Background

It often takes a while to adopt and switch to new technologies.

The United States is one of the largest world markets for innovations and technological products. With this in mind, I have always wondered what technologies were available in US households at the time of the Second Industrial Revolution (1870-1914) and how quickly people switched to them.

Challenge

Find and illustrate statistical information showing the technology adoption rates in US households, starting from the period of the Second Industrial Revolution (when new technologies entered our homes and became available for everyone).

Solution

I have carefully researched the information related to technology adoption rates in the US.

My search has revealed that the flush toilet was the first technology available to Americans in the 1860s and it took 130 years to implement this technology in every household. In addition, I have noticed that the number of landline phones has significantly decreased once Americans switched to cell phones and smartphones.

For illustrating this statistics, I have used simplified images and visual hierarchy as two effective means of communicating the message with a minimal amount of text.

Sources:

1. https://scontent.fcxh2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t45.1600-4/cp0/q75/spS444/s526x296/121918318_23845944115140306_7080062929064355746_n.jpg?_nc_cat=109&ccb=2&_nc_sid=67cdda&_nc_ohc=aFdIE44GPa0AX-D7Nwo&_nc_ht=scontent.fcxh2-1.fna&oh=de4d329cfd4de9b5ff99c48b29685b0d&oe=5FEB40E5https://www.statista.com/chart/23194/5g-networks-deployment-world-map/
2. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/technology-adoption-by-households-in-the-united-states?tab=chart&stackMode=absolute&time=earliest..2019&region=World
3. https://www.statista.com/topics/2927/tablets-in-the-us/#:~:text=With%20billion%20U.S.%20dollars%20of,to%20the%20330%20million%20population.
4. https://www.statista.com/statistics/756054/united-states-adults-desktop-laptop-ownership/https://www.tastecooking.com/dishwasher-logic/
5. https://www.infoplease.com/math-science/computers-internet/us-households-with-computers-and-internet-use-1984-2014
6. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/03/style/air-conditioning-obsession.html