Information Age

Until The Industrial Revolution

When the human being lit fire thousands of years ago, that human being also learned to control a certain type of energy. The human being concentrated on the fire, which was explored through coincidental methods according to a rational backwards perspective. In time, the human being glorified the fire and equalized it with deistic powers. Indeed, fire is a very significant element in mythology written through rumors passed through generations. Zeus hid the fire in order to punish the mortals and their protector Prometheus. However, the wise Prometheus fools Zeus. He climbs up to Olympus; there he steals a flame from the blazing wheel of sun and secretly takes it to people. According to Sophocles, Prometheus is known as the Titan god that “carries fire” in the Ancient Greek belief. The fire created very significant means after it entered under the service of human kind. It was used in defense, protection, heating, nourishment and in almost every aspect of life, and became a very important part of life.

The wheel, which was found centuries later than the discovery of fire, was the first important tool in transportation and travel, and is one of the most important instruments of communication. According to the old tablets, when the wheel was invented by the Mesopotamians in 3500 BC, the extent of its contribution to human kind was probably not imagined clearly at that time. (http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/wheel.htm 4/19/2009)

In time, with its contribution to the construction of machinery, the wheel was used in production and transportation, thus enabling the achievement of major developments throughout civilization. Besides the ability to travel and carry freight and goods over long distances, the new vehicles of communication also enabled trade to obtain more comprehensive dimensions.

Evolutionary changes were experienced in a span of thousands of years long affected communication and marketing at the time of constructing machinery that would enable transformation from simple machinery to the machinery of the industrial revolution.

It was noted that with the scientific advancement in the 18th century and in the early 19th century that industrial developments were connected with each other. Among classical economists, Smith (1776) mentioned especially this feature (Freeman & Soete, 2003, p. 229). It is known that technology interacts with activities in practice, research and development in industries associated with modern science. Technological developments, which had a very slow development tempo until the industrial revolution, managed to register the previous development of thousand years with a single leap only in the last twenty years with the invention and personalization of computers. In our age, which has integrated with circumstances that appeared during this leap, new developments are still continuing to be experienced. The complexity of technical information and data processes affects technological development and changes, and speeds up the route of development. Computers that put into service experienced warehousing, utilization and retrieval systems necessitated making changes in marketing, sales, management and training methods for industrial goods which appeared with the 18-19th century industrial revolution which could be obtained with fewer efforts.

Manufacturers and companies initially used classical marketing methods and gradually oriented towards the use of technological equipments in marketing in a more effective manner. Through the use of the technological devices, new types of competition have arisen in the market. Actually, the invention of the print press, electricity and vapor machines in time respectively have caused the industrial revolution and the societies directed towards industrialization to experience changes accordingly.