Introduction to Life in the Information Age

In the last 30 years there have been ground-breaking advances in Information Technology. In developed countries in particular, Technology seems to have become increasingly ubiquitous in everyday life. Information Technology has evolved dramatically and has transformed the way in which we work, communicate, play, learn and live. We are living in the Information Age – a time where information is power, and where technology has enabled us to discover information we would otherwise have no way of obtaining.

It is hard to comprehend just how radically Information Technology has influenced us over the past few decades, so in order to make it more graspable you can compare the usual offices of today to a typical office from the 1980’s.

By the end of the 1980’s, the previously ever-present typewriter had been replaced within offices by computers and keyboards. Beforehand, offices would contain numerous filling cabinets for storing paperwork – in contrast, today most workers need little more than a computer. There were no fax machines, no printers and the only way to transfer work was by mail or by hand. If a piece of paperwork was found to have a mistake, the whole thing would have to be typed again – whereas straightforward amending is available to us on computers now.

By the 1990’s, computers were becoming present in every office around the world and nowadays the technology present in the workplace has become even more innovative in comparison to the 1980’s. With the introduction of wireless connections to the internet, printers and other work equipment, the workplace has become far more flexible even in the last 4 years or so. Online conferencing allows business people to communicate and form partnerships all over the world and employees can contribute work from home via email – reducing their need to go to the office every day. The Technology in the workplace today has impacted people’s lifestyles greatly. Work no longer necessarily finishes when you leave the office – Blackberrys, iPhones and other smart phones are used by businesses to contact employees outside office hours and for the employees to send emails and finish work when they are at home – whether or not this is an advantage or a disadvantage is open to interpretation.

We are living in an information spiral – the more information we acquire; the more technology we can create and the more technology we create, the more information we are beginning to realize and so on in a continuous and expanding cycle. Technology has certainly advanced in the past 30 years, and in recent years the advances have snowballed. As a society we seem to have developed an inability to settle and accept that things are the best that they could possibly be and so we continue striving for improvements within our lifestyles – increasingly through technology. But as we aim for what seems to be ‘technological supremacy’, we may be losing site of what we need and, essentially, of simplicity. With each advance we are making some sort of sacrifice – and every time we must decide whether or not it is worth it.

Case Study – How the job of a Sales representative has changed due to the development of Information Technology

According to 440 sales representatives who responded to the ‘Registered Reps’’ annual survey, the ‘typical’ sales rep has been on the job for seven years. Within those seven years those sales assistants would have experienced many changes to their job because of Information Technology. Technology has changed the way that people shop, and thus has changed the way that sales people sell. Even from the beginning technology has had an effect on the job of a sales assistant – when phones became more available, phone calls with clients coincided with face-to-face conversations and the typewriter replaced hand written documents. Nowadays, a sales representative is a perfect example of just how much technology is around and how is has transformed the way people carry out their jobs. Sales people today must be competent with using computers, databases, production software, smart phones, and social media at least – and ability to use other equipment such as SAT NAV would add to the ease of their job. For some sales persons, this means they required retraining or they risk losing their job.

Computers and the Internet have allowed sales reps to be more productive. They can access information and organise it far faster than they ever could have before. Client contact details and addresses and product information can be stored on a database which can be accessed from computers, laptops and some smart phones – meaning they can be accessed on the move. Satellite navigation systems and map apps on phones mean that sale reps can find their way around unfamiliar places with ease and without hesitance or a need for too much planning ahead. This would save time, and for a sales rep more time can potentially mean more money. 

Smart phones can also act as a planner – holding appointment details and other information. Information Technology has made it so that sales reps needn’t spend days in the office planning routes and sorting through paperwork, and they can instead do most of their work either at home or on the go.

For sales representatives there are fewer things more important than creating new sales leads, and one way in which technology is involved in doing this is though social media such as FaceBook and other social networking sites. Sales people can use these to attract thousands of people to their products quickly and with minimum effort. Social sites also all them to research other products and receive feedback, and it acts as a foundation for forming preferably profitable customer relationships.

This is just one example of a job that has been enhanced and altered due to Information Technology. Recent and new technologies provide opportunities for workers to enhance their output and improve their work-life – and more and more people are taking full advantage of these opportunities. But for those who cannot keep up with the constant changes and additions, their jobs may become increasingly stressful and confusing the more time passes and the more technological advances there are.