Jon Cox
The Computers True Impact on Our Lives
There have
been many technological advances that we have gone through, each usually
leading to the other. Starting with one of the earliest inventions,
electricity, others soon followed. The light bulb, telephone, car and
television are only a handful of inventions that did follow this big one, each
one having a different function but with all of them significant in their own
time and even today. There have been technologies that have built on these originals,
to make them stronger, last longer, more durable and overall a more advanced
product. One such product that has changed out world of late has been the
computer and in recent times, the internet. Computers and the internet have revolutionized
the way we work, learn and play in the business, school and household settings.
In a
business setting one of the main goals is to turn a profit. It was said by Tom Standage in the article “The Victorian Internet” that “businesses
became the most enthusiastic adopters of the telegraph in the nineteenth
century and the Internet in the twentieth.” The telegraph, and later on the
Internet allow businesses to try out a new venture, and to seek out new ways to
make that profit they wish to make. Such inventions as the telegraph had to be
supported in order for a widespread adoption to come about. In order for an
item to receive adoption though it has to pay for itself, otherwise the cost of
implementing it would never be recovered. In the same way with the internet someone
has to make a profit in order to survive, thus the reason Tom Standage said that ever since the telegraph “we have been
pinning the same hope on other new technologies every since” to change our
world and make it a better place for all. These hopes that computers and the
internet would change the business world for people gives way to all the ways
that computers and the internet have changed business. When you walk into an
office building today you are likely to see rows and rows of cubicles for people
to work in, with each cubicle usually housing a computer in which the employee
working there can use to type up reports as well as communicate with his fellow
employees. Computers in these areas allow for business to have more structure
to it, through the use of networks and more communication with others to
improve business relations through e-mail and fiber optic connections to other
branches of the company. One such area of business affected by this computer
and its counterpart, the internet, is stocks. The internet has brought about a
way for people not even slightly living near the stock exchange to trade and
sell stocks on their own without a broker. In the time of the telegraph stocks
were traded in the same fashion as told in “The Victorian Internet,” where you
could send a request to buy or sell via a telegram, but this had problems has
some would alter these messages as they made their way to it’s destination. But
telegraphs were not as mainstream as the internet is today, thus not affecting
those businesses with stock quite as much as now. Business’ now have to take
into account the consumers who only own a small amount of stock, compared to
those who own large sums. With the internet, new business ventures have opened
up as well. No one would have thought that you could have ordered an item on a
computer and have it sent to your house, but this is just one example of how
business is moving in new and different directions. Businesses depend on the
computer to do tasks such as keeping track of their profits, losses and other
calculations which require manipulating sometimes large numbers. Computers
allow for greater creativity when products are designed, with these new ideas being
what could possibly make more earnings for a corporation, and transform the
industry. Just as in the age of the telegraph, business based on the computer
and the internet is changing from its previous form to something new, different
and revolutionary.
Another area
that the computer and internet has impacted is in the school setting. Being in
such a setting it could be thought of as being half in a business setting and
half in a household stetting as it is not quite business, but not quite a home
either. The goal is learning, but it is not meant for entertainment. People in
a school setting previously had only several ways to be taught, they could be
lectured by a teacher, or be trained from a book. Because of these limited
options, and compared to the way kids in school today work, a definite distinction
can be seen. The majority of the time when a new project is assigned in modern
times a student will go directly to a computer in order to start their research
and to possibly even begin typing their report or paper. Students going to
school during this period have changed the process in which they work through
the use of computers by doing the majority of their work on them. Through the
use of computers students usually type all of their work if allowed, but hardly
anyone uses a typewriter, showing a definite shift from one technology to the
next. These kids start and finish these papers on computers when prior to
computers and the internet the majority of work would have been done with paper
and pencil. A benefit to this work being completely done in typed form is when
a draft needs to be changed a person no longer has to retype or redo it
completely over, they simply make the change. Once this new draft is printed it
looks as clean and professional as the one before it. It was mentioned in the
article as well that “today the complaint of information overload, blamed on
the internet, is commonplace.” The fact that people say the internet does
indeed have so much information is one reason why students in fact are going straight
to computers if possible when starting a project or paper. What has truly
changed about this school environment though is that the mindset of the
students has changed from the idea that everything you need to know is in a
book. The impression now is that you do not need books and you can get all the
information you require using the internet. While neither of these two thoughts
are entirely true now, they still represent how students from previous
generations have evolved into the present one.
The
household setting is much more peaceful. Not as much emphasis on work, and more
on play. While not all the time, most likely the majority of computer and
internet usage at home is for fun and recreation. Both e-mail and chat are
popular in this environment, and provide easier and faster ways compared to
previous forms of communication. For people living a long distance away e-mail
allows for a cheaper way to exchange information compared to pricy phone
conversations, and chat among the younger-set of people allow them to talk to
numerous people at once in a more organized way than phone conversations. People
seem to be fascinated by these new technologies after their initial doubt. It
was mentioned by Tom Standage in “The Victorian
Internet,” that people were fascinated with the romantic possibilities of the
internet, and that even online weddings have occurred, showing indeed how these
new forms of technology have affected people’s household lives. Another change
that the computer has brought about in the form of leisure is digital music. MP3
has become both a popular and controversial form of music on the internet, but
despite its legal problems it has revolutionized the way music is thought of,
especially on the computer. People are able to listen to music right from their
computer, without having to even have a physical copy of the album. Another
form of entertainment, video games are and have been popular ever since
computers became mainstream. With such video games out now that can be played
over the internet versus other players elsewhere, it has allowed a new way to
communicate and compete with others that were not possible before. Despite all
these forms of entertainment for the computer, they still do provide a link to
work that can be done, especially for those who work at home or are life-long
learners and wish to search out information on the internet. Before computers
and the internet it was not totally feasible to work at home, and to go to
library every time someone wanted to research something could be considered to
some extent a hassle. In the household setting though these previous rules have
changed, as the communication, entertainment and learning options the computer
and internet provides are not offered in any other form of technology in the
same way.
The computer
and its counter-part the internet have outright changed numerous areas in which
people work, learn and play. People in this world are now able to work in
different ways then they were able to before through the use of new forms of
commutation as well as different ways to work. In the school setting students
are allowed new ways to research and learn, as well as being able to have new
ways to complete work. In the household setting though it all comes together as
both a way to communicate and entertain. While the computer and internet have certainly
not replaced anything, the number of situations they have revolutionized has
made them truly alluring pieces of technology.