The history of information

This is old (why didn't I find this years ago?!), but but none the less interesting. David Weinberger wrote about it recently on his blog. In 2005 Arjan Vreeken wrote an interesting historical overview on the concept of information. It's a well-written and concise article, and to my knowledge complete. I really enjoy the fact that he also refers to Katherine Hayles' book: "How we became Posthuman". This book was a real eyeopener for me and describes the change of the use of the concept "information" starting from the Macy Conferences (just after WWII). But Vreeken plows back even further!
Vreeken wrote this article to investigate the implications this change of meaning has for 'information management'. I agree with Vreeken that the (objective) use of the concept "information" in information management and ICT has (had) devastating consequences. It time to learn from Vreeken en Hayles and translate what they say to practice!

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