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| | =Information and communication technologies (ICTs)= | | =Information and communication technologies (ICTs)= |
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| − | Information is not new for human beings; communication has been known since the time human beings lived in caves. Thus ICT are as old as human beings themselves; human beings needed to communicate with one another, beginning with symbolic (non verbal) ways, before language was invented. The language we speak could be seen as first 'ICT', it enabled (oral) communication amongst human beings. Writing and script was the next technological advancement - around 5000 years ago - which enabled information could be created and communicated at different times and in a different place. Oral communication does not have this benefit, Writing also enabled easier recording of human history and thus the invention of script was a landmark in the history of ICTs. Next came printing which made it possible replicate writing. The invention of radio and television was the next advancement in ICT as it became possible for more and more people to access information. Thus, the technology for information creation and communication has been changing, connected with the advancements in scientific knowledge. When you tried to explore the questions in the previous section, you may have come across words like satellites, signals, transmission, receiver, radio waves, etc. All of these words refer to the various technologies that are used for communication. | + | Information is not new for human beings; communication has been known since the time human beings lived in caves. Thus ICT are as old as human beings themselves; human beings needed to communicate with one another, beginning with symbolic (non verbal) ways, before language was invented. The language we speak could be seen as first 'ICT', it enabled (oral) communication amongst human beings. Writing and script was the next technological advancement - around 5000 years ago - which enabled information could be created and communicated at different times and in a different place. Oral communication does not have this benefit, Writing also enabled easier recording of human history and thus the invention of script was a landmark in the history of ICTs. Next came printing which made it possible replicate writing. The invention of radio and television was the next advancement in ICT as it became possible for more and more people to access information. Thus, the technology for information creation and communication has been changing, connected with the advancements in scientific knowledge. |
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| − | |[[File:Timeline_of_communication_tools,_2014_update..jpg|400px]] | + | |[[File:Timeline_of_communication_tools,_2014_update..jpg|600px]] |
| − | |Growth of ICT can be seen to be broadly in terms of 4 ages - premechanical, mechanical, electromechanical and electronic age. While technology for information creation, storage and processing has been developing continuously, one important development which changed the course of technology is the development of digital technologies in the electronic area. Whereas during the electromechanical area, information was stored largely stored in analog formats, What makes our society now different from ever before is the presence of digital technologies. | + | |Growth of ICT can be seen to be broadly in terms of 4 ages - premechanical, mechanical, electromechanical and electronic age. While technology for information creation, storage and processing has been developing continuously, one important development which changed the course of technology is the development of digital technologies in the electronic area. Whereas during the electromechanical area, information was stored largely stored in analog formats. |
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| | ==Analog and digital technologies== | | ==Analog and digital technologies== |
| | During the mechanical and electric analog phases of technology, information was created by a series of physical changes converted into electrical impulses for storing and machine, and each analog information storage required a specialized equipment to decode and read the information. A cassette player or a gramaphone disc is an example of such a device. Representing information for computing using physical changes often meant that the results could not be accurate as the changes could not be replicated exactly. Analog machines could be programmed for specific applications as well as for generalized computation. | | During the mechanical and electric analog phases of technology, information was created by a series of physical changes converted into electrical impulses for storing and machine, and each analog information storage required a specialized equipment to decode and read the information. A cassette player or a gramaphone disc is an example of such a device. Representing information for computing using physical changes often meant that the results could not be accurate as the changes could not be replicated exactly. Analog machines could be programmed for specific applications as well as for generalized computation. |
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| − | An important breakthrough came when the binary system was invented. In the binary system information can in a series of "0"s and "1"s thus allowing information to be accessed through only a combination of "1"s and "0"s. This allowed information to be communicated in discrete bits which could be combined and recombined. Such a computer is called a digital computer. | + | See below how a difference engine, designed by Charles Babbage worked. |
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| | + | An important breakthrough came when the binary system was invented. In the binary system information can in a series of "0"s and "1"s thus allowing information to be accessed through only a combination of "1"s and "0"s. This allowed information to be communicated in discrete bits which could be combined and recombined. Such a computer whichuses "0"s and "1"s to perform computations a digital computer. |
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| | + | What makes our society now different from ever before is the presence of digital technologies. |
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| | ==Cell phones== | | ==Cell phones== |