Information technology refers to the hardware and software that are used to store, retrieve, and manipulate information. Information technologies (IT) have become embedded in so many systems, processes, spaces, and objects since the 1980s that entire societies are routinely referred to as information societies. In the broadest sense, information technologies refer to the means through which information is configured, stored, and used and might include early symbolic systems, alphabets, inscription, writing, and so on. During the twentieth century, information and technology have become inextricably tied together, latterly through the convergence of computing and telecommunications, enabling the development and diffusion of new commodities and modes of production, provision, distribution, and consumption. The range, nature, and geographical scope of information technologies has changed radically even over the ...