Information Renaissance (part 1) The Real Time Update
The development of the real-time update. I was recently involved in a project that dealt with the Stock Market. We had to look up prices of individual stocks, and track them over a period of time. I noticed that when I checked on my stock during the business day, I was able to see it's changes instantly. Every time an investor bought or sold, I could see the change on the screen in front of me. I realize that there was probably a slight delay between my computer screen, and the actual Stock Market, but still, I was impressed.
And then, I found myself checking on my favorite NFL team. I was looking for their injury report to see who would be out, and who would be playing again. On the ESPN website, they had up-to-the minute scores and results of any game going on at that moment, be it men's and women's college basketball, NBA, college football, NFL, and NHL.
Again, I thought to myself, "what an age we live in."
And finally, Ebay! It tells you exactly how many seconds till the bidding ends on any item. How does it know? I'm not sure, but I'm impressed. Information is given to the user exactly as it happens.
Real-time updates are beginning to happen more frequently, in many different fields. They are a major indication that we are in the midst of an Information Renaissance.