We live in an information society. Or so we are told. Access to unlimited information will promote equality for all. But is the information society really going to be like this? Who is going to reap the rewards of new information and communication technologies? Focusing on a theme of exclusion, Access Denied in the Information Age dispels the myths of the information society. The authors here take a few steps back from the hype and consider the real place of these new technologies in society.

Students are increasingly having to confront the technological changes behind media and communication systems. The advent of digital broadcasting, the development of mobile communications, and the affordability of sophisticated digital imaging and editing systems all demonstrate how complex technological systems are becoming accessible and even commonplace. With a clear explanation of key technical principles and the social role of new technologies, this book seeks to enable students to make sense of the changes taking place in communications and media today.

This work intends to contribute to an understanding of electronic communications technologies by explaining the technical ideas which underlie them. The technologies, from the telephone to the Internet, are described in their social context, which indicates the multiplicity of factors, political, social as well as technological, which affect the development of these systems.