From Information Scarcity to Information Abundance

Information abundance is not about digitalization and copying but is about the perception, analysis, comparison, exchange, reuse and evaluation of facts. Prior to Internet, information is collected through different sources like books, newspapers etc. The curiosity to know the things happening around world is satisfied with Internet.

Information availability prior to Internet:
Information available for us before Internet is scattered in different sources like books, newspapers, encyclopedias, magazines, museums and libraries. Collection of required data or searching for data used to take lot of time. For example, prior to Internet, information about any medical treatment for any disease was a time consuming process. People used to refer different books in libraries and other sources for days together to get the necessary information. But with Internet, any information is available within minutes.

Changes brought by Internet:
The advent of the Internet has been one of the most exciting major events in the second half of the 20th century. Information is shared among all humans with the help of Internet. A big advantage of Internet is the availability of information with quick accessibility than ever before. One can access information in a book that is available in a library, in the other part of the world with just a click of mouse. Unlike the books in the libraries, information online is constantly reviewed and updated frequently.

Information Era:
Internet became a public domain in the 1980’s. From then availability of information was permanently revolutionized and grown tremendously. Information era has changed the lives of all humans either directly or indirectly. Information on almost every topic is obtained at high speed and more easily available than ever before. This new level of information availability and accessibility is influencing the dynamics of the global markets as well as personal lives. Remarkably, information is not only accessible to all but can be created by and distributed to almost everybody.

Everyone can enjoy the unmatched prosperity of global information resources by connecting to the Internet. The advent of the Internet has increased the efficiency of the information availability. With this, significant increase in level of information endowment in a variety of fields is observed