Information+Revolution

The //Information Revolution// is a phrase we use to refer to the dramatic changes taking place during the last half of the 20th century in which service jobs (ranging from high technology, highly skilled professons to low-skill jobs like short-order cook) are more common than jobs in manufacturing or agriculture. The product of skilled professionals is the information or knowledge they provide.

The information revolution began with the invention of the integrated circuit or the computer chip. Those chips have revolutionized our lives, running our appliances, providing calculators, computers, and other electronic devices to control our world.

It is still early enought that no one knows precisely what all of the implications of the information revolution will be for social life. But clearly changes such as the information superhighway permitting people to communicate using computers all around the globe, fax machines, satellite dishes, and cellular phones are changing how families spend their time, the kind of work we do, and many other aspects of our lives.

Text taken from: The Sociology Timeline - [|Information Revolution]

References:
 * Decisive shift has been brought about by recent technological innovations; the association of information revolution and ICTs seems self-evident.
 * This technological revolution marks the opening of a new historical era
 * The terms “industrial” and “post-industrial” society often translate to ‘capitalist’ and ‘post-capitalist’.
 * Mark this transition from a period of constraint and limits, to one of freedom, democracy, and abundance.
 * Novelty of the Information Revolution: it is possible to harness human intelligence and reason in a systematic and scientific way
 * Information is the major asset and resource of a post-industrial society: it was a raw material of truth, beauty, creativity, innovation, productivity, competitiveness, and freedom.

Webster, Frank, Raimo Blom, Erkki Karvonen, Harri Melin, Karrle Nordenstreng, and Puoskari Ensio. __The Information Society Reader__. 2nd ed. London: Rouledge Student Readers, 2002.p 61-66.