For example, before 1979, being able to use air conditioning, computers, microwave ovens and mobile phones were dreams for Chinese residents, but now about 71%, 22%, 72% and 21%, respectively, of middle-aged and elderly people use these devices.
Across the country, with the economy booming and more people taking for granted air-conditioning, computers and gadgets of various shapes and sizes, demand for electricity is swiftly outpacing supply.
The research station has six bunks and many of the comforts of home, including a shower, a toilet, hot water, a microwave, a refrigerator, air conditioning and computers with a wireless link to shore.
Weaver Academy serves about 700 students a year in everything from heating and air conditioning to computer graphics in north central North Carolina.
Full-time employees spend on average more than 37 hours of the week in the workplace, during which they will be heavy users of heating, lighting, air conditioning, ventilation and computers, as well as generating waste and recycling.
A particular concern at Kakuma was the need for air conditioning to enable computers and students alike to function for sustained periods.
Recent hurricanes probably had killed the air conditioning where the computer server was stored, sending the temperature above 90 degrees there and crippling the system.
In poorer neighborhoods, Marx said, the library is the place for people to go, where people find essentials that may be missing at home: quiet, air conditioning, books, and computer access.
So there was no air conditioning, no television, no computers.
Furthermore, new companies have been disproportionately responsible for many of the breakthrough innovations that characterize modern life today -- the automobile, the airplane, computers, air conditioning, Internet search, genetic therapies, to name a few -- that have accounted for enormous improvements in living standards.
The construction of modern buildings requires many pipes and ducts in order to accommodate essential services such as air conditioning, electricity, telephone, and computer network.
