Information
Information vs. Data
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- Created on 04 October 2008
- Written by Steve Burrows
What is "Information"?
What is an "Information System"?
These are key questions that the Information Technology industry, and IT practitioners, seem very unclear about. Data is not the same as Information, yet the major thrust of the IT industry is still focused on providing and supporting Data Processing Systems, rather than Information Systems. The technologies that are sold to us as IT are presented to us as if their existence is going to make some fabulous difference to our organisations and the way we work, when in reality most of these technologies simply provide for the capture and retrieval of data.
Systems Design vs. Information Design
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- Created on 03 September 2008
- Written by Steve Burrows
I am currently testing the Asus EeePC 1000H Ultra Mobile PC (which is excellent, a super bit of kit for the money). It has a 1024 x 600 screen, so an aspect ratio of approx 16:9. This is rather "letterbox" in comparison with a more conventional 4:3 screen, and so exacerbates one of the fundamental design issues in Information Systems.
Computer system display screens are on the whole landscape or horizontal in presentation. Documents, the primary tool of the Information Worker, are generally portrait or vertical in their construction. It repeatedly frustrates me that the majority of hardware and software designers fail to recognise this.
