Technological transformations in history: how the computer regime grew out of existing computing regimes

In the article we describe how the digital computer regime grew out of existing computing regimes through a process of transformation. This transformation is conceptualised as a regime shift: a change in the rule set that underpins technical change, guiding innovative activity and output into particular directions. Examples of such rules are technical standards, product standards, user requirements, design rules and organisational rules of how to produce, what to produce. The paper describes how the new digital computer regime had to start from structures of the old regimes, and only later on developed its own distinctive elements. It describes how specific changes in the existing computing regimes, particularly the increasing division of labour, the growing schematisation of computing activities and the development of more sophisticated punch card machinery, contributed to the design and programming methods of the digital computer. How the old programming methods constrained the development of the new regime is also discussed. The article does not go into the actual processes of diffusion of digital computers into specific domains. It does however discuss the role of market demand dynamics for the evolution of digital technology, which too often is portrayed as a technology/science push phenomenon. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.