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Which of the following is the key similarity between the smartphone and the personal computer? Both were funded by the government, but developed in the private sector. Both were created by the government and sold to the private sector for manufacturing. Both were used by the Department of Defense to provide national security. Both were developed in the private sector and sold to the government for mass distribution.

User Qin
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Both were funded by the government, but developed in the private sector.

A good resource on this topic is a 1999 book by the National Academies Press, called Funding a Revolution: Government Support for Computing Research. As pointed out in chapter 5 of that study, "The federal government has made significant contributions to the research base for computing technology. ... Federal support has accounted for a substantial fraction of the total funding for computing research in the United States and the vast majority of all university research funds in the field. Such funding has supported both the development of new technologies and the training of students." Government financial support was not the sole driver of innovation and development in computing technologies, but did form part of the overall network of government, universities, and industry that combined to foster innovation and development.

In regard to smartphone development, a 2014 report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) pointed out that "much of the technology found in today's smartphones is the result of both federal procurement and research grants," noting advances in semiconductors and touchscreens as examples. So, while developed mainly in the private sector, federal dollars were instrumental in facilitating smartphone development, as had been the case with previous computing technologies too. See the ITIF report, Federally Supported Innovations: 22 Examples of Major Technology Advances that Stem from Federal Research Support.

User Aucuparia
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