The Evolution of Information Technology - Essay Example

I. Introduction A. Attention getter- Ask a question that is related to information technology. 1. Who can clearly give the definition of information technology as it applies to our day to day operations? 2. What is the history of origin and development of information technology? a. It is so clear that we can all give the description of information technology but very few of us know the history of information technology. Just a few of us can tell the way IT has improved in terms of quality and scope of use from the ancient days to date. b. We all use information technology in our day to day activities. This can be either directly or indirectly. B. Credibility statement- I have been a student of information technology and have studied various aspects of information technology. 1. I have vast information about the origin, evolution and functions of information technology. 2. From my studies and experience, I can clearly say that information technology is one of the areas of technology that has greatly developed over years. C. Thesis statement- I can evidently give you an assurance that information technology has been around us and with us for as long as we can imagine. The development and evolution of information has seen four main ages. These are the stages through years that information technology has developed. They include premechanical age, mechanical age, electromechanical age and electronic age. D. Relevance statement- For those of us who have never known how all the technology used today developed, this speech is a real eye opener for you to see and appreciate the evolution of the current technologies in the field of information. E. Preview statement- My speech will elaborate meaning and development of information technology from the ancient age to the present time. This will cover the age to age evolution from premechanical age to mechanical age to electromechanical age and finally to the latest age of IT which is electronic age. F. Transitional statement- All well said, let us now get to know the meaning of information technology and how it has evolved over years. II. Meaning of information technology Information technology (IT) is simply defined as the basic use of systems like the computers and telecommunications to store, retrieve and send information to various places. It is used in a number of fields like in business, law, hospitals and even offices just to mention a few. III. Ages of evolution of information technology A. Premechanical age 1. This is the earliest and the most ancient age of information technology. It existed between 3000BC and 1450 AD. This age describes the beginning of human communication by the use pictures, called petroglyths, which were drawn on rocks. This led to development of alphabets that became so popular and people started using pens and paper which were made out of papyrus plant. 2. The need to keep permanent information saw to the development of first books and libraries like the Egyptian rolls. 3. It is during this age that the Indians first developed the 1-9 numbering system. 4. In 875 AD, 0 was invented and then creation of calculators followed. B. Mechanical age 1. The mechanical age of information technology is defined by the beginning of connection between the current technology and the ancient technology. It dates back between 1450 and 1850 2. It is the era in which a lot of new technologies were developed. Example is the side rule technology which is an analog computer technology used for multiplication and division. 3. Blaise Pascal invented the Pascaline mechanical computer which became so popular. 4. It is also in this age that Charles Babbage an engine that could tabulate polynomial equations by the use of finite difference method. 5. Generally, this is the age that gave a definite insight into the modern technology since most of the machines made during this period were developed into most of the technologies that we use today. C. Electromechanical age 1. It becomes much and much more interesting to talk of this era of development of information technology. This is the age that is had technologies that were so closely related to the current technologies. 2. It is defined by time frame between 1840 and 1940 and is well known as the age of beginning of telecommunication. 3. In early 1800s, telegraph was invented and was followed by invention of Morse code by Samuel Morse in 1835. 4. Alexander Graham created the first telephone in 1876. What followed was the development of the first ever radio in 1894 by Guglielmo Marconi. 5. I know most of you are anxiously waiting to hear about the development of first computer. 6. The first large-scale computer to be developed was automatic digital and was developed in the US by Harvard University around 1940. It was called Mark 1. It was programmed using punch cards. Its big size geared much research on how it could be downsized to fit different work places like business. D. Electronic age 1. This is the era of information technology that we currently live. Its origin dates back from 1940 to date. 2. This era saw the invention of the first computer with the highest speed. This is called the ENIAC computer. It is a digital computer that is capable of reprogramming to solve most of the computing problems. The main driving desire behind the development of this computer was the need to use it for artillery firing tables by the U.S army. It used vacuum tubes to do calculations. 3. It is in this age that changes in the sections of digital computing occurred. 4. Vacuum tubes were replaced with transistors, punch cards were replaced with magnetic tape and rotating magnetic drums were also replaced with magnetic core that were used for internal storage. This happened during the second generation of electronic age. 5. High-level programming languages such as FORTRAN and COBOL were invented in this latest age of evolution of IT. 6. During the third generation, integrated circuits replaced transistors, magnetic tape remained unchanged for all computers and magnetic core developed into metal oxide semiconductors. a. The advancement of the BASIC language occurred in this age. b. Central processing units (CPUs) which contained memory, logic and control in one chip was developed in the fourth generation. Personal computer and graphic user interface (GUI) were also developed during this time. IV. Conclusion A. We have clearly seen how evolution, development and advancement of information technology occurred over years. B. We have identified the four phases of evolution of information technology as premechanical, mechanical, electromechanical and electronic. C. I would therefore invite all of you to appreciate the good work and research that were done by different people to ensure that we have perfect technologies that help us in our day to day operations. D. Much of information about the evolution and development of information technology is available in the internet. I advise you to take some time and read some of the writings by different scholars about the evolution of IT. Reference International Committee of Architectural Photogrammetry., Virtual Archaeology between Scientific Research and Territorial Marketing., & European Association for Computer Graphics. (2006). The evolution of information technology in cultural heritage: Where hi-tech touches the past : risks and challenges for the 21st century : 30.10. - 04.11.2006, Hilton-Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus. Place of publication not identified: publisher not identified. Garson, G. D. (1999). Information technology and computer applications in public administration: Issues and trends. Hershey [u.a.: Idea Group Publ. Tatnall, A. (2009). Evolution of information technology in educational management. New York: Springer Verlag. Read More