Category Archives: Social Impact

Does the Web Make Us Networked Robots or Better Humans?

Posted on May 9, 2011 by GilPress

From a summary of a discussion with Sherry Turkle, author of Alone Together:

Posted in Quotes, Social Impact, Social Networks, World Wide Web | 1 Comment

The Future is Not What it Used to Be

Posted on March 13, 2011 by GilPress

Many predictions are what the forecasters want the future to be or simply an extension of what they are familiar and comfortable with. It is particularly illuminating to look at predictions of our past that we can assess with the … Continue reading →

Posted in Predictions, Social Impact, Yesterday's Futures | 1 Comment

Passion and Information Explosion

Posted on March 12, 2011 by GilPress

“Passion is inversely proportional to the amount of real information available” –Gregory Benford [also known as Benford’s Law of Controversy]

Posted in Data growth, Quotes, Social Impact | Leave a comment

This Day In Information: Automated Telephone Switching

Posted on March 10, 2011 by GilPress

Today in 1891, Almon Brown Strowger was issued a patent for his electromechanical switch to automate telephone exchanges.

Posted in Social Impact, Telephone, This day in information | 2 Comments

This Day In Information: Byron and the Luddites

Posted on February 27, 2011 by GilPress

Today in  1812, Lord Byron gave his first address as a member of the House of Lords, in a parliamentary debate on the Frame Breaking Act.

Posted in Social Impact, This day in information | 1 Comment

The Future of Advertising

Posted on February 24, 2011 by GilPress

From today’s “Om Says” email: “In 2005, the newspaper industry had revenue of around $47 billion.

Posted in Advertising, Social Impact | Leave a comment

Political Satire: Early 19th Century Caricatures

Posted on February 9, 2011 by GilPress

Earlier this evening I enjoyed a Ticknor Society event in which Tom Michalak talked about early 19th century British caricatures, focusing on political caricatures and pamphlets about King George IV and Queen Caroline.

Posted in Bibliophiles, News, Social Impact | Leave a comment

InfoStory Quotes: The Internet Topples Tyrants (cont.)

Posted on February 3, 2011 by GilPress

In 1772, the town of Boston established a Committee of Correspondence as an agency to organize a public information network in Massachusetts; the Committee drafted a pamphlet and a cover letter which it circulated to 260 Massachusetts towns and districts, … Continue reading →

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InfoStory Quotes: The Internet Will Abolish War and Topple Tyrants

Posted on January 31, 2011 by GilPress

“When a telegraph network spanned the globe, war would be no more, and cannonballs and mortars would be locked up in museums as curiosities and remnants of a barbarous age” —New York Herald, July 12, 1846 “Every message [the telegraph … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotes, Social Impact | 2 Comments

Daniel Bell on Information Explosion

Posted on January 27, 2011 by GilPress

Daniel Bell, who passed away Tuesday (obituaries here and here), first became widely known for his book The End of Ideology. An “ardent appraiser” of our lives in information, he also wrote (in 1980) about the “End of the Alexandrian … Continue reading →

Posted in Data growth, Forecasts, Libraries, Social Impact | Leave a comment