New Information Age
The Information Age (also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age, or New Media Age) is a period in human history characterized by the shift from traditional industry that the Industrial Revolution brought through industrialization, to an economy based on information technology. The onset of the Information Age is associated with the Digital Revolution, just as the Industrial Revolution marked the onset of the Industrial Age. The definition of what digital means (or what information means) continues to change over time as new technologies, user devices, methods of interaction with other humans and devices enter the domain of research, development and market launch.
During the Information Age, the phenomenon is that the digital industry creates a knowledge-based society surrounded by a high-tech global economy that spans over its influence on how the manufacturing throughout and the service sector operate in an efficient and convenient way. In a commercialized society, the information industry is able to allow individuals to explore their personalized needs, therefore simplifying the procedure of making decisions for transactions and significantly lowering costs for both the producers and buyers. This is accepted overwhelmingly by participants throughout the entire economic activities for efficacy purposes, and new economic incentives would then be indigenously encouraged, such as the knowledge economy.
The Information Age formed by capitalizing on computer microminiaturization advances.This evolution of technology in daily life and social organization has led to the fact that the modernization of information and communication processes has become the driving force of social evolution.
Reflection:
Computers, the Internet, and other information technologies are extraordinarily powerful tools. As such they have great potential both to benefit and to harm societies that embrace them. For example, the Internet has been used to make businesses more efficient, improve education, and create online meeting places for people separated by great distances; it has also produced a new avenue for fraud, theft, invasion of privacy, and the distribution of pornography and hate speech. The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were an example of the Internet’s power as a tool for both good and evil. A few weeks after September 11, Yahoo! Internet Life reported that although the terrorists used only knives and box cutters to execute the attacks, “The World Trade Center attack, a morbid masterpiece whose perfect execution required both intricate and covert coordination, simply would not have been possible without the Internet. Every aspect of the planning of this horrific event bore the marks of the information revolution.” The FBI has reported that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden has used the Internet to spread propaganda and recruit troops. The anonymity of the Internet makes it an appealing communications network for criminals, and advances in encryption technology have made it much harder for law enforcement agencies to monitor suspected terrorists. On the other hand, information technology also played a positive role on September 11, helping the nation come together in a time of crisis. The Internet has its roots in the U.S. military’s plans for a decentralized communications network that could withstand an enemy attack on North America. If part of the system was damaged, messages would be rerouted and still reach their destinations. This is exactly how e-mail worked on the day of the attacks. “From a purely technical perspective,” explains Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Henry Jenkins, “the system worked better than anyone might have anticipated. While the World Trade Center housed an important relay system for cell phones, and its destruction thus left many New Yorkers without telecommunications, there was no significant national disruption of the computer networks.” Countless e-mails were sent from New York City when telephone services were disrupted in the area. And across the country, people used the Internet to seek information about friends and family they could not reach by phone.
Reflection:
Computers, the Internet, and other information technologies are extraordinarily powerful tools. As such they have great potential both to benefit and to harm societies that embrace them. For example, the Internet has been used to make businesses more efficient, improve education, and create online meeting places for people separated by great distances; it has also produced a new avenue for fraud, theft, invasion of privacy, and the distribution of pornography and hate speech. The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were an example of the Internet’s power as a tool for both good and evil. A few weeks after September 11, Yahoo! Internet Life reported that although the terrorists used only knives and box cutters to execute the attacks, “The World Trade Center attack, a morbid masterpiece whose perfect execution required both intricate and covert coordination, simply would not have been possible without the Internet. Every aspect of the planning of this horrific event bore the marks of the information revolution.” The FBI has reported that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden has used the Internet to spread propaganda and recruit troops. The anonymity of the Internet makes it an appealing communications network for criminals, and advances in encryption technology have made it much harder for law enforcement agencies to monitor suspected terrorists. On the other hand, information technology also played a positive role on September 11, helping the nation come together in a time of crisis. The Internet has its roots in the U.S. military’s plans for a decentralized communications network that could withstand an enemy attack on North America. If part of the system was damaged, messages would be rerouted and still reach their destinations. This is exactly how e-mail worked on the day of the attacks. “From a purely technical perspective,” explains Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Henry Jenkins, “the system worked better than anyone might have anticipated. While the World Trade Center housed an important relay system for cell phones, and its destruction thus left many New Yorkers without telecommunications, there was no significant national disruption of the computer networks.” Countless e-mails were sent from New York City when telephone services were disrupted in the area. And across the country, people used the Internet to seek information about friends and family they could not reach by phone.
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