We are entering the age of information, in many ways analogous to the age of energy that began in the eighteenth century. This article calls attention to some of the paradoxes of the information age. It looks at social and economic macro trends that are shaping the era. A five-year outlook for information technology is presented. Finally, some implications for society and for its economy are suggested, and some issues are discussed that must be faced in the next five years as a result of the changes of the information age.
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References
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idem , The Coming of Post-Industrial Society: A Venture in Social Forecasting (New York: Basic Books, 1973).
2.
2. “The Ultimate Interface,”Information-week, 25 June 1990, pp. 46-48.
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3. U.S., Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, The 1992 World Administrative Radio Conference: Issues for U.S. International Spectrum Policy—Background Paper, OTA-BP-TCT-76 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1991), pp. 36-37.
4.
4. Vary T. Coates and Bernard Finn, A Retrospective Technology Assessment: Submarine Telegraphy (San Francisco: San Francisco Press, 1979), pp. 70-76.
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idem , Electronic Bulls and Bears: U.S. Securities Markets and Information Technology, Sept. 1990.
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6. U.S., Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Linking for Learning: A New Course for Education, OTA-SET-430 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1989).
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7. U.S., Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Automation of America's Offices, OTA-CIT-288 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1985).
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8. U.S., Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Criminal Justice: New Technologies and the Constitution, OTA-CIT-366 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1988).
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9. Federal, state, and local criminal justice authorities now are able to use closed-circuit television, parabolic microphones, miniature radio transmitters (bugs), telephone taps, pen registers (which detect and record the dialing of telephone numbers), computer-usage monitors, electronic-mail monitors, cellular radio interceptors, satellite beam interceptors, patternrecognition systems, and intruder-detection systems that pick up sound, vibrations, or infrared radiation.
10.
See also U.S., Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Intellectual Property Rights in an Age of Electronics and Information, OTA-CIT-302 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1986).
11.
11. U.S., Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Copyright and Home Copying: Technology Challenges the Law, OTA-CIT-422 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1989).
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12. Office of Technology Assessment, Criminal Justice, p. 24.
13.
13. The 1934 Communication Act stated that everyone should have reasonable access to basic telephone service. In practice, this required cross-subsidies, that is, charging large business users higher rates to help support residential service.
