Impacts of IT by Scott Gentry
Social
When considering I.T, in my spare time I use various gadgets to access the internet. For example, I mainly use my Ipod Touch, as it is easy to use and quick to access the sites I need. Whilst on the internet I mainly visit sites such as Google Blogger to maintain my Blog named Utopia Reviews (www.utopiareviews.blogspot.co.uk). On my Blog, I type film reviews on the films that I have seen recently. I also use the internet for social networking such as Facebook and Twitter.
When using social networking, I normally create group messages with friends, so I can schedule weekly cinema trips. Also in my free time, I research films on sites such as Total Film.com and Empireonline.com. In the past, free time was spent at the cinema, listening to the radio and reading newspapers. Now, technology plays a major part in how we spend our free time.
In the past many people spent their free time reading books or listening to the radio. When the Television was created it sparked a sort of media revolution as people were able to watch programmes in their home. In previous years television was fairly limited in terms of what to watch. For a long time only three channels were available, they were called BBC 1, 2 and ITV. In recent years however, TV has become more widespread and accessible to people.
So, as you can see I mainly use the internet and social networking to discover both past and present. Despite my constant use of the internet and gadgets, in my free time I also meet up with friends from church and school, however this is organised through social networking. Also in my free time, I visit the local cinema in Romford and attend my local church in Barkingside.
In the local community I.T constantly dominates. Whether it is through Jobs and stores, there are always pieces of I.T involved. For example, in my church I.T is used to organise services, play music and display images. Other examples would be the countryside, because IT has helped local stores to close and this has resulted in people leaving the villages and moving into London. The number of people who live in the time then dwindles.
In the countryside, many local stores have closed to make way for larger stores such as Sainsbury and Tesco. This is because these ‘superstores’ are able to obtain products more quickly and have a wider range to choose from. As a result of the small shops closing, people move out of the villages to get jobs and be closer to the superstores. After people have left the village, the population begins to dwindle.
Economic Impacts
I.T has a large place in the workplace. Many people have lost their jobs due to I.T. An example of this could be Self Service checkouts in local supermarkets. I.T is also used to create things (mainly using computers) like advertisements and videos. I.T has also helped people to work from home; an example would be for people who work in newspapers and can write articles then send them through to the publisher by E-Mail, never having to leave their home and enter the office. This also applies to people who may be ill and are forced to work from home.
Computers are also used in cars, as we have Sat-Navs to help guide us. Thanks to I.T, people have also lost jobs in the car industry because now, Cars are made by robots powered and controlled by computers. However, I.T has also given people some employment opportunities, such as I.T technicians and computer programmers.
We all rely on electricity to power our gadgets, without it we would not be able to use I.T to its full potential. As we will have enough electricity in 50 years, renewable energy is not needed being invested in. We have already seen renewable energy become a part of our daily lives due to electric cars. Gas and coal can’t last for ever as they are not renewable sources and will eventually run out, so renewable energy if the future.
Legal Impacts
For each website we use, people always own them. For the people that do own websites, they can make money from I.T by placing adverts on their sites.
When it comes to plagiarism and copyright, owners take it very seriously. When people copy other work they can incur fines and sometimes prison sentences.
In 1998, the Data Protection Act was passed, if you break this law you will be found guilty and made to face the charges set by a court. In many cases, breaking the Data Protection act can result in the victim suing you, or worse imprisonment. This act helped protect people in this country who have information stored about them. European countries now have similar laws. Copyright is a form of protection for creators of a certain piece of work, which enables them to own rights to the work. Also, copyright enables the creator to let his/her work be used for certain purposes and to be distributed. Plagiarism is a criminal offence which involves somebody taking another person’s work and pretending that it’s your own.
Ethical
People have the right for their information to be used ethically. This means that people should be protected on the internet, when sharing private information, and not have it used for illegal means.
Unequal Access
There are some implications to people who are in poorer countries, as they are not able to use the internet due to poverty; this is called the digital divide. People in the third world generally don’t have the money/time for I.T because they’re only objective in life is to survive. Also, they couldn’t have the internet because there are no power cables. Due to them not having the internet, they are missing out on technological advances. Even if they were donated computers, they would not be able to pay for any fees which would follow.
Most elderly people are unable to use computers, or simply do not own one. Gradually, those elderly people are being left behind as we now live in a digital age. Soon, it will be difficult for them to access things, for example some people do not prefer to be contacted by letter, but by E-Mail. If elderly people can’t send E-Mails, then it will cause complications for them.
For people who live in the western isles of Scotland, the Internet and I.T in general is scarce. This is because they live a considerable way away from the rest of civilisation. Due to this, they cannot access things like social networking.
Abuse of I.T
I.T can be used for many bad things like computer hacking. Computer hackers are people who use computers to break online passwords to secure accounts like online Banking.
I.T can also be used to organise illegal situations. An example of this could be the 2011 London Riots, were riots were organised through the social networking site, Twitter. It was not only Twitter; it seems that BBM (Blackberry Messenger) also had a key part to play, because of its popularity.
Threats
I.T is not only abused it’s used to make threats to people through cyber-bullying. Cyber bullying is when people send rude or offensive images and messages to people which can upset them. People who are cyber bullied tend to lead a life where drugs and alcohol are constantly used. It sometimes leads to suicide, but only in extreme circumstances. Cyber bullying is now a criminal offence in the UK.
Spam mail is when people send bulks of mail only containing adverts to recipients email addresses. This is highly annoying and can clutter people’s inboxes, but is now a criminal offence in some instances.
Phishing is when criminals send fraudulent emails pretending to be from legitimate companies and ask to acquire passwords to bank accounts. This is completely illegal. Denial of Service is when people make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users and is also illegal.
Written by Scott Gentry.
