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Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Evolution of Information

I will give the direct link to Zenpundit's post on this topic. It is a really interesting, non-technical, 8-minute history of the evolution of information since humans first began writing down information. Of particular interest is where information gathering and acessibility is headed in the next couple decades. I agree with the analysis presented in the video, and one can already see hints of things to come. We are in a 'pull' era, where individuals are expecting and demanding that they be able to gather information from all media resources, whenever and wherever they happen to be (this is a large part of the fate of traditional newspapers that cannot compete with online news sources, for instance; traditional newspapers are part of the 'push' era that we have been exiting over the last 5-10 years). This is also why 'smart phones' are becoming the tool of choice for millions, if not billions, of individuals worldwide, and they will take the lead in the 'pull' era.

An aside: It would be wise for educators to note this trend, accept it, and begin to allow students to use personal communications devices more frequently in the education process.