Home as Information Environment
In the information age—the frenetic era of the networked computer, the Internet-surfing consumer, and the digital commodity—there have been rapid advancements in information technology (IT). These advancements have increasingly affected the way people interact in their daily living spaces, including the workplace, public areas such as libraries and shopping centers, and the private dwelling known as the home.
While specific definitions depend on the area of research or interest level, IT can loosely be described as any device or service that has an electronic origin and is used by people to process data. This data can be the music from a home stereo system, the picture from a television, the bit stream of a personal computer, a voice from a telephone, or virtually any other thing found in the home. A synonym often used for IT based in the home is "media."
While media has a substantial presence in all three living spaces, IT is most obvious and arguably most dynamic within the home. This statement may seem counterintuitive at first glance; anecdotes about enormous corporate budgets providing employees with limitless access to new and innovative technologies abound. However, on further reflection, viewing the home as the dominant space for the presence and diversity of information technology is understandable since the home serves multiple functions in the lives of most Americans.
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