De La Salle University – Dasmariñas

DBB – B Dasmariñas City, Cavite, Philippines, 4115

INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTIONS THAT

DEFINED SOCIETY: INFORMATION

REVOLUTION

In partial fulfillment for the requirements

In G-SCTS001 Science, Technology

And Society

Submitted by:

Perea, Jonas Ian Ver B.

Ranario, Christian Lawrence D.

Reyes, Leilah Louise C.

Saga, Warren David V.

Siño, Ferl Diane S.

Torres, John Robert F.

Submitted to:

Dr. Lolibeth V. Figueroa

September 13, 2019

DEFINITION OF INFORMATION

Information came from the verb Informare (to inform) which means “to give form to the

mind”, “to discipline”, “to instruct”, and “to teach”. Information also traces its roots from the Latin

word Informatio which means concept or ideas.

Communication

Regarding communication, information is identified as something that is deconstructed

upon the receipt of a message, otherwise known as its “content”. What is then perceived is

interpreted as a message, where whatever lies within that message is determined as information.

Thus, in communication, information lies upon the communication and reception of messages.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word information is also associated

with the words Facts and Data.

Scientific

In terms of scientific sense, information is defined as a collection of facts gathered from

many places. These facts came from ideas acquired by study, observation, and experience. In

physical sciences, according to J.D Bekenstein, 2003, the growing trend in physics was to define

the physical world as being made up of information itself. In thermodynamics, information is any

kind of event that affects the state of a dynamic system that can interpret the information.

INFORMATION REVOLUTION

The Information Revolution, according to the History of Technology website, began

around the 1970s and is still going on today. It is also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age,

or New Media Age. This era brought about a time period in which people could access information

and knowledge easily.

 It is also defined as the “development of technologies (such as computers, digital

communication, microchips) in the second half of the 20th century that has led to dramatic

reduction in the cost of obtaining, processing, storing, and transmitting information in all forms

(text, graphics, audio, video).”

MAJOR BREAKTHROUGHS THAT LED TO THE INFORMATION REVOLUTION

First Photograph

The first photograph was taken by the French Inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce back in 1826.

The shot was taken with a camera obscura and the whole process took him eight hours in total.

Telegraph

This device was first invented by Pavel Schilling back in 1832. It is an early communication device

that enabled the transmission of information over long distances. This then sends messages known

as telegrams, which were then deciphered using the Morse Code in the late 1800s.

Transatlantic Telegraph Cable

These were the attempts that were made by the American merchant Cyrus West Field that were

left a remarkable part in the development of the information revolution. This event shows the

first successful message through the efforts of the merchant, Field, across the Atlantic Ocean.

Typewriter

This is a hand-operated machine which has typing keys that can produce printing characters on

paper. With exception to electronic typewriters, typing mistakes on a typewriter are permanent,

albeit removable.
Telephone

This is a device that converts sound and electrical waves into audible relays and is used to transfer

messages that contain information from one place to another. Its two essential parts are the

microphone and the speaker.

Magnetic Tape Recording

This is a method or recording sounds, pictures, and data in the form of electrical signals through

the selective magnetization of portions of magnetic material. This principle of the magnetic

recording was first introduced by Valdemar Poulsen, a Danish Engineer from the 1900.

Wireless Telegraphy

A device invented by Guglielmo Marconi. This wireless communication device is composed

mainly of three parts, which are essential for the transmission of signals. These three are the

transmitted, the receiver, and between them lies the intermediary that establishes the connection

between the two.

Television

This is a device that delivers moving images and sound from a source to the receiver. This was

conceived in the early 20th century as a prospective medium for education and interpersonal

communication, and then becoming a broadcast medium in the mid-centuries.

TIMELINE OF THE INFORMATION REVOLUTION

First Era (Mid 1960’s–Mid 1970’s)

 COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language). It is a “high-level programming

language for business applications which first appeared about 60 years ago. It was the first

popular language designed to be operating system-agnostic and is still in use in many

financial and business applications today.”

 IBM System/360. This is an invention of the International Business Machines Corporation

(IBM) and “heralded the arrival of a new family of computers that reshaped IBM and the

entire computer industry, which was announced on April 7, 1964.” Also, “The S/360 is

ranked as one of the all-time top three business accomplishments, along with Ford’s Model

T and Boeing’s first jetliner, the 707.”

Second Era (Mid 1970’s–Mid 1980’s)

 Personal computer (PC). It is a “general-purpose, cost-effective computer that is designed

to be used by a single end-user.” Also, “one of the first and most popular personal

computers was the Apple II, introduced in 1977 by Apple Computer.”

Third Era (Mid 1980’s–Mid 1990’s)

 Internet. It is “a globally connected network system that uses TCP/IP (Transmission

Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) to transmit data via various types of media. The Internet

is a network of global exchanges – including private, public, business, academic and

government networks—connected by guided, wireless and fiber-optic technologies.”

 o “The first workable prototype of the Internet came in the late 1960s with the

creation of ARPANET, or the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network.

Originally funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, ARPANET used packet

switching to allow multiple computers to communicate on a single network.

The technology continued to grow in the 1970s after scientists Robert Kahn and

Vinton Cerf developed Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol, or

TCP/IP, a communications model that set standards for how data could be

transmitted between multiple networks. ARPANET adopted TCP/IP on January

1, 1983, and from there researchers began to assemble the “network of

networks” that became the modern Internet.”

o “The online world then took on a more recognizable form in 1990, when

computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. While it’s

often confused with the Internet itself, the web is actually just the most common

means of accessing data online in the form of websites and hyperlinks. The web

helped popularize the Internet among the public, and served as a crucial step in

developing the vast trove of information that most of us now access on a daily

basis.”

Fourth Era (Mid 1980’s–present)

 Search engine. It is a “software system that is designed to carry out web search (Internet

search), which means to search the World Wide Web in a systematic way for particular

information specified in a textual web search query. The search results are generally

presented in a line of results, often referred to as search engine results pages (SERPs).”
  Social media. It is “computer-based technology that facilitates the sharing of ideas,

thoughts, and information through the building of virtual networks and communities.”

These are “websites and applications that are designed to allow people to share content

quickly, efficiently, and in real-time.”

SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF THE INFORMATION REVOLUTION

1. Ideological Influence

 POSITIVE - With the immense load of information directly available to the people on the

information age, this then leads to a data-driven ideology when it comes to managing

information.

 NEGATIVE - However, a data-driven approach has a major flaw: it makes people lazy. As

data-driven approaches allow people to access an enormous amount of information, this

then allows the people to become more dependent to the rapid processing power and

information acquisition methods, instead of using their natural ability to judge and think in

choosing appropriate information.

2. Education

 POSITIVE - With an ease in access to information nowadays, modern education has now

been utilizing and incorporating these methods in their curriculums.

- For the students, information is easily accessible with ease due to the multitude of

reliable sources.
 - For the instructors, they are given a new avenue for teaching where they can access

their students online, much like the method of teaching utilized for foreign languages

taught by teachers from different countries.

 NEGATIVE – Despite of helping people to be literate and well-informed, there are times

especially for students, that when they are in the act of using their gadgets like computers,

laptops, mobile phones, or etc., they become distracted. There are some instances that they

become too obsessed with using their gadgets to chat with friends, to watch movies, or to

play games, and tends to neglect everything else which in effect, makes them unproductive

and out of focus.

3. Work Field and Employment

 POSITIVE – Information Revolution is also known as the Age of Entrepreneurship where

in entrepreneurs can open and run a company or business easier. With the help of the new

inventions and innovations in the Science and Technology, people in the business field can

do their jobs way easier and more convenient. Nowadays, people can work from anywhere

which increases efficiency and productivity, and some jobs can even be done at home or

what we call “Work from Home”.

 NEGATIVE – It affects the workers’ work ethics in such way that it distracts and causes

the workers to lose their interest with what they are doing. Also, due to the new gadgets,

machines, etc. that are being invented and used to the business, shortage and obsolescence

of jobs arises. Workers who perform tasks which are easily automated are being forced to

find other work as they are being replaced with computers that can do the job more

effectively and faster.

4. Reshaped Government and Policies

 POSITIVE – Science and Technology’s new inventions helped in reshaping governments.

Governments can now have more advanced and effective militaries by providing new laws

that they had to enforce due to the hacking, piracy and identity theft cases that happened

because of the birth of Internet. Also, government has been able to have a more organized

process and fast service from agencies which are very helpful to serve the citizens.

Moreover, reinvention of politics became possible because of the social media’s increasing

influence in politics, and growing interest in politics from users of social media.

 NEGATIVE - Many people have been using gadgets like computer, mobile phones, etc.,

and are connected in different social media sites online with the help of Internet. Aside

from the advantage of using Internet, there are computer crimes or cybercrimes that may

arise. Cybercrime is defined as a crime in which a computer is the object of the crime

(hacking, phishing, spamming) or is used as a tool to commit an offense (child

pornography, hate crimes).

a. Cyber Bullying – Harassment, Defamation or Doxing, Cyber Stalking

b. Cyber theft – Hacking, Copyright Infringement

5. Social Life

 POSITIVE – Truly, gadgets, Internet and the different social media sites help people to

connect with each other. Lisa Reichelt, a user experience consultant in London coined the

very pleasant term “ambient intimacy”. It merely describes the way in which social media

allows you to “…keep in touch with people with a level of regularity and intimacy that you

wouldn’t usually have access to, because time and space conspire to make it impossible.”
 With this ambient intimacy contribution of the internet and social media in our lives, it

made communication more convenient.

 NEGATIVE – Information Revolution has made communication easier and faster for each

individual and organization all over the world, but it also made it harder for everyone to

have face to face conversations. It somehow locked us or separated us from one another

because of the improper and over usage of our social media sites. It made us more focused

in using gadgets than in giving more time in actual-social interaction.

6. Information dissemination

 POSITIVE - The Information Revolution has enabled people to receive and obtain

information way easier and made them more knowledgeable. People can now gain

knowledge, anywhere, anytime. With just one click, through their mobile phones, people

can search for the things that they would want to know in a very convenient way.

 NEGATIVE

o Media Saturation/Information Overload - Primarily happens because of social

media. The sheer volume of users and the information they produce gives rise to

misinformation, sensationalism, disinformation or fake news. According to a study

titled, Limited Individual attention and online virality of low-quality information,

the accuracy of the information does not have any effect on its popularity and the

chances of a low- and high-quality information to reach the masses is relatively

equal.
o Digital Divide - Refers to the discrepancy between those who have access to

information, communication technology and those who do not. It may also refer to

the discrepancy of those who have the knowledge, ability, skill to use the said

technology and those who have access yet unable to use. According to the U.N.

Report last 2017 there are still around 3.98B people not connected to the internet

and majority of those people are from underdeveloped and developing nations and

they are likely to be poor, old, handicap, from a rural community.

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