Changes

One word sums up most historians’ view of the world today:  “globalism”.  That was not even a word 50 years ago.  “Globalism” means treating the world as one political unit, as one massive village.  Distances appear to be shortening between people, cultures and nations.  Travel is more affordable for more people.  Mobility is greater.  Trade among nations is larger.  Television and the internet link the world’s population of 6 or so billion people like never before.

One word sums up most historians’ view of the world today:  “globalism”.  That was not even a word 50 years ago.  “Globalism” means treating the world as one political unit, as one massive village.  Distances appear to be shortening between people, cultures and nations.  Travel is more affordable for more people.  Mobility is greater.  Trade among nations is larger.  Television and the internet link the world’s population of 6 or so billion people like never before.

One [[invention]] in late 1947 made most of this possible.  Three scientists invented the [[transistor]] at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey (exit 44 on I-78, near Berkeley Heights).  This tiny invention brought about a massive revolution in [[computer]]s and communications.  With improvements, the transistor permitted microelectronic control and amplification of signals.  This greatly advanced communication, as in radio, television, telephone and later the internet.  This also permitted the storage of massive amounts of information, as in computers.  Bell Labs, then part of AT&T, made this invention available to the entire world.  Soon transistors replaced vacuum tubes in radios and televisions, enabling them to work better.  The Japanese flooded the market with improved products.   

One [[invention]] in late 1947 made most of this possible.  Three scientists invented the [[transistor]] at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey.  This tiny invention brought about a massive revolution in [[computer]]s and communications.  With improvements, the transistor permitted microelectronic control and amplification of signals.  This greatly advanced communication, as in radio, television, telephone and later the internet.  This also permitted the storage of massive amounts of information, as in computers.  Bell Labs, then part of AT&T, made this invention available to the entire world.  Soon transistors replaced vacuum tubes in radios and televisions, enabling them to work better.  The Japanese flooded the market with improved products.   

[[Apple Computer]] sold a personal computer for home use in the late 1970s and, in 1981, [[IBM]] introduced its own personal computer.  Time magazine declared the personal (or home) computer to be “Man of the Year” for 1982.  Fifteen years later the internet became popular for connecting computers.  In 2000, presidential candidate Al Gore attempted to take credit for helping create the internet, and the world ridiculed him.  No politician, and certainly not Al Gore, can take credit for all this.

[[Apple Computer]] sold a personal computer for home use in the late 1970s and, in 1981, [[IBM]] introduced its own personal computer.  Time magazine declared the personal (or home) computer to be “Man of the Year” for 1982.  Fifteen years later the internet became popular for connecting computers.  In 2000, presidential candidate Al Gore attempted to take credit for helping create the internet, and the world ridiculed him.  No politician, and certainly not Al Gore, can take credit for all this.