Digital Revolution - The Phenomena

Digital Revolution - The necessity of the information age

The Digital Revolution is the change from analogue mechanical and electronic technology to digital technology which began anywhere from the late 1950s to the late 1970s with the adoption and proliferation of digital computers and digital record keeping that continues to the present day. Implicitly, the term also refers to the sweeping changes brought about by digital computing and communication technology during (and after) the latter half of the 20th century. Analogous to the Agricultural Revolution and Industrial Revolution, the Digital Revolution marked the beginning of the Information Age.

Equally important was the development of transmission technologies including computer networking, the Internet and digital broadcasting. 4G phones, whose social penetration grew exponentially in the 2000s, also played a very large role in the digital revolution as they simultaneously provide ubiquitous entertainment, communications, and online connectivity.

Forty years ago, the average person followed an employment path largely determined by birth and education, often committing to one employer until retirement. Today you probably wouldn’t even consider that as a viable option. Success is no longer solely determined by the right education, the perfect resume, or even your age and background. Teens as young as 12 are now coding websites, producing films and building networks through social media. By the time they’re adults, this online generation will already have some skills and real-world experience that a formal education just can’t provide.

The Internet is bringing a revolution along with it. Access to information combined with global supply and demand is reshaping established conventions and destroying old world definitions. As we engage in a century where everyone is not only a global citizen but a valuable Brand in Waiting, we begin to understand that the Internet Revolution IS, in fact, the Industrial Revolution of our time. It’s a sweeping social disruption that brings with it not only new inventions and scientific advances, but perhaps most importantly revolutionizes both the methods of work and we the workers ourselves.

To say that the internet has completely revolutionized the way we communicate with each other would be a serious understatement. People around the world can stay connected in real time through mediums such as Skype and Facebook, and information can be found instantaneously on almost any subject imaginable. No wonder we have so many self- proclaimed experts out there.

Politics has even found its place online. The organization like Wiki-leaks provide a secure and anonymous way for sources to leak information which included 251,287 classified documents from 274 American consulates, embassies and diplomatic missions around the world. The power of online information and social media also led to the Arab Spring where protesters were able to get organized through Facebook to spread rebellious inspiration - leaked videos and photographs of state brutality which led to the Egyptian government eventually being overthrown. There were 2,300 daily tweets about the Egypt Revolution one month before President Hosni Mubarak resigned, and there were 230,000 tweets the day Mubarak finally stepped down.

Viral media is now the new foreground for digital marketing, and YouTube is driving the craze. Small business owners no longer need to spend a ton of money on advertising. All they need is a creative idea for a funny or interesting video they can post on YouTube and they just have to sit back and watch the views pour in. In this way, a buzz will spread throughout the net about their video, and as a result, their brand. Online transactions for banking, shopping, bill payments etc.by university students aid them in learning new and easy ways of doing their chores. It also enhances time management. The internet also contributes to students broader understanding of information and communication technologies and its centrality to the information economy and society as a whole.

The greatest gift brought by the online revolution, however, is the ability for on-demand education where you can literally learn anytime and anywhere. 32% of higher-ed students (6.7+ million) take at least one online course. 77% of academic leaders rate the online learning outcomes as the same or superior to face-to-face learning.

As the online revolution continues, how do you expect the internet to further change or improve your world in the future?

The last 20 years have been witness to some truly amazing innovations thanks to the internet. The introduction of the world-wide-web has had more lasting effects than any other invention in history. This, of course, is something you know very well.

 The lofty discourse on cyberspace has long changed. Even the term now sounds pass. Today another overused celestial metaphor holds sway: the Google Cloud is code for all kinds of digital services generated in warehouses packed with computers, called data centres, and distributed over the internet. Most of the talk, though, concerns more earthly matters: privacy, antitrust, Google's woes in China, mobile applications, green information technology (IT). Only Apple's latest iSomethings seem to inspire religious fervour, as they did again this week.

Again, this is a fair reflection of what is happening on the internet. Fifteen years after its first manifestation as a global, unifying network, it has entered its second phase: it appears to be torn apart by three separate, but related forces.

First, governments are increasingly reasserting their sovereignty. Recently several countries have demanded that their law-enforcement agencies have access to e-mails sent from BlackBerry smart-phones. This week India, which had threatened to cut off BlackBerry service at the end of August, granted RIM, the device's maker, an extra two months while authorities consider the firm's proposal to comply. However, it has also said that it is going after other communication-service providers, notably Google and Skype.

Second, big IT companies are building their own digital territories, where they set the rules and control or limit connections to other parts of the internet. Third, network owners would like to treat different types of traffic differently, in effect creating faster and slower lanes on the internet. It is still too early to say that the internet has fragmented into internets, but there is a danger that it may splinter along geographical and commercial boundaries.

However, this very success has given rise to the forces that are now pulling the internet apart. They are increasingly finding ways to enforce their laws in the digital realm. The most prominent is China's great firewall. The Chinese authorities are using the same technology that companies use to stop employees accessing particular websites and online services. This is why Google at first decided to censor its Chinese search service: there was no other way to be widely accessible in the country. Yet it is another kind of commercial attempt to carve up the internet that is causing more concern.

Apple is even more of a world apart. From its iPhone and iPad, people mostly get access to online services not through a conventional browser but via specialized applications available only from the company's App Store. Granted, the store has lots of apps about 250,000 but Apple nonetheless controls which ones make it onto its platform. It has used that power to keep out products it does not like, including things that can be construed as pornographic or that might interfere with its business, such as an app for Google's telephone service. Apple's press conference to show off its new wares on September 1st was streamed live over the internet but could be seen only on its own devices.

Discussion of these proprietary platforms is only beginning. A lot of ink, however, has already been spilt on another form of separation: in the plumbing of the internet. Most of this debate, particularly in America, is about net neutrality. This is one of the internet's founding principles: that every packet of data, regardless of its contents, should be treated the same way, and the best effort should always be made to forward it.`

The Internet has also been widely misused by the pornography and gambling industries. Although many governments have woken up to the dangers of the situation, their efforts, by and large, have not paid off. It is still considered to be the unsafe zone for the students as there are chances that they will become victims of crime. Teenagers might indulge in illegal Internet activities like downloading illegal software hacking other Internet users computers or even company systems, to spreading viruses. Out of curiosity or for having fun, some skilled kids might fall in the wrong company and may start doing what they think is harmless or simply mischievous, indulge in hacking or other activities that might put them at risk of violating the laws.

At the risk of repetition, one must reiterate that the best safeguard against the abuses of the Internet is one's character. According to Swami Vivekananda, to shape character should be the primary purpose of education. The character is like a mighty rock that can withstand the unruly waves of unwanted emotions without getting dislodged.

If this sounds like asking for too much, one must also be frank enough to admit that, by and large, for whatever reason, our educational institutions have not given character-training the importance it deserves. One result is that wonderful invention like the Internet, which can be such an unmitigated blessing to us, also lends itself to terms like bane and curse.

The answer to 'Whether the Internet is Blessing or Curse is Debatable' and just like all the other advancements in technology, we have to accept the two sides of the same coin. The Internet can and will be used for good or bad. The extent to which it is will be used and abused is upon us. Using the Internet is the norm for today's youth and it cannot be abolished. Rather there is a need to approach a middle path wherein awareness towards its harmful effects and its productive potential is publicized in a constructive manner on a wide platform.

The internet has made an easy life for everyone. But it is our duty to use the device intelligently so that it can be used for the development of mankind, not destruction.