But is IT really in the same league as previous technological revolutions? There are several tests.
First, how radically does it change day-to-day life? Arguably, the railways, the telegraph and electricity brought about much more dramatic changes than the Internet. For instance, electric light extended the working day, and railways allowed goods and people to be moved much more quickly and easily across the country.

Yet the inventions that have the biggest scientific or social impact do not necessarily yield the biggest economic gains. The printing press, seen by some as the most important invention of the past millennium, had little measurable effect on growth in output per head. In scientific terms, the Internet may not be as significant as the printing press, the telegraph or electricity, but it may yet turn out to have a bigger economic impact.
One reason is that the cost of communications has plummeted far more steeply than that of any previous technology, allowing it to be used more widely and deeply throughout the economy. An invention that remains expensive, as the electric telegraph did, is bound to have a lesser effect.

A second test of a new technology is how far it allows businesses to reorganise their production processes, and so become more efficient. The steam age moved production from the household to the factory; the railways allowed the development of mass markets; and with electricity, the assembly line became possible. Now computers and the Internet are offering the means for a sweeping reorganisation of business, from online procurement of inputs to more decentralisation and outsourcing.

The ultimate test, however, is the impact of a new technology on productivity across the economy as a whole, either by allowing existing products to be made more efficiently or by creating entirely new products.
Faster productivity growth is the key to higher living standards. After years when people puzzled over the apparent failure of computers to boost productivity, there are signs at last that productivity growth in America is accelerating. The question is whether that faster growth is sustainable. Undeniably, though, America's economy had a fabulous decade from the mid-1990s onwards in which it achieved both faster growth and lower inflation, and some part of that is due to IT.

And whatever the impact of IT so far, there is more to come. Paul Saffo, who heads the Institute for the Future, in California, believes that the IT revolution has only just begun, both in terms of innovation and the adoption of new technologies.
Corporate America's R&D has increased by an annual average of 11% over the past five years, which suggests that innovation will go on. As yet, only 6% of the world's population is online; even in the rich world, the figure is only 35%. Only a third of American manufacturing firms are using the Internet for procurement or sales.

All technologies follow an S-shaped path. They are slow to get going, but once they reach critical mass the technology spreads fast. The world may already be half-way up the curve for computers, but for the Internet it is only at the bottom of the steep part, from where it is likely to take off rapidly.
For knowledge-based industries, which is the advantage the developed world has over the emerging economies, I.T. has yet to make a really deep impact. See our knowledge based services.
In addition, our I.T. based marketing services permit the development of communications with customers.