Tool Age of the Future

Abstract

In trying to discover the structural elements of the information society, there does not seem much sense, after all that we have said, in simply concentrating on innovations and pitting man and machine against each other in a performance competition. The use of a number of interrelated technologies, which all contribute either directly or indirectly to an increase in the volume of information and communication flow, and the combination of interrelated systems based on a division of labor are much more characteristic features. The high degree of organization involved in a comprehensive and almost simultaneous exchange of information seems to me an important distinguishing mark between the old, and the new economic and social units communicating with each other by means of networks.