Sunday 12 May 2013

Introduction






As the modern technologies are becoming more advanced, a lot of technology products with more functions have been introduced every year. They have impact on our daily life in variety of different fields. Now these technology products are becoming an indispensable part of our daily life. 

Now days it is getting common with people using a smart phone, tablet PC or computer and the age group of people using these products are getting lower. It's also becoming  normal to see a lot of people tapping away on their phones in our society. These people are called smartphone addicts, the numbers of them are increasing rapidly recently.

Technology seem to bring lots of convenience to our life but it also seem to bring a distance between people. In the following sections I will be discussing how modern technology has change peoples way of living. I will also be discussing on both advantages and disadvantages of modern technology. 



Smartphone Addicts





Do you reckon that you are always tapping on your phone screen wherever you go or you spend more time on your phone than doing other activities, if yes then you should start calling yourself as a smartphone addict.

It is very clearly that smartphones are named because of their multi functions. Not just only calling, texting or taking photos you can even send emails or communicate with your friends constantly through a smartphone. You can also download all sorts of applications on your smartphone for varieties of purposes. But the more you can do on your smartphone the more time you will spend and this can lead to health problems such as back and neck pain. What's more, looking at a small screen for a long time can also cause vision problems.








Advantages


Information technology has made our life much more easier in both business and society world. It also brought benefits on varieties of fields such as education, medical and entertainment. Below i will showing some examples of benefits that technology has brought to our life.



- Allows people get in touch anywhere around the world


With information technology , you can uses devices such as computers and smartphones to communicate with your family and friends around the world at anytime. Tens of billions of messages are processed every day from a fast-growing crowd of mobile messaging apps. 

 For smartphone or tablet computer users they can download messaging communication applications such as Line, Whats App, Viber, Skype onto their devices.With these applications you can share photos or videos instantly with the people you want, you can even open a conversation with more than 1 person in it.

 If you are lazy of typing long messages you can even send a text or voice message rather than spending long time on typing which is a really good time saving. In the past paying heaps on the cellphone bill have always been really frustrated to lots of people. But with these applications which most of them are free to download cost you nothing to call or sending messages. I reckon its a really good deal rather than cost you heaps on the bills. 


- Data Storage and Managing

In the past it had always been a nightmare when you need to manage large amount of files, especially for a lot of business people. Now days people can use cloud hosting service (where you can upload your files through smartphones,computers and tablets) this can save you from lacking in memory spaces on your devices. It also saves on paper work which is really good to our environment. A lot business man choose service like "Dropbox" for saving data. They are able to call out these data through their devices anytime anywhere as well as saving them from taking piles of files all around the places. These data can very stored very safely so its very wisely to have service like this for everyone as some of the data can be very private.



- Job Opportunities


A major advantage of information technology is that it has brought lots of job opportunities to many people. around the world. As it is taking a big part of our daily lives and society through internet and smartphones. Development of the field in information technology is growing rapidly every year.
Lots of interesting jobs such as hardware and software developers,web designers and system analyst are very popular (See more). Functional applications which are handy to use have been produced by a lot of talented application designers.These jobs which is providing good opportunity for the new generation in the technical field for the future. I am looking forward to see more benefits that information technology is bring to us.










Negative Effects


Information technology has made our life easier but it also have a lot of bad influences on human's life in different varieties of fields. Here are some bad influence which are happening in our society. 



-Cyber Bullying 

Cyber Bullying is the situation when people hide behind the screen use mobile phones or internet technology by sending  some harmful messages such as "no one likes you" or "go kill yourself" to other people. Is is commonly occurring around the world side at school by anytime and mostly happening with teenager.

This includes by assaulting on people's ethnic group, skin colours and appearance, also by posting some harmful photos or videos onto websites without other people's agreement. This can cause one's undermining self-confidence and stressing which can badly affect on your health condition, or yous performance and  attendance.

With worse situation can also leads to suicidal thoughts or affecting yourself the rest of your life. It is strongly recommended to take some actions to stop cyber bullying  talk to your parents and teacher when you come up to a cyber bullying situation.



- Social Impact



Our old ways of communicating have change towards a situation where everything is connected through the internet. Access to internet allows us to chat or watch videos online instantly through a computer or smartphone anywhere anytime. People start to stay in front of the screen playing online games , chatting rooms the whole day rather than going outside of the house. These people are lack of face-to-face communication in "real life". 
They are more closer with a "friend" online who have not even met before in real life,they are more bothered about their online life rather than real life and feel isolated when they are not with their computers or cellphones.

 Spending a significant amount of time on computer and smartphones can leads to you varieties of  health symptoms such as eye strains, blurry vision , back and neck ache as well as making you go blind. It is considerable to take rest after using computers and cellphones for a while. Spending time with your family and friends are more important than facing the screen whole day. 


- Bad Effects in Education


One of the main problem happening with a lot of students is that they are spending way too much time on computers than the time they are supposed to spend on their works.

 They spend a significant amount of time after returning from school on playing games without doing their work. This is strongly affecting their attendance and grades at school , some of the harmful contents on internet might lead students to a unappropriated attitude of thinking which will affect their life badly. This can also effect on their health condition badlyThere are also some problems of students no longer take time to solve tasks and equation by themselves. All they do is search for information and this is making them becoming less active and innovative. 





-Losing Own Privacy

Thought Information technology have made communication between more easier, it has also bought a lot of privacy issues towards us. Especially for a lot of celebrities, their privacy are becoming public knowledge such as leak out of personal information to others on social website.

 The most likely reasons for this happening are computer virus infection via emails and personal computer being hacked. This can caused to the problem such as showing people your password for internet banking transactions or your name , address and phone number then these hackers can use your personal details for some illegal purpose which can cause into huge troubles.There was a case of a woman stalked trough the internet and got killed.







Links

1.
16% High School Students Electronically Bullied in Past Year - Zee News

This article is showing that 16% of students in USA are being cyber bullied in the past year. The chance of girls being the victim of cyber bullying are more likely to happen comparing to the boys (22.1% vs. 10.8%) The study fond that White reported being the victims of cyber bullying more than twice as frequently as blacks.

2.
What is an Information Technology Risk - Queensland Government
This is a website which tells you the range of risks may happen in information technology system such as computers and networks for business. Also including some general information technology threats such as viruses,spam and human errors


3.
This is an article on BBC News about Dr. Aric Sigman saying that spending too much on internet surfing may badly affect our health condition. Serious health problem such as cancer, strokes, heart disease and dementia may happen. Social Websites such as Facebook, Twitter are meant to enrich the communication between people but they are actually making the "real" distance between people more far apart.


4.
How to Spot an Internet Addict - NZ Herald
This is an article about not just young guys spending their time on playing internet games, also a lot amount of young women are at risk of being internet addicted on website such as Facebook.
According to Bernd Werner from German Foundation for Media and Online Addiction, he says "They are always thinking about what's going on with the internet world now".

5.
The Many Benefits and Advantages of Smartphones - WD Technologies
This is an article talking about the sorts of benefits and advantages that smartphones has brought to our life in varieties of fields. Such as make task or to-do lists, Send or receive e-mail , monitor appointments and set reminders all these functions are beneficial especially for business person.
For daily life, you can use your smartphone to take photos, watch TV , play games, send and receive text messages. Smartphone is making our life much more easier.

6.
14 Things We Rarely Do Because of Technology Advancement - Use of Technology
This is an article discussing about things we rarely do now days from using modern technology such as rushing to a business meeting or checking directions on a map.

7.
Teenager Dies After Playing Computer for 40 Hours Straight Without Eating - Daily Mail
This is an news article about a 18-year-old boy from Taiwan collapsed and died at the internet cafe for playing online computer game "Diablo 3" for 40 hours straight. Playing online computer games without taking a break for a long time have always been a really big issue to a large of parents.

8.
New Zealand Cyber Security Fear Rising - NZ Herald
This is an news article about New Zealanders are becoming more concerned of their private details are being leak out from computers and smartphones.

9.
Impact of Information Technology on Small Business - Use of Technology
This is an article showing how information technology can help business in a certain way to speed up production and save both time and money. Information has given them endless opportunities and maximize production and profits.

10.
Importance of Information Technology - Life Style Lounge
This is an article explaining about the importance of information technology to human life in varieties of fields such as business,entertainment sector, world wide web, science and engineering,




- Video Clip from YouTube about Cyber Bullying


APA Reference Links

1.Demand Media, Kyra. S. (n.d.). What Are the Advantages of Information Technology in Business? |. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-information-technology-business-774.html

2. Use of Technology (2012, October 15). Advantages and Disadvantages of Information Technology | Use of Technology. Retrieved from http://www.useoftechnology.com/advantages-disadvantages-information-technology/

3. Gaynor. B. (2012, 19). Advantages of Information Technology. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/advantages-of-information-technology.html

4. WiFi Notes (n.d.). Types of information technology - advantages of information technology. Retrieved from http://www.wifinotes.com/computer-networks/types-of-information-technology.html

5. Lynsey. H. (2013, March 21). 10% say they are addicted to their smartphones | The Sun |News. Retrieved from http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4852288/10-say-they-are-addicted-to-their-smartphones.html

6. Manali. O. (2012, March 1). What is the Impact of Technology on Our Society?. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/what-is-the-impact-of-technology-on-our-society.html

7. Bright Lab (2011, January 6). Social Media and its Legal Implications. Retrieved from http://www.brightlabs.com.au/page/Blog/Social_Media_and_Legal_Implications/

8. Rebecca. M. (2012, January 29). We're losing control of our digital privacy - CNN.com. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/26/opinion/mackinnon-sopa-government-surveillance

9. CBS News (2012, February 6). Did the Internet Kill Privacy? - CBS News. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-7323148.html

10. Molly. W. (2007, November 8). Sitting Too Close to the Computer Screen Can Make You Go Blind: Scientific American. Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=is-sitting-too-close-to-screen-making-you-blind

11. STOP cyber bullying (n.d.). STOP cyberbullying: What is cyberbullying, exactly?. Retrieved from http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/what_is_cyberbullying_exactly.htm

12. Troy. B. (2012, November 13). Computer Vision - Symptoms of Eye Strain. Retrieved from http://vision.about.com/od/sportsvision/qt/Computer_Vision.htm

13. The Free Press (2013, May 8). High school drama tackles teen issues | Life | Midland Free Press. Retrieved from http://www.midlandfreepress.com/2013/05/08/high-school-play-tackles-cyber-bullying-and-exploitation-issues

14. WebMD Feature, Susan. D. (n.d.). Smartphone Addiction: Managing Your Phone Usage Time. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/addicted-your-smartphone-what-to-do

15. Liane. C. (n.d.). What is a Smartphone?. Retrieved from http://cellphones.about.com/od/smartphonebasics/a/what_is_smart.htm