Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut Revised and Updated Edition: David Shenk

图书介绍

From Wikipedia:
Data Smog is a 1997 book by journalist David Shenk and published by Harper Collins. It deals with the author's idea of how the information technology revolution would shape the world at large and how the incredible amount of data available on the Internet would make it more difficult for the average individual to sift through and separate fact from fiction.

According to ``Data Smog," with the advance of technology, we have been able to progress in terms of society, economy, and even health. Communication is instantaneous, knowledge is abundant, and as humans we try to keep up with this expansion of data that continues to accumulate from around the world.

However, it is this overwhelming amount of information that is defined as data smog; ``this unexpected, unwelcome part of our atmosphere, an expression for the noxious muck and druck of the information age." The wealth of information that is so beneficial for us is harming some because of the sheer amount of it at such a fast rate, ``The sheer volume of information which many of us are exposed to every day may actually impair our performance and add stress to our lives." In fact, according to statistics provided by Shenk, ``In 1971 the average American was targeted by at least 560 daily advertising messages. Twenty years later, that number has risen six fold, to 3,000 messages per day."