How Information Technology Is Conquering the World

Workplace, Private Life, and Society

Kai A. Olsen

Information Technology (IT) is conquering the world. It affects our jobs, our lives as private citizens, and society. Its impact is greater than other technologies, such as railways, personal cars, and the telephone. However, while most can understand the potential and constraints of these technologies, IT is often experienced as a “black box,” producing its effects without giving a clue as to how they are achieved. The aim of How Information Technology Is Conquering the World is to open this box and to offer a basic knowledge of the technology and how it works. We will then understand why IT can put toll both operators, metro train engineers, and stockbrokers out of a job, but at the same time have limited impact on bus drivers, nurses, and teachers.

How Information Technology Is Conquering the World focuses on the interface between the technologies and the real world in order to explore not only where these technologies have their advantages but also where their limitations become apparent. The difficulty of introducing a new technology is emphasized with the practical goal of enabling readers to use technology to full advantage. This book is useful for those involved in, affected by, or interested in the technology; for students taking an introductory course in computing; and for managers and others who are interested in seeing how this rapidly evolving technology will affect their lives, jobs, and businesses now and in the future.

Scarecrow Press

Pages: 654 • Trim: 7 x 10

978-0-8108-8720-6 • Paperback • December 2012 • $132.00 • (£102.00)

978-0-8108-8721-3 • eBook • December 2012 • $125.00 • (£96.00)

Subjects: Computers / Information Technology, Computers / Management Information Systems, Education / Computers & Technology, Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / Digital & Online Resources

How Information Technology Is Conquering the World

Workplace, Private Life, and Society

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Information Technology (IT) is conquering the world. It affects our jobs, our lives as private citizens, and society. Its impact is greater than other technologies, such as railways, personal cars, and the telephone. However, while most can understand the potential and constraints of these technologies, IT is often experienced as a “black box,” producing its effects without giving a clue as to how they are achieved. The aim of How Information Technology Is Conquering the World is to open this box and to offer a basic knowledge of the technology and how it works. We will then understand why IT can put toll both operators, metro train engineers, and stockbrokers out of a job, but at the same time have limited impact on bus drivers, nurses, and teachers.

How Information Technology Is Conquering the World focuses on the interface between the technologies and the real world in order to explore not only where these technologies have their advantages but also where their limitations become apparent. The difficulty of introducing a new technology is emphasized with the practical goal of enabling readers to use technology to full advantage. This book is useful for those involved in, affected by, or interested in the technology; for students taking an introductory course in computing; and for managers and others who are interested in seeing how this rapidly evolving technology will affect their lives, jobs, and businesses now and in the future.

Details

Scarecrow Press

Pages: 654 • Trim: 7 x 10

978-0-8108-8720-6 • Paperback • December 2012 • $132.00 • (£102.00)

978-0-8108-8721-3 • eBook • December 2012 • $125.00 • (£96.00)

Subjects: Computers / Information Technology, Computers / Management Information Systems, Education / Computers & Technology, Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / Digital & Online Resources

Author

Kai A. Olsen is professor of Informatics (Computing Science) both at Molde College and University of Bergen, Norway. He is an adjunct professor at the School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh. He has been a pioneer in developing software systems for PCs, information systems for primary health care, and systems for visualization. Olsen is the author of The Internet, The Web, and eBusiness: Formalizing Applications for the Real World (Scarecrow Press, 2005).

Table of Contents

Preface
Ways to Use This Book for Teaching
Acknowledgments
Trademark Notice
Introduction

PART 1 Fundamentals
1 Welcome to the Virtual World
2 Information Technology
3 Formalization
4 Cases of Formalization
5 Formalization Levels
6 Cases of Formalization Level
7 Symbolic Data
8 Cost-benefit of Formalization

PART 2 Constraints
9 Computer Intelligence
10 Constraints on Technology
11 Case Studies: Technical Constraints
12 The Devil Is in the Details
13 Cultural Constraints
14 Case Studies: Cultural Constraints
15 Privacy and Security
16 Case Study: Internet Elections

PART 3 Usability
17 Interactive Computing
18 Usability
19 Simplicity
20 Case: Flexible User Interfaces
21 Bad Systems

PART 4 System Development
22 Developing a System
23 Software Engineering
24 Packages and ERP Systems
25 Simpler Software Development for Niche Companies
26 Case 1: In-house Programming
27 Case 2: Developing Apps

PART 5 Internet and WWW Basics
28 HTML and XML
29 Internet Protocols
30 Development of Web Protocols
31 E-mail, Chat, and Text Messages (SMS)
32 Browsers
33 World Wide Web
34 Searching the Web 3
35 Organizing the Web—Portals
36 Web Presence
37 Mobile Computing
38 Automated Web and Push Technology
39 Dynamic Web pages and the Form Tag
40 Embedded Scripts
41 Peer-to-peer Computing
42 Social Networks
43 Web 2.0

PART 6 Business-to-Consumer Applications
44 Symbolic services—Information Providers
45 Online Symbolic Services—Case Studies
46 Long Tail
47 Online Retail Shopping, Physical Items
48 A Better Model?

PART 7 Business-to-Business Applications
49 Data Exchange
50 Formalized Data Exchange
51 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
52 XML
53 Web Services
54 Automated Value Chain
55 Electronic Marketplaces
56 Outsourcing 525

PART 8 Cloud Computing and Large Data Repositories
57 Cloud Computing
58 Collecting Data
59 Automatic Translation
60 Case: Proofreading
61 Case: An Adaptive System
62 Crowdsourcing
63 Cloud Data for the Individual—a Personal Assistant

PART 9 A Digital World
64 Continuously Online
65 Internet and Democracy
66 Changing the World
67 Effects of IT Technology
68 Afterword

Index
About the Author

Reviews

This revised edition of Formalizing Internet, Web and eBusiness Applications for the Real World (2005) is extended and updated with more than 300 new pages, including sections on usability, system development, cloud computing, and the digital world, along with new chapters and subchapters. Organized into nine parts, the book addresses the fundamentals and constraints of the Internet, applications, cloud computing, and large data repositories. Because the book is intended as a textbook, each chapter includes cases for study and discussion. A heavy book, it is recommended as a textbook for college-level courses or for serious researchers in the field of information technology in the workplace, private life, and society.
— Booklist

Few people are untouched by technology, a reality that serves as the book's foundation. Olsen (Molde Univ. College; and Bergen Univ. College, both Norway) begins with basic information on information technology (IT) to create an awareness of how IT impacts society and proceeds into more specific topics, such as constraints and usability, development and applications, the Internet, cloud computing, and the digital society. The goal is to help readers consider new technological possibilities in light of real-life situations and better predict a technology's success. The book expands and updates Olsen's The Internet, the Web, and eBusiness (CH, Oct'05, 43-0991). An accompanying website with exercises is slated for completion by mid-2013. The writing style makes the text easily understandable to laypersons; case studies and examples also aid reader comprehension. Summing Up: Recommended.

— Choice Reviews

This work should be recommended reading for students in computer science, information science, information technology, informatics, information and knowledge management, as well as students studying the social sciences, economics and business. . . .[T]he book is an interesting and in some respects fascinating text for individuals who want to learn more about the influence of these technologies on their everyday lives.
— Online Information Review

How Information Technology Is Conquering the World

Workplace, Private Life, and Society

Kai A. Olsen

How Information Technology Is Conquering the World

Workplace, Private Life, and Society

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