Chapter 2.

Recent Advances and

Trends in Science and Technology
The Information Age
From Gutenberg to Social Media

CHRISTINE MURIEL S. ALONZO

THE PRE-GUTENBERG WORLD
▪ In early times, books were created manually by hand.
▪ They were transcribed through clay, papyrus, wax, and parchment. Besides,
governments chose only to whom will be given the education to read.
▪ They were scared that the influence of mass communication will be the
hindrance in their ruling.
▪ The transmission of information relied only through "word-of-mouth" channels.
▪In 1440, the first printing press was built through Johannes Gutenberg which
heralded the start of mass communication. However, it took hundred years for
this to spread.
THE GUTENBERG REVOLUTION
▪ "The printing press was an important step towards the democratization of
knowledge“ Eisenstein, 1969.
▪According to the researchers. Gutenberg Revolution is a term used to express the
democratizing effects of the invention of the printing press among society.
▪The invention of the printing press allowed for worldwide changes to take place.
▪Democracy was born through the invention of the printing press and the effects it
had on society.
▪It allowed people to have a voice who weren't able to spread their messages before.
▪Although the distribution of information becomes possible, it is expensive and only
a few can afford it.
▪Hence, to satisfy the needs of every one, distribution of information was
institutionalized and mediated.
THE POST-GUTENBERG WORLD
▪ On the other laws, the dispersal of information took a long time
through printing press.
▪In 1920, the radio broadcasting was introduced. It marked a significant
jump in the speed of communication.
▪It made the spreading of information even more quickly and widely.
▪However, in the 197Os, the Information Age accelerated global
communication.
▪It started when the microprocessor began and took it as the
introduction to the Internet Browser, which made the Information Age
significant to up to this day.
THE POST-GUTENBERG WORLD
▪ In the early times of the internet, it still follows Gutenberg
Principle.
▪Both money and expertise are required for you to be able to
access the internet and spread information and was therefore still
the greater access to information was not fulfilled.
▪However, the speed in accessing the information through internet
was great.
▪For that reason, many investments appears to serve and create
opportunities with e-commerce as the major new web - based
phenomena.
THE POST-GUTENBERG WORLD
According to Stacy (2008), the development of internet in our
world, changed 2 major expansion:
➢First, uploading and downloading of different forms of media,
such as image, videos, and audios, were now possible through
internet access.
➢Second, spreading and publishing of information were now much
easy because of different tools.
➢This time, information can now be on the hand of every
individual and all the potential individuals. This is called as the
Post - Gutenberg Principle or Social Information Principle (Stacy,
2008).
INFORMATION AGE
▪The discoveries and inventions on communication and information technology
have greatly helped to this constant need of man.
▪There are three distinct historical periods for this revolution of information
technology Washington, DC. Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense
(OASD), Command & Control Research Program (CCRP, 1997).
Three Historical Periods
▪The first modern information
revolution began in the mid-
nineteenth century and includes
telegraph, telephone, and radio.
▪These three inventions have greatly
helped in improving the people's
lives. Businesses, government,
military, and foreign policy
establishments were able to
communicate easier.
Three Historical
Periods
▪The second modern information revolution
followed the first one and extended until the
mid-20th century and includes television,
early generation computers, and satellites.
▪These inventions have greatly improved
communication and have bypassed even
further distances in a faster time.
▪The industrial society and governmental
affairs have greatly benefited from this,
saving so much money that was at first
spent over communication and exchange of
information.
Three Historical Periods
▪The third modern information revolution probably began
in the 1980s and has surpassed the two other
revolutions.
▪This age which includes our time is now called as the
"knowledge revolution."
▪This includes advance information technologies and has
a remarkable impact in the politics, economics,
sociology, and culture knowledge creation and
distribution.
 SOCIAL MEDIA AND ITS
IMPACT TO THE SOCIETY
ACTIVITY (30 points):
Example:

➢Draw and illustrate the

effects of social media in
the society.
RUBRICS
Creativity 15 points
Relatedness to the Topics 10 points
Neatness 5 points
Total 30 points