Technology (4): General Purpose Technologies

No one can escape the transforming fire of machines.
Kevin Kelly – New Rules for the New Economy

Not all technologies are created equal. Most – like the self-heating butter knife – fill their own particular niches well enough but never spread beyond them.

But some technologies change the world.

What is a General Purpose Technology (GPT)?

For those who came in late: the term “General Purpose Technologies” describes technologies that have such power and such a range of applications that they come to pervade entire economies and societies, usually bringing significant changes to the structure of those societies over time. GPTs transform productivity and change the distribution of wealth and power, which in turn transforms lifestyles and social relations. The transforming effects of the steam engine, electricity and computerisation are all good examples of GPTs in action.

Who coined the phrase?

The idea seems to have been popularised by Richard Lipsey, Kenneth Carlaw and Clifford Bekar in their 2006 book Economic Transformations: General Purpose Technologies and Long Term Growth, but they draw on Timothy Bresnahan and Manuel Trajtenberg’s 1995 article, General purpose technologies ‘Engines of growth’? and cite Paul A. David, who wrote about “the techno-economic regimes formed around general purpose engines” in a 1989 working paper called The Computer and the Dynamo: The Modern Productivity Paradox in a Not-Too Distant Mirror.*

Why are GPTs important?

These are technologies that turn the world upside down: tribes, nations, and civilisations rise, fall, or reconfigure under their influence, and their impact is measured over centuries. The history of GPTs is the history of humanity’s (unfinished) escape from poverty, and it doesn’t seem like much of an exaggeration to say that the history of GPTs is the history of history.

So GPTs are interesting almost by definition – and also because thinking about them might help us to understand what sorts of things might happen next. Imagine having an understanding of the social and economic impact of steam power at the start of the Industrial Revolution. There might be things you could do – or avoid doing.

Defining General Purpose Technology

So how do we define a GPT? Here’s Lipsey and Carlaw’s definition (via wikipedia):

A transforming GPT…
… is a single, recognisable generic technology;
… initially has much scope for improvement but comes to be widely used across the economy;
… has many different uses;
… creates many spillover effects.
… can be a product, process or an organisational system.

The Foundational Five

Both this list and the one that follows are from wikipedia too – I’ve left the links intact. There’s obviously plenty to argue about here, so take these as food for thought and fuel for argument: are the internet and AI their own things, or just branches of computing?

I think the main thing is to imagine (or remember!) a time without these technologies, and the changes they would have brought as they advanced across the world. What would it have been like to be the first person in the tribe who wore clothes? What would a day be like at the frontier of fire?

Item	Classification	Date
Spoken Language	Process	Pre-10,000 BC
Clothing	Product	Pre-10,000 BC
Mastery of Fire	Process	Pre-10,000 BC
Coil Pottery	Product	Pre-10,000 BC
Weapons (sharp-edged tools)	Product	Pre-10,000 BC

The Big 26

Lipsey and friends started with a list of 24 GPTs, so this list has a couple of bonus items.

GPT	Spillover Effects	Date	Classification
Domestication of plants	Neolithic Agricultural Revolution	9000-8000 BC	Process
Domestication of animals	Neolithic Agricultural Revolution, Working animals	8500-7500 BC	Process
Smelting of ore	Early metal tools	8000-7000 BC	Process
Wheel	Mechanization, Potter’s wheel	4000–3000 BC	Product
Writing	Trade, Record keeping	3400-3200 BC	Process
Bronze	Tools & Weapons	2800 BC	Product
Iron	Tools & Weapons	1200 BC	Product
Water wheel	Inanimate power, Mechanical systems	Early Middle Ages	Product
Three-Masted Sailing Ship	Discovery of the New World, Maritime trade, Colonialism	15th Century	Product
Printing	Knowledge economy, Science education, Financial credit	16th Century	Process
Factory system	Industrial Revolution, Interchangeable parts	Late 18th Century	Organisation
Steam Engine	Industrial Revolution, Machine tools	Late 18th Century	Product
Railways	Suburbs, Commuting, Flexible location of factories	Mid 19th Century	Product
Iron Steamship	Global agricultural trade, International tourism, Dreadnought Battleship	Mid 19th Century	Product
Internal Combustion Engine	Automobile, Airplane, Oil industry, Mobile warfare	Late 19th Century	Product
Electricity	Centralized power generation, Factory electrification, Telegraphic communication	Late 19th Century	Product
Automobile	Suburbs, Commuting, Shopping centres, Long-distance domestic tourism	20th Century	Product
Airplane	International tourism, International sports leagues, Mobile warfare	20th Century	Product
Mass Production	Consumerism, Growth of US economy, Industrial warfare	20th Century	Organisation
Computer	Digital Revolution, Internet	20th Century	Product
Lean Production	Growth of Japanese economy, Agile software development	20th Century	Organisation
Internet	Electronic business, Crowdsourcing, Social networking, Information warfare	20th Century	Product
Biotechnology	Genetically modified food, Bioengineering, Gene therapy	20th Century	Process
Business Virtualization	Paperless office, Telecommuting, Software agents	21st Century	Process
Nanotechnology	Nanomaterials, Nanomedicine, Quantum dot solar cell, Targeted cancer therapy	21st Century	Product
Artificial Intelligence	Autonomous car, Inventory robot, Industrial robot	21st Century	Process