A transaction is a change of state, an information-transfer transaction is a transaction in which one of the following changes occurs: content, ownership, location, format, etc. An information-transfer transaction usually consists of three consecutive phases called the
access phase
Access may refer to:
Companies and organizations
* ACCESS (Australia), an Australian youth network
* Access (credit card), a former credit card in the United Kingdom
* Access Co., a Japanese software company
* Access Healthcare, an Indian BPO se ...
, the
information transfer
In telecommunications, information transfer is the process of moving messages containing user information from a source to a sink via a communication channel. In this sense, information transfer is equivalent to data transmission which highlights ...
phase, and the
disengagement phase
The term disengagement can refer to:
* Apathy
* Disengagement theory in gerontology
* Moral disengagement
* Religious disengagement
* Social disengagement
* Disengagement (military)
* Disengagement (engineering)
* Disengagement (politics)
** Isr ...
. Examples of these consecutive phases are the copying and transporting of information. Once a transaction occurs there are also costs to consider, which are associated with that certain transaction. When it comes to the transfer of information some
transaction cost
In economics and related disciplines, a transaction cost is a cost in making any economic trade when participating in a market. Oliver E. Williamson defines transaction costs as the costs of running an economic system of companies, and unlike produ ...
s include time and means (money).
History of Information-transfer transactions
There are many social systems and devices that have contributed to information-transfer transactions; starting from people writing letters using postal systems to emailing using
information technology
Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...
. Two main examples of information-transfer transactions technology development is the copying and transportation of information.
History of Copying
Copying is the process of duplicating information with the change of location or format of the original information. The transfer transaction of information through copying has been going on for ages and there has been many advances in technology to decrease the time it takes to make copies of said information. The art of copying started with people having to write a copy out by hand, then the
printing press
A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in wh ...
, all the way to
digital copying
Copying is the duplication of information or an artifact based on an instance of that information or artifact, and not using the process that originally generated it. With analog forms of information, copying is only possible to a limited degree o ...
with
ICTs
Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computers, ...
. These developments lead to quicker information-transfer transactions in the form of distributing copies of original information to others through a changes of location or format.
History of Transporting
Transporting is the movement of information with the change of location or ownership of the original information. The transfer transaction of information through transporting has been going on for ages and there has been social and technological developments to decrease the time it takes for information to change ownership or location. The transportation of information started with people sending letters by foot, then by horse, the public and international postal service, all the way down to technology networks. It is these developments which led to the ability to send information further and quicker through information-transfer transactions.
Transaction Costs
Every time a transaction occurs, there are always costs to be considered. In the case of information-transfer transactions, one most consider the costs of time and means (money). Both of these costs are corollated with one another in that to decrease one, you must increase the other. For example, say Person #1 sends a letter through the
mail
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...
, while Person #2 sends letters through
email
Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...
. For Person #1 to send their letter they had to buy paper, means of writing, envelopes, stamps, etc., while Person #2 needed to buy a source of electricity, internet, computer technology, etc. to send an email. It seems like Person #1 has lower transaction costs then Person #2 in terms of means; however, when you look at both information-transfer transactions in terms of time that is a different story. For Person #1 although they had little costs in sending their letter, the time it takes for the transfer of that letter is about 3+ days, while Person #2's transfer through email happens in less than minutes, but they endured high mean costs. Therefore, for information-transfer transaction times to decrease, the costs of means have to increase and vice versa.
Telecommunication
In
telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
, an information-transfer transaction is a coordinated
sequence
In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is calle ...
of
user
Ancient Egyptian roles
* User (ancient Egyptian official), an ancient Egyptian nomarch (governor) of the Eighth Dynasty
* Useramen, an ancient Egyptian vizier also called "User"
Other uses
* User (computing), a person (or software) using an ...
and
telecommunications system
A communications system or communication system is a collection of individual telecommunications networks, transmission systems, relay stations, tributary stations, and terminal equipment usually capable of interconnection and interoperatio ...
actions that cause
information
Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random ...
present at a
source user to become present at a destination user.
References
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Data transmission