The caption of the chart previously referenced can lead one to forget to actually look at the adoption curves - many of which appear very similar when you actually look at them.  If the chart is overlayed with band highlighting the time of the depression and WWII, it tells a different story.  Add in the adoption curve for TV and still another story emerges.

Refer to the discussion here for the other versions of this chart:

http://earlywarn.blogspot.com/2010/06/technology-adoption-in-hard-times....