American business: high-tech Industries.

American business and finance have always depended on rapid and reliable communication.

IBM’s tabulating machines introduced American business to data processing. In the post-World War II era, IBM helped lead the United States into the computer age.

Google, the leading Internet information organization and search company in the world, is one of the fastest growing companies in the world.

The advent of recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) technology created unprecedented opportunities to develop and market a new type of medicine.

The fiber-optic industry transformed communication and data transmission, allowing more data to be sent using a greater bandwidth for longer distances with lower interference and attenuation.

The electronics industry, from its start in telephones, to the development of the transistor, the microchip, and the microcontrollers embedded in automobiles, appliances, and power tools, has had a profound influence on telecommunications, entertainment, and the products people use everyday.

The eBay auction site started with 41,000 registered users in 1996 and a merchandise volume of $7.2 million.

During the 1990’s, Internet-related businesses were viewed as a way for investors to make quick profits, and millions of dollars were pumped into nascent businesses.

Digital recording has made possible much higher quality sound reproduction on much smaller and less expensive media but, at the same time, has made it easier for users to make high-quality copies of copyrighted materials, thereby cutting into sales of these materials.

The computer industry is a major locus of innovation that has enabled all kinds of American businesses to manage information more efficiently.

Apple (originally Apple Computer) was founded by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, who had close ties to the 1960’s counterculture, and the corporate culture of Apple reflected that mind-set.