The line graph illustrates the percentage of households in the UK that had access to four types of modern technology, namely CD players, mobile phones, home computers and Internet access, between 1996/97 and 2002/03.
Overall, ownership of all four technologies increased over the period. CD players remained the most widely used technology throughout, whereas Internet access experienced the most significant growth despite starting from the lowest figure. Mobile phone ownership also rose sharply and eventually exceeded that of home computers.
In 1996/97, approximately 60% of UK households owned a CD player, making it the most popular device. By contrast, the figures for home computers and mobile phones were much lower, at around 27% and 18% respectively. Over the following years, CD player ownership increased steadily to just above 80% in 2002/03. Similarly, the proportion of households with a home computer grew gradually, reaching about 55% by the end of the period.
Meanwhile, mobile phone ownership showed a dramatic rise, climbing from roughly 18% to around 70%. Internet access recorded the fastest growth, increasing from only 10% in 1998/99 to more than 40% in 2002/03. Despite this rapid increase, it remained the least common technology among the four categories.