Computers

Since 1994, computers have been outperforming automobiles-at least, in terms of units sold annually in the United States. Around the world, machines in use in 1996 totaled nearly 300 million units. In the United States, the number exceeded 100 million, over 95 percent of which were PCs, and more than one in three homes housed one or more computers. All in all, the computer and information industry contributed nearly 6 percent of the US gross domestic product (GDP). But even though the computer industry seems to be generally well off, it has never been able to leave a good thing alone. So this year, too, looks to be full of change. This paper looks at technological developments in the fields of application specific computers, the Internet, Windows NT and peripherals and buses