The value of modularity

de Carliss Y. Baldwin

To understand the drivers of the evolutionary process and the patterns of technological change and competition that grew out of it, it is not enough simply to establish the fact that computer systems became modular; that a modular task structure allowed modules to change at different rates; that new module concepts were introduced by designers trying to create and capture economic value. We need to understand how the modular operators create value; why designers choose one set of operators rather than another and why some modules evolve at very different rates and come to play very different competitive roles.