Information processing is the acquisition, recording, organization, retrieval （检索）, display, and dissemination of information. In recent years, the term has often been applied to computer-based operations specifically. During the past few centuries great advances have been made in the human capability to record, store, and reproduce information, beginning with the invention of printing from movable type in 1450, followed by the development of photography and telephony, and culminating in the mass production of electronic digital computers in the latter half of the 20th century. New technologies for preserving and transmitting aural and visual information have further enhanced information processing.
