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The discourse on "the information society" developed until the 70's as one of the prevailing discourse in our society; with promises to link information technology and free market with economic growth and human progress. This eventually became something like the official ideology of the European Union as demonstrated by the famous Lisbon strategy to become "the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world" placing "emphasis on the need to adapt constantly to changes in the information society". This discourse about "information society" raised its share of criticism based on technological determinism or the new informational prophecies, Here I think about the works of French authors, like Armand Mattelart, David Forest, Philippe Breton, and so on. This discussion is not intended to review the criticisms, but to go back in time and analyse what can be considered as the first concept of information and society in the wake of the cybernetic movement, in the United States, at the end of the 1940's.Now, briefly, what is cybernetics and how can it claim to be the first discourse about information society?

Includes bibliographical notes and index ; This book puts together historical documents that illustrate the lives and concerns of Hong Kong people through a century and a half of colonial rule. It describes not only the ideals of the elite, but also the harsh realities of life faced by the majority, who until recent years lived under considerable poverty. It documents changes in standards of living, housing conditions, family life, communal organization and political aspirations. This vivid account of Hong Kong's social history as Hong Kong people lived it summarizes the predicaments of people who chose to live in Hong Kong ; published_or_final_version ; Series general editors' foreword / Tsang, Steve pvii ; Acknowledgements pix ; Introduction - Hong Kong , colonial society p1 ; Index p383 ; Ch.one Early settlement p15 ; Ch.two The Chinese community in early Hong Kong p57 ; Ch.four The people's livelihood in the 1920s and 1930s p149 ; Ch.five The second world war and the Japanese occupation p209 ; Ch.six The return to immigrant society, 1945-1966 p233 ; Ch.seven Crisis and consolidation, 1966-1981 p285 ; Ch.eight Affluence and beyond p351 ; a Villagers and immigrants p16 ; b Respectability p16 ; c Residential segregation p22 ; d In retrospect p47 ; a The temple and its community p58 ; b Chinese guilds and other voluntary associations p61 ; c The Chinese community's politics p85 ; a Food, wages and other statistics p150 ; b The strikes of the 1920s p160 ; c The sale of women p174 ; d Depression, livelihood and reform p180 ; a War experience p210 ; b Life in occupied Hong Kong p225 ; a Restoration of traditional communal institutions p234 ; b Poverty and the need for welfare p248 ; c Changes in personal characteristics p268 ; d Industrialization in the 1950s p274 ; e Social mobility p278 ; f Professionalization p280 ; a Riots p286 ; b Language p293 ; c The population transition p299 ; d New hopes and bold beginning p300 ; e Hong Kong workers p317 ; f Transforming the rural family p335 ; g The new poor p347 ; h As they kept coming p348 ; a Out of apathy p351 ; b Rich and poor p352 ; c The local people emigrate p367 ; d The survival of customs p370 ; e How satisfied have Hong Kong people been? p372 ; Ch.three A city of entrepreneurs p117