Has There Ever Been a Period That Was Not an Information Age?

Over at his blog, Paul Kedrosky lists some of the questions on the All Souls Exam (All Souls College apparently sits within Oxford and is unique because "all of its members automatically become Fellows, i.e., full members of the College's governing body."). Anyway, the questions are generally interesting (and very difficult), but I particularly like this one: Has there ever been a period that was not an information age? I wonder this just about as often as people say the phrase. I certainly am no expert in history, but it seems to me that throughout all time people have had to deal with more information than their predecessors. Then again, I am a self-admitted "ever wasser": "[insisting] that at any moment in modernity something like this is going on, and that a new way of organizing data and connecting users is always thrilling to some and chilling to others--that something like this is going on is exactly what makes it a modern moment."