In this task I will be looking how electronic information has an impact on me, my family and eventually society as well; I will also be investigating whether the use of electronic information will have a positive or negative impact on society. Use of Electronic Information (Myself) Electronic information affects me in a variety of ways; I will start of the simple ones and gradually go up to the more complex effects which electronic information has on me. The first use of me having electronic information is that I’m able access my bank account online which is really beneficial since it saves valuable time which can be used elsewhere.
I can also find out if there have been any changes in school such as teacher training days etc. Using electronic information I can access online free encyclopedias such as Wikipedia which when searching for would be relevant to my studies and research; this has a drawback as I may get penalized for plagiarism and this particular sites information is put up by the general public, furthermore the information been received can be false or out of date meaning my work will be wrong or irrelevant due to time.
I can use RSS feeders on sites like www. bc. co. uk; RSS feeders tell me when there is an update on the site; this could be useful as I can put RSS Feed on Sidney Stringer website which would then tell any updates. Electronic information also has an impact on how I communicate with my friends, for example I can use MSN for online chatting along with a web-cam to see the person I’m talking to live; this is cheaper than sending video messages on my phone and all I have to pay for is the internet service and electricity because they are a fixed cost.
I can see the football scores for my favorite teams online in seconds; this useful as I do not have to watch the match or buy a newspaper the following morning. I can use electronic information to search for universities which have the courses I want to study. I can also find out through electronic information what previous students information thought about it and its rating. I can also find out how much it costs to rent a student hall at the university.
Also by using electronic information I can find out what kind of leisure activities different universities have and in addition I can also find out their pass rates as this will help me decide what university to go to. I am able to buy things online, again this will save me money and time. Also I can use electronic information to find certain places such as Guernsey where I can avoid VAT which is 17. 5%; this can be an advantage over other people as prices are shooting up due to the credit crunch.
An internet site like www. bbciplayer. co. k even allows me to watch my favorites shows which I have missed over the past days, weeks, months and even years; this comes in handy as I do not have to rely on the television but instead I can just watch it later, More also helpful for my studies at school from catching up on the news for general studies or watching nature documentaries for geography. I can also use an online television guide which will show me everything which will come on Television up to seven days ahead; again this will be pretty useful to me as I won’t miss any good films which may be coming on.
By using www. coventry. gov. uk I can book any library computers in the Coventry anytime and any day, this gives me more flexibility as I do not have to rely on the library to book the computer for me when I can it book it myself, travel to library to book a computer and finally I do not have to wait in queues to get on a computer. Using the same site I can search and find out whether a library in Coventry has my favorite book, again this helps me make sure that I don’t have to travel to libraries and also join long queues just to resolve my query.
Because of the availability of pen drives I’m able to do store my homework in it and take it with me whatever I go. Electronic communication also opens lines of communication to individuals who would otherwise live in relative isolation. This increased access is visible in countries where land-line telephones have been skipped over in the process of technological evolution; many Africans own cell phones that are the first phones they have ever had.
Mobile devices serve the needs and lifestyles of people who might otherwise never have been able to communicate with people outside the limits of their region. In academics, students from around the world can maintain contact via e-mail, sharing their work and bringing a degree of equity to universities regardless of their physical size or location. Collaboration in the arts and sciences has also benefited greatly from cheap and easy communication. For all of its advantages, electronic communication carries with it several dangerous aspects.
Privacy and security have been concerns of the users of electronic communication since the days of the telegraph. In the Internet age, all data transmitted electronically must pass through a series of stages at which it could potentially be intercepted by a third party. The convenience of doing business online–in the form on online banking, stock trading and shopping–has forced businesses to invent security measures that breed at least some level of confidence in their customers.
Still, cases of identity-theft number in the thousands each year, and the risks of breaches of privacy are a major concern to many parents whose children communicate electronically. Cybercrime represents a significant threat to economic interests and Internet-based espionage has been the target of special security programs enacted by most governments and large businesses around the world. Still, electronic communication continues to flourish despite these risks, partially because of the huge investments that have been made into minimizing them.
