Since commercial computers were first introduced in the early 1950s, their role, power, and importance has so expanded that the current period is often called The Information Age. Over the past decade, policy makers and the public have become progressively more concerned as success in information markets has lead to a concentration of market power that allows a few firms to dominate what is increasingly seen as a commodity essential to modern life. This paper argues that, in modern information markets, success allows domination but also creates the conditions that lead to succession – the giants of one micro-age tend to become commodity suppliers to the movers and shakers of the next micro-age. This study separates the first 50 years of The Information Age into the Hardware and the Software Micro-ages. It is suggested that the user-training focus, of the now dawning Wetware Micro-age, will profoundly affect information markets and practises
