Information processing is the change (processing) of
information in any manner detectable by an
observer. As such, it is a process that
describes everything that happens (changes) in the
universe, from the falling of a rock (a change in position) to the printing of a text file from a digital computer system. In the latter case, an
information processor is changing the
form of presentation of that text file. Information processing may more specifically be defined in terms used by
Claude E. Shannon as the conversion of latent information into manifest information (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2011). Latent and manifest information is defined through the terms of equivocation (remaining uncertainty, what value the sender has actually chosen), dissipation (uncertainty of the sender what the receiver has actually received), and transformation (saved effort of questioning - equivocation minus dissipation) (Denning and Bell, 2012).