The development of technology and the hunger for information has caused a wave of change in daily life in America. Nearly every American's environment now consists of cable television, video cassette players, answering machines, fax machines, and personal computers. Schement and Curtis argue that the information age has evolved gradually throughout the twentieth century. National focus on the production and distribution of information stems directly from the organizing principles and realities of the market system, not from a revolution sparked by the invention of the computer.

Now available in paperback, "Tendencies and Tensions of the Information Age, "brings together findings from many disciplines, including classical studies, etymology, political sociology, and macroeconomics. This valuable resource will be enjoyed by sociologists, historians, and scholars of communication and information studies.

The development of technology and the hunger for information has caused a wave of change in daily life in America. Nearly every American's environment now consists of cable television, video cassette players, answering machines, fax machines, and personal computers. Schement and Curtis argue that the information age has evolved gradually throughout the twentieth century. National focus on the production and distribution of information stems directly from the organizing principles and realities of the market system, not from a revolution sparked by the invention of the computer. Now available in paperback, Tendencies and Tensions of the Information Age, brings together findings from many disciplines, including classical studies, etymology, political sociology, and macroeconomics. This valuable resource will be enjoyed by sociologists, historians, and scholars of communication and information studies.

This books examines social aspects of information-oriented society in the United States. Each contributor focuses on a specific and significant social aspect of the information-oriented society. Areas covered include: understanding the extent of information work in the United States; analyzing information work in the health care industry; defining information in an information-oriented society; the evolution of the concept of information in the courts; the coporatization and privatization of information in the economy; information and the restructuring of the family environment; information in the rural sector; the emergence of Silicon Valley; and social attitudes and values toward information technology.