Yoneji Masuda
Biography
Yoneji Masuda is regarded as one of the first persons discussing the arrival of the information society in the early 1980's.
The Information Society
In 1974, a society of Japanese futurists proposed a billion dollar digital society plan called "The Information Society" as post-industrial society.
They believed that society could not continue to sustain itself if it relied on consumption and waste as top social and economic values. The project was tested in various households and included two-way communication systems that allowed users of the system to choose images to be displayed on their television screens as well as the ability to receive text messages by TV.
Educational programs where students could learn from the screen were tested as well. A database which digitally handled emergency calls was also tested, and it worked. This was an experimental internet. It was highly favored by those inside and outside of Japan, and it's proposed cost was in the billions of dollars.
Fourth Stage - Individual Based Computerization. "At this stage there will be a personal terminal in each household, used to solve day-to-day problems and determine the direction of one's future life" (Masuda, 39: 1980). World Future Society.
The Societal Impact of the Information Epoch[1]
Stage 1- In which technology does work previous done by man.
Stage 2- in which technology makes possible work that man has never been able to do before.
Stage 3 - in which the existing social and economic structures are transformed into new social and economic systems.
Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook. Different social networking sites, a digital creation of use value.
