INFO-

combining form (Science and Technology) A shortened form of information, widely used in compounds and blends such as: infobit, a discrete piece of information or data; infomania, a preoccupation with or uncontrolled desire for information; the amassing of facts for their own sake; infomercial, a television or video commercial presented in the form of a short, informative documentary (the television equivalent of the newspaper's advertorial); infopreneur, a business person in information technology or the information industry; also as an adjective infopreneurial; infosphere, the area of activity concerned with the dissemination, retrieval, or processing of information, often by computer; the information industry; infotainment, a form of television entertainment which seeks to present factual material in a lively and entertaining way; docutainment (see doc, docu-); infotech, information technology. History and Usage: Info has been a popular colloquial abbreviation of information for most of this century, but it was only with the advent of information technology, increasingly influential through the seventies and eighties, that the combining form began to appear. All of the formations mentioned above except infotech are American in origin, and all except infosphere have entered the language only in the eighties. The infomercial is allowed only on cable and satellite television in the UK, and so is still relatively unknown. Info- (or infotech) is increasingly used in forming the proper names or trade marks of organizations, products, or services, as well as in one-off headings for newspaper columns and advertising copy (in which it competes with faxÜ): so we have infofile, infoline, infopack, etc. I am much impressed by the...old-fashioned qualities of greed and mendacity the world of 'infotech' displays. Listener 18 Aug. 1983, p. 34 American makers have used their knowhow to better commercial ends...Other countries--Britain and West Germany particularly--have been inexplicably making life as difficult as possible for their own infopreneurs. Economist (High Technology Survey) 23 Aug. 1986, p. 15 The myriad factoids and ephemera and random infobits that are the common coin of daily business. New York Times 6 Dec. 1987, section C, p. 12 Both shows are halfway between hard news and current affairs, being more in the lifestyle/'infotainment' mould. Will this 'infotainment' train ever run out of steam? Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 23 Sept. 1988, p. 26 Now, in greater numbers than ever on independent stations and cable, comes...the half hour or hour that looks like a program...but isn't a program. Now comes the infomercial. Los Angeles Times 12 Mar. 1990, section F, p. 1