Introduction to the Information Age

Technology and information can be used for a variety of purposes and one main important factor it is used in, for both the older generation who work and the younger generation who need to do homework for school, is that of where we work. Over time technology and information has slowly developed and evolved into something from what we used to aspire towards, but is now something we have achieved and completely grasped. In this blog entry I will look at how the workplace has changed over the course of the 1908’s, 1990’s and what it is like in the modern day, and with a general overall look to the workplace as a whole.

Working styles

Working styles and the general over all way we work in the common work place has been completely renovated because of the technology we are now using and the features that they bring along with them. The very first electronic computer was developed around the time of the 1940’s to 1945 which took up the space of a large room and had the processing power of a few hundred modern computers that we use today; though to begin with these were very rarely used by the common man, only in the military were these computers used. Before the time of when computers were actually made as a machine that could calculate equations at a very fast rate, people who were able to do arithmetic’s very fast were known as computers. It has only been recently that the word computer has been used as a term for a machine that can process data and arithmetic’s. The earliest “form” of a computer was made by a man named Joseph Marie Jacquard who improved his textile loom in 1801by adding a series of punched paper cards as templates for his loom to weave patterns automatically. This step of an automated loom using templates was the first step to developing computers and automated machinery to what they are today. It is slightly ironic how the first computerised machine was made in the work place for the work place, and how computers have affected the work place so dramatically.

Workplace changes in the 1980’s:

The development of technology in the 1980’s saw a couple of new workplace items that originally would not have been used before, such as the first widespread use of a laser printer in 1986 and the very first use of a ‘dot.com’ website business that was registered in 1985 and possibly the most important break through the invention of the world wide web in 1989. Type writers were a major workplace item in the lead up to the end of the 1980’s, when word processors and personal computers started to come into play; but before the invention of computers there was only type writers. Black Monday was the title given to Monday October 19^th, 1987, where the stock markets around the world fell drastically. This had a major impact on labourers everywhere and people were still trying to regain their lost jobs as a result of it. Even so, 1980’s saw the first sustained temporary workers in the workplace.

Workplace changes in the 1990’s:

In the 1990’s technology was only really starting to peak out and begin to fully develop with screens on computers and non dial telephones. Computers were beginning to become more popular and more available for the common man, but computers in the workplace still out weighed computers in the average home. Computers were still fairly large but didn’t take up a whole room with cables and buttons running all over the walls. The average workplace would have had many small cubicles in which office workers would reside to do their work with their own computer. There was a much more significant change in how women worked in the workplace too, they were treated with much more respect and they were seen all around the work area which was not constantly dominated by men.

Workplace changes, modern day:

The workplace today has been completely revamped in the short amount of time from the end of the 1990’s to 2010. The lead up from 2000 to 2010 saw the popularity rise of Apple, touch screen smart phones, portable laptops and many other break through inventions that have changed the workplace to be more efficient and quick at what workers do. Instead of carrying around tons of paper and various folders it can all be stored on one device and, even more so, can be sent to people via emails and it doesn’t matter where they are in the world. The workplace has become a lot more technology orientated nowadays due to the effectiveness and just how fast computers and other electronic devices work, but it is not something to be completely dependant on, as even though the technology has improved, there are still times when these devices can become faulty and not work by the smallest means.