As information technology is used to reproduce, extend, and improve upon the process of substituting machines for human agency, it simultaneously accomplishes something quite different.
Scanner devices in supermarkets automate the checkout process and simultaneously generate data that can be used for inventory control, warehousing, scheduling of deliveries, and market analysis.
The same systems that make it possible to automate office transactions also create a vast overview of an organization's operations, with many levels of data coordinated and accessible for a variety of analytical efforts."
For example, in the context of education, Alan November, in his 2010 work, Empowering Students With Technology, wrote:[2] builds on Zuboff's definition: It is a powerful learning tool because it shifts the power and control to students by giving access to new sources of information and relationships.
November states, "Students have access to content information that was previously only available in the teacher's edition of the textbook."