The Information Society as Post-Industrial Society, originally uploaded by caseorganic.

In 1974, a society of Japanese futurists proposed a billion dollar digital society plan called “The Information Society” as post-industrial society.

They believed that society could not continue to sustain itself if it relied on consumption and waste as top social and economic values. The project was tested in various households and included two-way communication systems that allowed users of the system to choose images to be displayed on their television screens as well as the ability to receive text messages by TV.

Educational programs where students could learn from the screen were tested as well. A database which digitally handled emergency calls was also tested, and it worked. This was an experimental internet. It was highly favored by those inside and outside of Japan, and it’s proposed cost was in the billions of dollars.

I’d like to include some excerpts from the book about this society, The Information Society as Post Industrial Society, by Yoneji Masuda. The book is on Google Books, and can be previewed. If you want to see more pages than the limited preview, simply grab a proxy IP address or two and reload your browser (don’t e-mail me for support).

The Societal Impact of the Information Epoch

First Stage - In which technology does work previous done by man.

Second Stage - In which technology makes possible work that man has never been able to do before.

Third Stage - In which the existing social and economic structures are transformed into new social and economic systems.

Fourth Stage - Individual Based Computerization. “At this stage there will be a personal terminal in each household, used to solve day-to-day problems and determine the direction of one’s future life” (Masuda, 39: 1980). World Future Society.