We have met the Devil of Information Overload and his impish underlings, the computer virus, the busy signal, the dead link, and the PowerPoint presentation.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the challenges of excessive information and technology-related distractions.
James Gleick's quote illustrates the overwhelming nature of information overload in the digital age. He personifies these challenges, comparing them to 'the Devil' and his minions, emphasizing how modern communication tools and digital content can complicate our lives rather than simplify them. This reflection on technology serves as a reminder of the need for clarity and focus amidst the chaos of information.
In practice
During a tech conference, you could use this quote to remind attendees of the importance of clear communication amid many presentations.
A good part of 'The Information' is about the transition from an oral to a literary culture. Books effected such a great transformation in the way we think about the world, our history, our logic, mathematics, you name it. I think we would be greatly diminished as a people and as a culture if the book became obsolete.
I'm trying to look at many, many things in modern life that I believe are going faster, and I'm trying to look at why they're going faster and what effect they have on us. We all know about FedEx and instant pudding, but it doesn't mean we've looked at all the consequences of our desire for speed.
Everything we care about lies somewhere in the middle, where pattern and randomness interlace.
Every time a new technology comes along, we feel we're about to break through to a place where we will not be able to recover. The advent of broadcast radio confused people. It delighted people, of course, but it also changed the world.
"Half genius and half buffoon," Freeman Dyson ... wrote. ... [Richard] Feynman struck him as uproariously American-unbuttoned and burning with physical energy. It took him a while to realize how obsessively his new friend was tunneling into the very bedrock of modern science.
We have a habit of turning to scientists when we want factual answers and artists when we want entertainment, but where are the facts about the nature of the self? Neurologists peering at PET scans and fMRIs know they aren't seeing the soul in there.
Techno-humanism aims to amplify the power of humans, creating cyborgs and connecting humans to computers, but it still sees human interests and desires as the highest authority in the universe.
Our civilization depends critically on software, and we have a dangerously low degree of professionalism in the computer fields
Technological discoveries are the spermatozoa of social change.
Good information architecture makes users less alienated and suppressed by technology. It simultaneously increases human satisfaction and your company's profits. Very few jobs allow you to do both at the same time, so enjoy.
Any new technology, if it's used by evil people, bad things can happen. But that's more a question of the politics of the technology.
Television isn't inherently good or bad. You go to a bookstore, there are how many thousands of books, but how many of those do you want? Five? Television's the same way. If you're going to show people stuff, television is the way to go. Words and pictures show things.
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