Information Age

See also: Cybernetics | Information | Communication

An era in which the growth and spread of modern communication technologies allows people to increasingly surround themselves with the information they desire. Specifically with a technology that allows for the classification and retrieval of a diversity of data, facts, etc.

The emergence of the Information Age started halfway through last century with the development of the microprocessor and the proliferation of electronic devices, around the world. This period includes a future in which the economic, cultural and social conditions allow for the decentralized, non-hierachical flow of information. Free information, including ideas and knowledge available to anyone is the main driving force behind the Information Age.

The information age is a term used to describe a world in which information rather than labour becomes the source of economic growth. It also marks the end of many economy’s dependance on manufacturing and manual labor and more upon service and information management. In this period innovation and change derive more from the codification of theoretical knowledge. Hence, being uneducated or at least non-technical in an information age can mean a lower salary on average or the dissapearance of almost any similar employment (i.e. the steel industry).

Cyberspace, the public sphere, Open Publishing, peer-to-peer and other forms of decentralized collaboration and communication ensures the mass media with suffer a greater loss of information control.

Information pools, small worlds networks, leaks and spills are pervasive in the information age. Such a time would be characterised by a regular assault of increased information flow. All around the world information technology particularly computers and internet which is forcing governments to reconsider current legislation. Such a time would be characterised by a regular assault of increased information flow, which severely weakens the premise behind access to intellectual property laws. As the information age grows in terms of its impact, ignoring it becomes increasingly difficult.

The term “Information Age’ was coined by Wilson Dizard in his 1982 book “The coming information age: an overview of technology, economics, and politics”

Indicators, Related Links, etc

Related Topics

TakeDown.NET -> “Information-Age”