the action of informing; formation or moulding of the mind or character, training, instruction, teaching; communication of instructive knowledge.
This definition stayed the same until after World War II, when “information” started being used in technology to describe anything sent over electronic or mechanical channels. It became part of the science of messages and didn’t always have to inform. This broader definition spread to general use, meaning anything communicated, whether it made sense to the receiver or not. Now, the word “information” is used so much it has lost some meaning, becoming the most important word of our decade, essential to our lives and work.
Much of what we think is information is actually just data. Information is the meaning that human beings assign to these facts
Information should lead to understanding. It is subjective. What is information to one person might be just data to another. If it doesn’t make sense to you, it shouldn’t be called information.
The hardest part is converting data into a form that people recognise as important and relevant enough to change their behavior. This involves making data understandable and significant to individuals.
Today all we have done is to take the way that machines create data and scale it up; we are finding that it is machine scaleable, not human scaleable. It is just not very useful to have these massive amounts of data.
Despite the abundance of new information, we continue to use outdated methods to process it. This creates a disconnect because the traditional ways of handling information are not keeping up with the advancements in information creation.
Information can be “shipped” at the touch of a button.
Information isn’t just mathematical formulas or instructions for a computer. It is art, advice, technology, theory, and the motivation behind all communications.
- All information looks like noise until you break the code
- Knowledge
- As information technology matures, the focus will turn away from the machines themselves toward the information itself
- Transmission of information
- Chief information officer - CIO
- Information is always valuable but the media change
- E-book could be improved
- Relevant information gets more attention and remembered easily
- Data - Information - Knowledge - Wisdom pyramid
- Information design