improved machines and the ways of
operating them, but in such fields as medicine, biology, and chemistry.
The secrets of the molecular structure of humans were unlocked in the
1950 s, by which it became possible to clone living animals. Organ
transplants, including heart transplants, proved possible. Stem-cell re-
search offered the possibility of curing hereditary and life-threatening
diseases, but this research raised moral and ethical questions that were
not easily answered.