Is 'Information' the problem?

I keep hearing people say we live in an 'Information Age' and we have an 'Information Economy'. My question is this - for how long does information have value and to what extent does it create 'worth'? Information is a tool and like my lawnmower is useful in creating a finished product. In the case of my lawn, the mower creates a temporary illusion of attractiveness. In the case of information, I am guided somewhat by the data in making a decision. Both the well-cut lawn and my decision are temporal. My questions are these: what does our economy produce that has somewhat of a lasting value and can one build an economic system out of things like information which may have a very short-lived value?

A friend of my says 'unless you dig something out of the ground and make something out of it you don't have an economy'. Could he be right?

Life Notes

For some time I have carried a small Moleskine notebook for recording thoughts, things I have read, ideas and other assorted 'stuff'. This morning I opened one of these little tomes and found myself enjoying jottings from several years ago while enjoying a hot cup of tea. I seemed to remember where I was when I recorded many of them. Others I seemed to be reading for the first time. Some even elicited the desire to write about and explore more deeply. Is that how the literary greats began?

I have been fascinated by books and writers since I was very young. The art of writing has a certain glamor in which I longed to participate. While having dreamt of writing the next best-seller maybe I now realize that simply affixing words to paper is sufficient joy. I wonder if Hemingway and Steinbeck ever felt than way?

Typewriters and .....

Over the last few years I have picked up a few old manual typewriters. I find that the slowed pace of applying words to paper causes me to think I am choosing my words more carefully; after all, it's a lot of work to go back and correct them. Maybe that is true of life also. Listen well and speak slowly because it's even more difficult to redo your ramblings. You can't go back, throw out the page and re-type them. Old manual typewriters do not come with spellcheck, a delete key or correction tape. Come to think of it, neither does life.