Three Dimensions of Information Technology Applications: A Historical Perspective

By using a histoncally oriented study, the paper sees Information technology (IT) as the successor to three important streams in technologies supporting information-related activities, namely, mechanization, commumcation, and generation and transmission of knowledge. The study aims to show the IT phenomena as something taking place within the context of social and cultural evolution over the past several thousand years. Moreover, it wants to use the historical approach to explain why IT is such a powerful technology. Finally, the discussion wants to show that the communication aspect, and the knowledge-related aspect of IT are under-rated. If history is a guide, then we can argue that these two aspects possess very far-reaching consequences for the individual and society. keywords: Information Technology, automation, mechanization, data communication, information society, history, written language, printing.