Technology

While many technologies impact communities, this text will focus on IT, or Information Technology. The ability to transmit information as bits, and the vast network of networks that is the Internet have touched our lives as individuals, but has also strongly influenced how groups of people interact. In terms of understanding how a current technology affects our lives, it may be helpful to examine a communications technology of the past and look at how its impact was assessed then and now.

At face, the internet appears to detract from traditional place-based communities by aiding communities of interest. This text will show ways in which the many unique properties of IT can be used to positively impact communities.

Allan Friedman
January, 2002