ABSTRACT
How have information systems come to be everywhere but largely unseen among us? This chapter provides a historical interpretation of how IS has come to under-recognized global prominence. It suggests that IS have come to “rule” the world not as kings or other authorities, but rather more literally, through actual rules they embody, such that they dictate how much of everyday life, as it relates to individuals and organizations, takes place around the globe. They rule mostly without drama as infrastructure. The everyday life referred to involves our individual interactions with organizations and with each other, and, in particular, the transactions we necessarily engage in as we go about our personal and working lives. How the IS revolution in transaction facilitation has reshaped everyday life is deserving of more research attention than it has been given.
