| In
1984, |
for
the 1st time,
|
MRCA
Information Service's consumer purchase tracking service first
published the fact that, for the first time, more U.S. households owned
cats than dogs. This was a sign of greater urbanism and trends
toward
apartment and condominium living. It was a sign to marketers that
the
future lay more in miniature and under-the-cabinet kitchen appliances,
and less in tractor mowers. |
In
1991,
|
for
the 1st time, |
U.S.
investment in the tools of the information trade - computers and
communications gear - outpaced capital spending in the industrial
sector. By 1992, only one year after the two trend lines had crossed
for the first time, capital investment in information technology was
nearly $25 billion higher than traditional industrial capital
investment, and pulling ahead quickly. (David Kline, ”Market
Forces” HotWired 12/11/95, http://vip.hotwired.com/market/)
|
In
1990,
|
for
the 1st time, |
Americans
first made more visits to “alternative health providers” than
to conventional M.D.s. The next half-decade saw explosive growth
in
herbs, vitamins, and natural food stores. |
In
1995,
|
for
the 1st time, |
more
PCs were sold than television sets. This implied at the time that
the
“set-top box” for home delivery of interactive multimedia would be a
dead-end technology. However, the post-2004 growth of HDTV sets
may uncross this crossover. |
Around
2000,
|
for
the 1st time, |
more
salsa was sold in the
U.S. than ketchup.
|
In
2004,
|
for
the 1st time, |
the
number of U.S. households with broadband access equals those using
dialup Internet access. |
In
2004,
|
for
the 1st time, |
the
opening weekend gross of a new video game exceeded the expected opening
weekend gross of a new major movie.
|
In
2004,
|
for
the 1st time, |
Amazon.com’s
home electronic sales volume exceeded its book sales (December).
|
In
2004,
|
for
the 1st time, |
sales
of servers based on Intel and AMD chips exceeded sales of UNIX servers
(Business Week, 2/14/05, p.81).
|
In
2006,
|
for
the 1st time, |
video
game sales will exceed music sales (PricewaterhouseCoopers prediction).
|
| In
2006, |
for
the 1st time, |
Exports
of Japanese pop culture items - video games, comic books, etc. -
exceeded Japanese automobile exports, according to National Public
Radio. So much for American dominance of worldwide pop
culture. Watch out Hollywood!
|
| In
2007, |
for
the 1st time, |
Chat,
discussion, and social networking web sites enjoyed more hits than
pornography sites, according to The
Economist.
|
| In
2007, |
for
the 1st time, |
Toyota
sold more cars than General Motors. This makes Toyota the world's
top auto maker by unit sales, a spot GM had held since 1931.
|
In
2007,
|
for
the 1st time, |
According
to Bill Gates, speaking at COMDEX, "Young people" are spending more
hours in front of their PCs than in front of their television sets.
|
| In
2007, |
for
the 1st time, |
According
to Wired, the majority of
human beings live in cities. |
| In
2008, |
for
the 1st time, |
the
U.S. will overtake France as the world's leading wine-drinking
nation. Growth in U.S. consumption will be driven by Australian
wines. (Business Week
prediction, Feb. 28, 2005, p.14) |