What exactly is infotech? 85% of people polled recently had not a clue what is meant, although 53% of those polled said they thought it sounded pretty important. They were right. It is. So what is it? Well, put simply, it is the "marrying-up" of products from several key industries: computers, telephones, television, and satellites. It means using micro-electronics, telecommunication networks, and fiber optics to help produce, store, obtain and send information by way of words, numbers, pictures and sound more quickly and efficiently than ever before.

什么是信息技术？据最近民意调查显示，85％的人对其一无所知，尽管53％的被调查者认为它听起来很重要。的确，它很重要。但什么是信息技术？简言之，它是若干骨干工业产品的“嫁接品”：计算机、电话、电视和卫星。它包括使用微电子产品，通信网络和光学纤维来通过文字、数字、画面及声音比以前更快捷、更高效地生产、储存、获取以及传送信息。

The impact infotech is having and is going to have on our lives and work is tremendous. It is already linking the skills of the space industry with those of cable television, so programs can be beamed directly into our homes from all over the world. Armies of "steel collar" workers, the robots, will soon be working in factories doing the boring, complex and unpleasant jobs which are at present still done by man. In some areas such as the car industry this has already started. Television will also be used to enable customers to shop from the comfort of their homes by simply ordering via the TV screen, payment being made by direct debit of their credit cards. Home banking and the automatic booking of tickets will also be done through the television screen. Cable television, which in many countries now gives a choice of dozens of channels, will soon be used to protect our homes by operating burglar and fire alarms linked to police and fire stations. Computers will run our homes, controlling the heating, air conditioning and cooking systems while robots will cope with the housework. The friendly postman will be a thing of the past as the postal service and letters disappear with the electronic mail received via view data screens.

信息技术正在并将会对我们的生活和工作产生巨大的影响。它已把空间产业技术与有线电视技术相结合。这样电视节目就能从世界各地直接传送到千家万户。成批的“钢领”工人、机器人也将很快在工厂做一些目前由人做的枯燥、繁杂、无趣的工作。在一些领域如汽车工业方面，已经开始这样做了。电视也用来帮助顾客在舒适的家中购物，你只需通过屏幕订货并使用信用卡付款结帐。家庭银行业务及自动订票也可通过电视屏幕进行。目前在许多国家可为人们提供众多电视频道选择的有线电视，也可通过操作与警察局和消防站相联的防盗及防火警报来保护我们的家产。计算机将管理我们的家、控制取暖、空调及烹饪系统，而机器人则处理家务。友好的邮递员将随着邮政服务和信件为通过计算机数据屏幕接收的电子信件取代而成为历史。 

All these things are coming very fast and their effects will be as far-reaching as those of the industrial revolution. Infotech is part of the technological revolution and that is with us now.

所有这一切来势迅猛，而且其影响犹如工业革命一样意义深远。 信息技术是技术革命的一部分，现在它已与我们密不可分。

相关词语  Related Words and Expression

infotech                 信息技术

marrying-up             结合；嫁接品

fiber optics              光学技术；光学纤维

beam                   播送；传送

steel collar worker       “钢领”工人（机器人）

debit                   (账户中的) 收方；借方 

view data screens         计算机数据屏幕

far-reaching             深远的；广泛的

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