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No technology seems to have spread so fast around the world in such a short period of time as computers. It was a phenomenon that predated the arrival of the Internet and that began to change how businesses, governments, and whole societies functioned. The diffusion of information technologies occurred in dozens of countries all over the world with fascinating similarities and differences. In this book, historian James W. Cortada provides the first world-wide history of how computers appeared and were used in North America, all of Europe, and in most of Asia in barely a half century. He explores the causes of diffusion, arguing that more than the technology itself, other conditions were required for the spread of computers, such as standards of living, education, the Cold War, and globalization of the economy. He argues that these technologies are the glue that hold together today's economies and are propelling increases in the quality of life of over a billion people moving into the middle class. Based on archival and secondary research, extensive use of economic data, and detailed country case studies of over a dozen nations, Cortada tells the history of how computers were discovered, invented, built, and used, and the consequences for whole regions. This is the first attempt by any expert to write a global history of information technologies, and specifically, about how these spread. It is economic and business history, but also a guide to those who want to understand what is happening today in such nations as India, China, and other emerging economies as the Computer Revolution continues. He has insights for historians, economists, public officials, and business executives. Salient Features Provides the first comprehensive overview of European computing history, and compares that experience with those of the United States and the Pacific Rim nations Brings considerable new information, especially insights from IBM's Corporate Archives which provide data on dozens of nations Offers detailed country histories for all the major users in the world, such as India, China, Japan, the Asian Tigers, France, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, and the United States among others Provides the most complete bibliographic overview of the literature on the history of computing's diffusion and very detailed documentation and citations Table of Contents Preface 1. How Much Computing Is in The World? 2. Diffusion of Computing Starts in the United States 3. Early Western European Deployment: Great Britain, France and West Germany 4. Diffusion of Computing in Italy, Netherlands, and Sweden 5. How Western Europe Embraced Information Technologies 6. Limits of Diffusion: Computing in the Soviet Union, German Democratic Republic and Eastern Europe 7. Computing Comes to Japan 8. Diffusion of Computing into South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore 9. China: Embracing IT in Changing Times 10. India AND THE Limits of Digital Diffusion 11. How Asia Embraced Information Technologies 12. Diffusion of Information Technologies: Results and Implications Appendices: A. Preparing a Global Diffusion History: Lessons Learned, Paths Not Taken B. Wave One and Wave Two Compared Endnotes Bibliographic Essay Index