Still, competition by industrial enterprises to accumulate and show off their wealth will continue. The second aspect of informatization is the advent of the third industrial revolution of industrialization, which emphasizes information and telecommunication services, following the second industrial revolution which saw the rapid development of the heavy and chemical industries. Then came the downsizing of computers in the late 1970s. People often consider this the era of personal computers, but it is more aptly called the era of microchips. Today, the number of PCs in use worldwide is estimated at a modest 300 million, but the number of microchips is said to be nearly 70 billion.
Microchips are far more widespread than PCs in terms of numbers.
They are everywhere, in every corner of a variety of machines and equipment, supporting all aspects of people's lives from manufacturing to consumption. Thus the information-communication revolution is maturing, led by the United States. Each component, in the form of a variety of information equipment, will be either carried by people or incorporated into products. They will be connected via ultra-wide band optical fibers or radio waves and work together to engage in endless communication and collaboration. Some difficulties, however, remain for that dream to come true immediately.