SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY

& SOCIETY
UNIT VIII
THE INFORMATION AGE
WHAT IS INFORMATION AGE ?

● The Information Age is

the Idea that access to
and the control of
information is the defining
characteristic of this
current era in human
civilization.
History of the Information Age

● The start of the Information Revolution was made

possible by the invention of language writing and
printing . This Invention
greatly improved how
humans exchange
information and
communication.
 FIRST INFORMATION REVOLUTION

The First Information Revolution began in the

mid-nineteenth century with the invention of the Telegraph,
Telephone and Radio.
1. TELEGRAPH
● Telegraph
revolutionized long
distance
communication.

● Telegraph is worked by
transmitting electrical
signals over the wire
Samuel Morse (1791-1872) between the stations.
Developed Telegraph
2. TELEPHONE

● The telephone is an Instrument

designed for the simultaneous
transmission and reception of Johann Philip Rels
(1876-1877)
the human voice . Developed Telephone

● Telephone is the most widely

used telecommunications in the
world
3. RADIO

Gugliemo Marconi
(1895)
Discovered Radio

● An Italian named Gugliemo marconi discovered what he

called “The wireless telegraph”, He used
electromagnetic waves to relay Morse code.
● Radio owes it development to the first information to
the two other inventions: Telegraph and Telephone
 SECOND INFORMATION REVOLUTION

● The Second Information Revolution further

improved communication due to the invention of
television, the first generation of computers, and
satellites.
1. TELEVISION
● Television is one of the 20th
Century's most influential
technologies. It has become
one of the essential ways in
which people perceive the
broader world around them, as
well as one of the best ways in
which people can escape the
planet.
2. COMPUTERS
John Vincent
Atanasoff
● The early computer (1939-1942)
development was due to
military needs.
● The Atanasoff-Berry computer
reflected many computer
advances, including a binary
arithmetic system, parallel
processing, regenerative
memory, and memory and
computing separation function. “Atanasoff-Berry computer”
3. Electronic Numerical Integrator and
Calculator (ENIAC)

● The problem with ENIAC and other computers of the

first generation was that they used vacuum tubes that
produced a lot of heat, causing it to overheat or flame
out.
Presper Eckert
&
John Mauchly
Developed
“ENIAC Machine”
4. TRANSISTORS

● This Invention helps to address

the problem of overheating.
● After the transistor’s invention,
Advances in technology became
more common, with computer
technology being the most
notable of this.
5. INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
● The development of new
computer technology is crucial
because it showed the
convergence of government,
military, and industry
cooperation in innovation
making. The invention of
integrated circuits has
contributed to the development
of third-generation computers.
6. SATELLITES

● A satellite is an object
that orbits or circles
around a more
significant object in
space
● The First Artificial
satellite was Sputnik.
Intelsat I Also known “Early Bird”
Third Information Revolution

● The technologies of the first two Information

Revolutions paved the way for more
techniques and innovations,which led to the
Third Information Revolution. The following
are the leading technologies of the Third
Information Revolution.
 1. Semiconductors

● Semiconductors are essential

technology which significantly
enhanced the ability to store,
process, and advertising
information. The memory
capacity increased substantially
in 2017 from 10,000 bits of
information in 1978 to 160
trillion bits because of the
semiconductors.
 2. Microprocessors

● A microprocessor is an integrated
circuit (IC), integrating critical
functions in the central processing
unit (CPU) of a computer. It is a
programmable silicon chip with
multipurpose, clock-driven,
register-based, accepts binary
data as input, and provides
output after processing as per the
instructions stored in the memory
(Ligo, 2018).
3. Fourth Generation Computers

● The Very Large Integrated

Scale (VLSI) circuits were used
in the fourth Generation
Computers from 1971 to 1980.
VLSI circuits with
approximately 5000 transistors
and other circuit elements and
their associated circuits on a
single chip have made it
possible to have
microcomputers of the fourth
generation.
4. Fifth Generation Computers

● The Fifth Generation Computers are

the most advanced and current
computer generation, which started
around 1981. These are highly reliable
and use the technology of ULSI or
Ultra Large Scale Integration. Such
computer systems are at the frontiers
of modern scientific calculations. They
are used to create the components of
Artificial Intelligence or AI, which will
be able to think for themselves (Toppr,
2019).
 5. Fiber Optics

● Fiber optics (known as optical fibers)

that consist of incredibly thin glass or
plastic strands. One cable of the fiber
optic can have as few as two strands
or as many as several hundred. Every
strand is less than a tenth as thick as
a human hair and can hold something
like 25,000 phone calls, making it
easy for a whole fiber-optic cable to
carry several million calls.
 6. Cellular Technology

● A cellular telephone is a
telecommunication device that uses
radio waves over a networked area
(cells). It is served at a fixed
location via a cell site or base
station, enabling calls to be
transmitted wirelessly across a wide
range, to a fixed landline or via the
Internet.
7. Satellite Technologies

● Satellite technologies also

helped to create a global
connectivity network. They used
mobile, television, and weather
and climate devices. Satellites
have allowed the worldwide
broadcast of events, shows,
international teleconferencing,
international telephone calls,
and other types of global
connectivity.
 8.Internet

● The Internet seems to have a significant impact on almost

every facet of our lives, building whole new worlds of
cultures and allowing us to access knowledge and ideas on
a scale we've never dreamed of before. The main goal for
today is to develop a fully integrated, high-speed, and high
capacity network.
 9. Digital Transmission
● Digital transmission developed
to improve communication.
Digital transmission is the
transmission of information in
the form of digital signals
through a physical
communication medium.
Therefore, analog signals must
be digitized first before they
are transmitted.