The Four Epochs of Corporate IT

Began in

1980s

1970s

Data-Processing Epoch

PC Epoch

efficiency improvements (large organizations)

Productivity improvements (all organizations)

Information Scarcity

afford expensive mainframe computers

affordable PC

Began in

mid-1990s

Internet Epoch

internet commerce

social media

email

Collaboration improvements (organizations and individuals)

Information Abundance/Overload

2010s

Cyborg Epoch

Capability amplification (blurring boundaries man and machine)

the model on which today’s educational institutions are founded

information are expensive to produce, store and transmit)

machine become tools

wifi enabled

pacemakers

the amount of input to a system exceeds its processing capacity

Information become easier and less expensive to acquire and transmit