Information Age Notes

Science, Technology and Society

Course Overview
  • Course Module focuses on the Information Age.
  • Objectives:
    • Discuss the evolution of information from ancient times to the present.
    • Examine the human and social impacts of developments in the Information Age.
    • Explain how social media has affected society.
  • Readings:
    • How we decide by Jonah Lehrer
    • Information: the new language of science by Hans Christian von Bayer
Information Age
  • Also known as Computer Age, Digital Age, New Media Age, and Internet Age.
  • A historical period in the 21st century, marked by a rapid shift from traditional industry (stemming from the Industrial Revolution) to an economy primarily based on information technology.
Early Developments (1945 Onward)

  • 1945: Fremont Rider described miniaturized microform analog photographs for on-demand duplication for library patrons and institutions.

  • 1965: Moore’s Law formulated: Observation that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years.

    Moore's Law: Transistors
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  • Early 1980s: Production of smaller and less expensive personal computers, enabling direct access to information.

  • 1995: Nicholas Negroponte published Being Digital, discussing similarities and differences between products made of atoms and bits.

Stages of the Information Age
  • Primary Information Age: Newspapers, radio, television.
  • Secondary Information Age: Internet, satellite television, and mobile phones.
  • Tertiary Information Age: Emerged through interconnection of media from the Primary and Secondary Information Ages.
Pre-industrial Age
  • Period before machines and tools aided task performance.
  • Technology began ~2.5 million years before writing with early hominids using stone tools for fire starting, hunting, and burial.
  • Communication limited between communities; traditional paper, writing materials, signs, and symbols were used.
    • Egyptians used papyrus scrolls.
    • Sumerians used clay tablets.
    • Pre-historic men created art on cave walls using hand stencils and geometric shapes.
    • Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press during the Renaissance period.
Industrial Age
  • Began around 1760 in Great Britain, later spreading to other countries.
  • Characterized by the replacement of hand tools with power-driven machines (e.g., power loom, steam engine) and the concentration of industry in large establishments.
  • Key Communication Developments:
    • Samuel F.B. Morse invented the telegraph, which became the standard for international communication using a modified code.
    • Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone, an electric tool transmitting analogue speech along wires.
    • Thomas Edison invented the phonograph for mechanical recording and reproduction of sound.
Electronic Age
  • Began with the introduction of electronic equipment and technologies, including computers.
  • The invention of the transistor marked the start of this age, harnessing transistors for transistor radios, electronic circuits, and early computers.
  • Long-distance communication became more efficient.
  • Transistors led to the creation of other media tools.
    • The Enigma machine was used to decipher German signals during World War II.
    • The transistor radio became the most popular electronic communication device.
  • Key Computing Developments:
    • EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator) is considered the first stored-program electronic computer.
    • ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was the first electronic general-purpose digital computer.
    • UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) was a line of electronic digital stored-program computers.
    • IBM created the first mass-produced computer with floating-point arithmetic hardware.
    • Hewlett Packard 9100A was an early computer or programmable calculator.
    • The floppy disk was a removable magnetic storage medium.
    • The Walkman was originally used for portable audio cassette players.
Information Age (Present)
  • Advancements in microelectronics led to personal computers, mobile devices, and wearable technology.
  • Voice, image, sound, and data are digitalized.
  • Examples of current technologies:
    • YouTube (founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim): Online video-sharing platform for viewing, uploading, sharing, reporting, subscribing, and commenting on videos.
    • Facebook Inc. (founded by Mark Zuckerberg): Global social networking website providing services like Facebook Messenger, Facebook Watch, and Facebook Portal.
    • MacBook (Apple Inc.): Discontinued Macintosh portable computer with Retina display, fanless design, butterfly keyboard, and USB-C port.
    • Google LLC: Multinational technology company specializing in internet-related services and products, including software, hardware, online advertising, search engine, and cloud computing.
    • Microsoft Corporation: Develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services.