InfoSys C103 - Fall 2006

About

InfoSys C103: History of Information - Fall 2006. This course explores the history of information and associated technologies, uncovering why we think of ours as 'the information age.' We will select moments in the evolution of production, recording, and storage from the earliest writing systems to the world of Short Message Service (SMS) and blogs. In every instance, we'll be concerned with both what and when and how and why, and we will keep returning to the question of technological determinism: how do technological developments affect society and vice versa?

History of Information

Introduction: On Information Audio is Low. On Determinism

Writing Systems

Written Mentalities Audio is Low. Manuscript Cultures First 4 minutes has low audio. Storing and Retrieving

Print, Printing and Print Culture Audio low and noisy after 40 minutes. Book Writing and Wall Writing

18th Century Public Sphere: Early Newspaper, Coffee Houses, Political Discourse

Science, Statistics, Certainty

Forms of Authority: Reference Books, Museum, Libraries

Information Workers

Dawn of the Information Economy

19th Century Public Sphere: Mass Communication