The Information Age, also known commonly as the Computer Age or Information Era, is an idea that the current age will be characterised by the ability of individuals to transfer information freely, and to have instant access to knowledge that would have previously have been difficult or impossible to find. The idea is heavily linked to the concept of a Digital Age or Digital Revolution, and carries the ramifications of a shift from traditional industry that the Industrial Revolution brought through industrialisation, to an economy based around the manipulation of information. The period is generally said to have begun in the latter half of the 20th century, though the particular date varies.

The term was widely used around the late 1980s and early 1990s, and to the present.

The Internet

The Internet was originally conceived as a distributed, fail-proof network that could connect computers together and be resistant to any one point of failure; the Internet can't be totally destroyed in one event, and if large areas are disabled, the information is easily re-routed. It was created mainly by DARPA; its initial software applications were email and computer file transfer.

It was with the invention of the World Wide Web in 1989 that the Internet really became a global network. Today the Internet has become the ultimate place to accelerate the flow of relevant information and the fastest growing form of media.

Progression

The Information Age means something different to everyone. In 1956 in the United States, researchers noticed that the number of people holding "white collar" jobs had just exceeded the number of people holding "blue collar" jobs. These researchers realized that this was an important change, as it was clear that the Industrial Age was coming to an end. As the Industrial Age ended, the newer times adopted the title of "the Information Age".

Of course, at that time relatively few jobs had much to do with computers and computer-related technology. What was occurring was a steady trend away from people holding Industrial Age manufacturing jobs. An increasing number of people held jobs as clerks in stores, office workers, teachers, nurses, etcetera. The Western world was shifting into a service economy.

Eventually, Information and Communication Technology—computers, computerized machinery, fiber optics, communication satellites, Internet, and other ICT tools—became a significant part of the economy. Microcomputers were developed, and many business and industries were greatly changed by ICT.

Nicholas Negroponte captured the essence of these changes in his 1995 book, Being Digital. At the time, he was the head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab. His book discusses similarities and differences between products made of atoms and products made of bits. In essence, one can very cheaply and quickly make a copy of a product made of bits, and ship it across the country or around the world both quickly and at very low cost.