The information age: 1868

I found it as difficult as I dare say every one else did, to learn anything authentic about Hongkong before I left England. There was plenty of information to be obtained, but each new fact was so entirely at variance with the last, that the result was a state of unutterable confusion. There was plenty of information to be obtained, but each new fact was so entirely at variance with the last, that the result was a state of unutterable confusion. I may classify my informants and say that they were of three kinds—those who invented all they told me, those who exaggerated all they told me, and those who only told me half the truth.

--From The China Magazine--

Before the internet came along people had an easier time finding reliable information, because they could simply look it up in fact-checked books or read it in newspapers produced by professional journalists.

Spies: 1350

Cao Cao sent them here to spy. I want to give him a taste of his own medicine by giving them certain information to send back.

--From the Romance of the Three Kingdoms--

Spies are only bad if you don't recognize them.

Information technology: circa 400 BC

I did not live at the same time as they did, nor have I in person heard their voices or seen their faces. Yet I know it because of what is written on the bamboo and silk that has been handed down to posterity, what is engraved on metal and stone, and what is inscribed on bowls and basins.

--From The Mozi--

People pick and choose among iPads and Kindles, iPods and Zunes to store and view their media, but they rarely think about permanence when making these decisions. Will their grandchildren go through their old files, like they might old books or magazines? Chances are, the devices will be useless blocks by then; the information stored on them lost because of mechanical failure, or unable to be transferred due to DRM restrictions.

I know the thoughts someone who lived over 2,000 years ago, but this thought I'm expressing in this sentence, will probably be unavailable to anyone in twenty years. It certainly doesn't deserve preservation, but I have to wonder about the things that do. Will they vanish in the same way?