Information Renaissance II
The idea of an information renaissance got me to thinking. In my earlier posting I focused on the history of this concept. I spoke of how the Information Renaissance began and what it had evolved into, but further thought led me to think about the future.
There is no doubt that the Internet has revolutionized the way we use information. We can communicate with an individual a half a world away. This is liberating, no longer do we have to use information in the manner of the past (through print, snail mail, and analog phones), we have left the dark ages of information transfer behind us and have moved into a new modern and more productive way of using information.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines Renaissance in the following way:
ren•ais•sance (rěn'ĭ-säns', -zäns', rěn'ĭ-säns', -zäns', rĭ-nā'səns) Pronunciation Key
n. The period of this revival, roughly the 14th through the 16th century, marking the transition from medieval to modern times. (1)
I want to focus on the last part of that definition. Transitioning from medieval to modern times, I feel that is what the information renaissance did for us. It transitioned us from the medieval (metaphorically speaking) way of using information to a modern, much more effective way. What the renaissance of information did was not just change how we can use information, but changed our mindset as to the value of information; technology has given us an avenue to utilize this information in many new and exciting ways. It is for this reason that the future of the digital world excites me. I believe it goes way beyond the Internet, as transmission speeds expand so does our imagination. This is the fuel behind the flame of innovation and this is the key to continuing the renaissance into the future.