The information superhighway and the animal technologist : simple strategies for dealing with''information overload'

There is no doubt as to the 'explosive' impact that the Internet, as just one of the modes of IT mentioned above, has had on society. Larry Tesler, chief scientist at Apple Computer in the late 1990s commented on this impact to say that 'it has become an indispensable part of modern civilization, essential for business, commerce, science, the arts and entertainment... it will change and enrich our lives for the better, from being able to work at home, to bringing together specialized hobbyists from around the world, to even enjoying the "cyber marketplace" that will change the way we shop3. While we see that most of these predictions have materialized today and while we all continue to benefit from them, there have also been some not-so-great effects, which range from the truly weird and wonderful, to the over-hyped and uninformative, through to the simply trashy material, available out there in cyberspace. On balance though, it can be said that the 'pros' certainly far outweigh the 'cons' and the fact remains that the Internet, just like the other IT modes mentioned, is definitely here to stay. Consequently, the 'symptoms' of IO will continue to be a concern in the future because IT itself continues to evolve and expand at an astonishing pace, with new applications being released to all areas of industry and to a world-wide audience, seemingly endlessly. Thus, by applying and following the simple principles of PSRE, it is possible to sensibly manage and maintain the flow of information in this modern IT age.