The line chart shows how the ownership rates of five different electronic gadgets among families varied in the UK between 1997 and 2001.
What is most striking when looking at the chart is that there were increases in the ownership rates across all technological items with the most dramatic rise recorded in telephones and the Internet. It is also important to note that CD players remained the most prevalent technology throughout the period shown, consistently outstripping other gadgets.
Focusing first on the CD player and computer, they underwent a steady upward trajectory. In 1997, 60% of homes in the UK possessed CD players, before rising by 10% in 1998 and reaching 80% in 2001. Computers were initially owned by 40% of households, increasing steadily to about 55% in 2000, eventually jumping to 70%.
Telephones and the Internet increased by approximately 50 percentage points, with the former slightly edging out the latter, while DVD players were the only item that exhibited a temporary decline. Specifically,
telephone ownership in 1997 stood at 20%, doubled to 40% in the three following years, and then soared to roughly 75% in 2001. Meanwhile, with a quarter ownership rate, DVD players were more common than the Internet, which was found in only a tenth of homes. Thereafter, while the former experienced a dip to nearly 15% in 1998, that of the latter edged up to just under 20%. It is noteworthy that the percentage of these two technologies in 1999 and 2000 was on a par, at precisely 20% and 30%, respectively. Finally, the Internet then surged further to 60%, which was 10% higher than DVD players.