Misconceptions of the Information age

“Google it”. The phrase is increasingly becoming the popular answer to all my questions. As hoards of us adopt a plethora of social networking sites, read books on our iPads and try to find our bearings in cyberspace, I cannot deny the advent of the digital age.

But I do question the complete dominance of the ‘information age’. For those of you who may believe that we will be one day taken over by the digital world, let me be a tangible obstacle for a moment. Take a step back. We need to clear up some rapidly spreading misconceptions.

In no particular order, here are 5 proverbs of non-wisdom:

Print is dead

Have you turned a deaf ear to desperate pleas to save trees?! Jokes apart, facts state that more books are produced in print each year than in the previous year. In 2011, more than one million new titles were published worldwide. China and India, amongst other developing countries are experiencing a book in the book business. Print is increasing, not decreasing, and definitely not dying. Print has a charm of its own – there’s nothing like the rustic smell of a new book! And nothing more personal than a handwritten letter as compared to a wall post you ‘like’.

Libraries are obsolete

On the contrary. Librarians all around the country have reported that they have never had so many patrons. While libraries continue to supply books, videos and other materials, they have ventured into new functions – access to information for small businesses, extra help on homework and employment information for job seekers. They remain a haven for intellect.

We have entered the information age

So you mean to say information did not exist in other ages?

Everything is online

Tell that to a librarian or anyone who has done research in archives, and they’ll scoff at you. I challenge you to look for archival material that has not yet been digitalized. Google estimates that around 13 million books exist in the world, and it claims to have digitalized a mere 12% of them. How will it close the gap, while production continues to expand at a rate of a million new works per year? Not only does the Internet lack a lot of information, but most of the material that once did appear has probably been lost over time.

The future is digital

While I can’t completely deny the statement, it can be misleading. We will definitely experience an overwhelming digital environment in the next few decades; but the prevalence of electronic communication and information does not mean that printed material will no longer be important. The advent of a new form of communication does not kill its predecessor. The radio didn’t kill the newspaper; nor did the television kill the radio. And the Internet didn’t make TV extinct. Instead, at each step, the environment became richer and more resourceful. And we should celebrate this excitingly complex transition!

-Anvita Dasani