What Is the Impact of the Information Age?
The Information Age moved society from an industry-based economy to an information-based economy. It has generated research, work, commerce and new forms of entertainment and has given most of the world access to information. The Internet and its subsequent developments are prime examples of technology to stem from the Information Age.
The Internet shaped modern society by creating fast global communication and networking to allow research, work and technology to grow faster than ever. As of 2014, 180 countries have some form of Internet access. The Internet was created by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; its initial applications were file transfers and email. Technologies developed subsequently impacted the economy with many businesses and industries being significantly changed. For example, the costs of printing a book on paper and shipping it are drastically higher than the costs of duplicating the book on a computer and sending it through the Internet.
The workforce also saw major changes during the Information Age with simple tasks becoming automated; as a result, more workers were forced to compete in the global job market. Some of the innovations that resulted from the Information Age are the transistor, the Internet, email, video game consoles, personal computers, laptops, cell phones, digital cameras, wireless networking, global positioning satellites and smartphones.
