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[[Index]]
#ISTA 100 Project 1: Foundations of the Information Age
By: Doodle Biehle
This project is an overview of key parts of the beginning of the Information Age and relates those concepts to other events. These may be modern or historical.
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It begins with a definition. Following that is a description of a catalyst invention and the materials used to make it. Finally, we meet the people and methods that made it happen. The field of information was both an individual and group effort.
###Question
What is the information age?
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#Introduction to the Information Age
The information age is defined by the movement of society from physical to digital technology, allowing people to access and share an incredibly large amount of information.
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<img id="image" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Replica-of-first-transistor.jpg" alt="A replica of the first transistor, invented at Bell Labs, December 23, 1947."/>
##The Significance of Bell Labs
Credited with beginning the Information Age, Bell Labs is the organization that invented the transistor. It is a small device used to amplify electronic signals and works far more efficiently than a vacuum tube. With significant improvements, transistors have become a key part of many electronic devices, from radios to laptops.
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<img id="image2" src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2022/03/Transistor-Count-over-time-1536x1155.png" alt="A graph, showing the advancements of microchips based on the amount of transistors within. The trend is exponential, with the number doubling about every two years since 1970."/>
##A Contemporary Bell Labs
Bell labs does not hold the same influence it used to as of today. However, many other companies have done things to somewhat take its place. Though more specialized, these companies innovate. One example is FrameWork, a new laptop that is designed to be repaired by the user, while still following modern aesthetic sensibilities. Universities are also important, as they are often institutions of research.
###Question
How did a transistor change communication?
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#The Transistor and other Inventions
The transistor was a key invention to the information age.
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<img id="image2" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Transbauformen.jpg" alt="Assorted discrete transistors. A line in the bottom left indicates the scale of 10mm, which shows the relative size of the transistors."/>
##What is a Transistor?
A transistor functions in a similar way to a switch, but without moving parts by using properties of p and n-type semiconductors in order to amplify a signal. A task previously done by vacuum tubes, this invention had significantly shrunk down the scale. It also had signs of being more reliable with some improvements. A transistor allowed technology to become more accessible and compact.
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<img id="image" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/OptischerTelegraf.jpg/1024px-OptischerTelegraf.jpg" alt="A replica of one of Chappe's semaphore towers in Nalbach, Germany."/>
##Another Innovation: Optical Communication
Optical communication is the use of light in order to transmit information. An early example is the semaphore telegraph, using towers with arms in order to relay information from one station to the next, until it reaches its destination ("Optical Telegraph.")
A more recent development is the use of a silicon-based device that uses all-optical communication at >100Gb/s. The goal of this is to continue Moore's Law, and allow even more data to be communicated on a chip (Pool.)
###Question
The transistor was unique for its use of elemental properties. How else could other elements be used to spread information?
###Sources
"Optical Telegraph." Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_telegraph.
Pool, Rebecca. "All-optical communication comes of age." SPIE, 12 March 2010. https://spie.org/news/03-10-all-optical-communication-pool.
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#Materials for the Information Age
In order for there to be a transistor, or a computer, or really any creation, materials are needed to make it real.
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<img id="image" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Silicon-unit-cell-3D-balls.png" alt="The diamond cubic structure of silicon."/>
##The Importance of Silicon
Silicon is a key component of transistors. As a semiconductor, it is able to have a current, but does not do so as well as a metal. It also conducts electricity better than metals at higher temperatures (Pappas). This ability, along with unique impurities, makes it so that the element can function similar to a switch, where it blocks, or insulates current, but is also capable of amplifying a current. These tiny, incredibly fast switches innovated technology, from simply sending a signal, to radios, to modern computers.
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##Another Key Material: Gold
Gold is mostly known as a very valuable metal, but is also very important to the manufacturing of computers. It is both ductile and malleable, so there is a lot one can do with it. It can be made into a sheet or wire, and is used for thermal regulation, preventing corrosion, or conducting a current (Fearon). It also has many other practical uses, but its use in computing allows for the hardware to be more durable over time.
###Question
With so many variables and factors, the development of new inventions is often done by groups of people, experts in many disciplines. How do these people work together?
###Sources</h3>
Pappas, Stephanie. "Facts about Silicon." <i>Live Science</i>, 26 April 2018. https://www.livescience.com/28893-silicon.html
Fearon, Robin. "The Precious Role for Gold in Science." <i>Discovery,</i> 12 November 2020. https://www.discovery.com/science/the-precious-role-for-gold-in-science
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#Interpersonal Innovation
Collaboration is a crucial aspect of invention, when multiple people work together with different skills to make something new.
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##Why does it help?
The purpose for having people together for innovation is relatively intuitive. If people are able to easily meet someone who could help solve a proble, that process becomes quicker. The work culture becomes closer and allows for people to collaborate with others that they would not have otherwise worked with.
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<img id="image2" src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1605719125065-3dd9e3f79057?ixlib=rb-1.2.1&ixid=MnwxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHx8&auto=format&fit=crop&w=1170&q=80" alt="A woman works on a tablet while lounging on a couch, supervised by her cat."/>
##Limitations
However, there are some downsides to this. The open layout for innovation is a pressure to always be productive, working longer hours and burning out. When everything is open, everyone is also being watched. A hybrid modality of work, with intentional collaboration may be the new future (Miller). Remote work became commonplace due to the pandemic, which changed the culture of even a typical office. Employees could work from their couch, or make a small office of their own.
###Question
However, some people would rather work alone. These contributions must also be acknowledged. Can one person contribute as much to a field as many?
###Sources
Miller, Claire Cain. "Do Chance Meetings at the Office Boost Innovation? There's No Evidence of It." <i>The New York Times</i>, 1 July 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/23/upshot/remote-work-innovation-office.html
Images from Unsplash.
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#Information Innovators
Just as groups are important to progress, notable individuals also have made advancements in information.
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##Claude Shannon
A mathemetician, Claude Shannon was an important figure in the beginning of the information age. He worked in cryptography and also proposed the idea of Information Theory. This is the idea that when information is sent, it must be able to survive whatever noise happens on the way. A mix of removing redundancy and adding it is needed to ensure accuracy and efficiency. He is the one who coined the term "bit." (Gertner)
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##Ada Lovelace
Although Lovelace's work was long before the information age began, her work is still important. She is known as the first computer programmer because of the notes she made in Charles Babbage's plans for a computer. This was known as the Analytical Engine, which later came to inspire Alan Turing's strategy to solve the enigma (Biography.com Editors). She also noted that computing like this may sometime go beyond numbers ("Ada Lovelace"). Her work is important as part of what sparked the invention of computing done by machines.
###Question
The information age is a time of incredible innovation. These inventions and people helped bring society where it is today. Where next?
###Sources
"Ada Lovelace." <i>Computer History Museum</i>, https://www.computerhistory.org/babbage/adalovelace/.
Biography.com Editors. "Ada Lovelace." <i>Biography</i>, A&E Television Networks, 2 Apr. 2014, https://www.biography.com/scholar/ada-lovelace.
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[[Index]]
#Conclusion
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The beginning of the Information Age holds a lot of, well, information. It covers many aspects of how and why innovation happens, and several motivations of the people involved. Even now, scientists are working to answer old questions and continue improving the ability to communicate information, from online chats to spreading research. The present and future hold much potention and action for innovation, and hopefully something just as, if not more notable than the transistor will happen again.
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</script>#Table of Contents
[[Intro]]
[[Part 1]] Introduction to the Information Age
[[Part 2]] The Transistor and Other Inventions
[[Part 3]] Materials for the Information Age
[[Part 4]] Interpersonal Innovation
[[Part 5]] Information Innovatiors
[[Conclusion]]