抄録
Technological progress appears to be driven by a few great technologies opening up new technological opportunities. These technologies are called 'general purpose technologies' (GPT's). GPT's can be defined by their ability to inspire technological innovations. So any GPT which loses this ability has to step down from its position as one of GPT's. In this paper we discuss social properties of GPT's. We first criticize some economic growth models based on GPT's. Secondly we focus our attention to the case of semiconductor technology, which is an example of GPT. The development of the integrated circuits, especially microprocessors, changed a character of GPT concerned. The role of semiconductor technology as GTP has been replaced by computer technology. In this stage of GTP, direct interactions between user sectors are more important than indirect feedback mediated by GTP sector.
