That would still mean more jobs, and more money, for Silicon Valley, although not at the rate of recent years. And most tech-watchers think even this sort of gentle easing is unlikely. They view the last few months as a slight pause while businesses await new products. Some companies continue to spend wildly on information technology to gain an edge over competitors, they note. The focus in this debate is on businesses rather than consumers because they buy more computers and spend more on each.
Businesses also buy more software and networking equipment for each computer.
And each purchase spurs the production of components, such as semiconductors, and peripheral devices such as disk drives. Saloner believes business spending on information actually will accelerate in coming years, because companies are only now figuring out how to use new technology. Take Norcal Waste Systems Inc. of San Francisco, which operates 25 landfills and collects trash from 450,000 Northern California homes and businesses. Two and a half years ago, the company had roughly 30 PCs. Now there are 600, keeping track of individual customers' accounts, deposits at the landfills, and the company's books.