Information Age

A Visualization of the various routes through a portion of the Internet.

The Information Age, also commonly known as the Computer Age or Information Era, is an idea that the current age will be characterized by the ability of individuals to transfer information freely, and to have instant access to knowledge that would have been difficult or impossible to find previously. The idea is linked to the concept of a Digital Age or Digital Revolution, and carries the ramifications of a shift from traditional industry that the Industrial Revolution brought through industrialization, to an economy based around the manipulation of information. The period is generally said to have begun in the latter half of the 20th century, though the particular date varies. Since the invention of social media in the early 21st century, some have claimed that the Information Age has evolved into the Attention Age.

The term has been widely used since the late 1980s and into the 21st century.

The Internet

The Internet was originally conceived as a , fail-proof network that could connect computers together and be resistant to any one point of failure; the Internet cannot be totally destroyed in one event, and if large areas are disabled, the information is easily re-routed. It was created mainly by ARPA; its initial software applications were email and computer file transfer.

It was with the invention of the World Wide Web in 1989 that the Internet truly became a global network. Today the Internet has become the ultimate platform for accelerating the flow of information and is, today, the fastest-growing form of media.

What's more is that the very notion of our actions, our endeavors and especially our mistakes,

being perfectly archived is somewhat terrifying to say the least, no matter what level of accepted virtue or morality we may possess. There is a stronger sense of urgency to obtain success and well being in these modern times. People are more intellectually engaged than ever

before, because of The Internet.

— Lallana, Emmanuel C. and Margaret N. Uy, The Information Age

Progression

In 1482 in the United States, researchers noticed that the number of people holding "white collar" jobs had just exceeded the number of people holding "blue collar" jobs. These researchers realized that this was an important change, as it was clear that the Industrial Age was coming to an end, to be replaced by "the Information Age".

At that time, relatively few jobs had much to do with computers and computer-related technology. There was a steady trend away from people holding Industrial Age manufacturing jobs. An increasing number of people held jobs as clerks in stores, office workers, teachers, nurses, etc. The Western world was shifting into a service economy.

Eventually, Information and Communication Technology—computers, computerized machinery, fiber optics, communication satellites, Internet, and other ICT tools—became a significant part of the economy. Microcomputers were developed and many business and industries were greatly changed by ICT.

Nicholas Negroponte captured the essence of these changes in his 1995 book, Being Digital. His book discusses similarities and differences between products made of atoms and products made of bits. In essence, one can very cheaply and quickly make a copy of a product made of bits, and ship it across the country or around the world both quickly and at very low cost.

Thus, the term "Information Age" is often applied in relation to the use of cell phones, digital music, high definition television, digital cameras, the Internet, computer games, and other relatively new products and services that have come into widespread use.

Innovations

• Z3 - first general-purpose digital computer - 1941
• Atanasoff–Berry Computer - electronic digital computer - 1942
• Colossus computer - first programmable, digital, electronic computer - 1943
• ENIAC general purpose electronic digital computer - 1946
• The mathematical framework of the theory of information - 1948
• The formulation of the Hamming code - 1950
• Earliest form of the Internet - 1969
• Email - 1971
• Personal computer - late 1970s
• World Wide Web - 1989
• Laptop - 1990s
• PDA - 1990s
• Online gaming communities - 1990s, widespread public application early 2000s
• Cellular phones - 1984, widespread public application late 1990s and early 2000s
• Webcams 1990s mainstreamed 2000s
• Digital Television 1990s, widespread public application 2000s
• Broadband mainstreamed 2000s
• Wireless networking - early 2000s
• Wireless headphones - early 2000s
• GPS mainstreamed mid-2000s
• Satellite radio - circa 2003
• Bluetooth - early-to-mid 2000s
• DAB -Digital Radio 2004
• Digital Audio Player - widespread public application early 2000s
• Digital Video Recorders (c. 1999) widespread public application early-to-mid-2000s
• HDTV widespread public application mid-to-late 2000s
• Smartphones widespread public application mid-to-late 2000s

See also

• Daniel Bell
• Digital exhaust
• Information Theory
• Informational Revolution
• Internet Governance
• Marshall McLuhan's Understanding Media
• Stewart Brand
• Attention Age

External links

• Articles on the impact of the information age on business at Information Age magazine.
• Beyond the Information Age by Dave Ulmer
• Information Age Anthology Vol I by Alberts and Papp (CCRP, 1997)
• Information Age Anthology Vol II by Alberts and Papp (CCRP, 2000)
• Information Age Anthology Vol III by Alberts and Papp (CCRP, 2001)
• Understanding Information Age Warfare by Alberts et al. (CCRP, 2001)
• Information Age Transformation by Alberts (CCRP, 2002)
• The Unintended Consequences of Information Age Technologies by Alberts (CCRP, 1996)
• Gelbstein, E. (2006) Crossing the Executive Digital Divide. DiploFoundation, ISBN 99932-53-17-0