The word communicate means to send a message. You communicate when you talk to someone, or when you write a letter to a friend. Communication means all different ways of sending messages or passing information from one person to another. These include visual methods such as sign language, auditory, such as voice and music, and physical, such as touch. Communication allows us to give this information to others for the purpose of enriching life for ourselves and others.
We are living through a period characterized by the works of a new technological paradigm organized around information technologies. This period is being driven by the new information and communication technologies. It is the most important revolution since the industrial revolution.
Advances in electronics, computers, and satellites mean that we can send information farther and communicate faster than ever before. Powerful rockets have placed communications satellites in orbit around the earth. They relay thousands of telephone calls across continents so quickly that you can talk to people on the other side of the world as if they were next door. Communication satellites also carry television and radio programs, facsimile images, telex messages, and computer data.
One of the new communications technologies that are affecting our lives on a scale of significant as the telephone and television is the Internet. Some people believe that when it comes to distributing information, the Internet is the most significant invention since the printing press. If you use a telephone, write letters, read a newspaper or magazine, or do business or any kind of research, the Internet can radically alter your entire worldview.
Everywhere you turn, you hear people talking about the Net. Radio shows give you their e-mail address, businesses give you their Web site, and strangers ask whether you have a home page. People are going online and staying connected.
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