Economic historian, Stanford University

Paul A. David

David showed that electricity raised factory productivity only decades after it arrived, once factories were redesigned around it, and drew the lesson for computers.

Essential reading: “The Dynamo and the Computer” (1990)
Models in this guide: 1

No. 108AI Systems
The Dynamo Lesson (Productivity Paradox)
A general-purpose technology pays off only when work and organisation are redesigned around it, and that takes years; dropping it into the old layout gives little.

The Dynamo Lesson (Productivity Paradox)