Information services
Another source is information services. For example a museum website like the centre for life uses functions such as what’s on section, a news section, and it also has a link on their website to Google maps which helps you navigate to the museum. A positive of the what’s on section is that it allows the user to choose what expeditions they go to see before they get there. Another positive is the link to Google maps. As a result of this function the people are able to find the museum easily in the built up are around the museum. The negatives of these functions are that it will stop people actually going to the museum. This is due to people being able to do it at home. This is a negative for society as it means they will not make a good enough income to keep the museum open. The museum would then eventually close because of walkthroughs on the Internet stopping people from actually visiting the museum. This would eventually lead to people loosing there jobs meaning that more people would be on the dole and then the government would loose more money to people on the dole.
Transport
Arriva’s website featured sub heading which provided detailed information from anything from price to places there buses go. The first sub heading of the website was the home page which lets you plan your route to a certain destination. It then tells you how much the journey will be and the bus times/number for example the number 14 will cost you £4.50. This will positively impact society as it means that people can plan their journey within their own home so they don’t have to go out to a bus stop and find one which has their destinations on. Plus, if this was not available people could be late for school or work. Another positive impact is that it produces fewer gasses which break down the ozone layer. For example if everyone travelled by bus it would lower the gasses let out by cars. Also it helps if you get a new job in a place hard to get to by car. This means that a bus would benefit society as it means they can go out and earn money whilst doing their part for the environment by using the same transport as other people. As a result of this it would reduce the amount of cars on the road. However a negative impact on society is the website may be wrong. As a result of this it would mean people being late for work. This is a negative as people may lose their job meaning less money goes into the economy.
I also looked at train transport. I looked on the east coast website and found it was similar to the Arriva website. For example the majority of the subheadings are similar/ the same. For instance it uses the same function where you input your current destination then enter where you want to go and it tells you the journey time etc. This benefit people and society as it means they don’t have to go out to find the info they can do it from home. However a negative impact of the website is if it was not updated properly. Similar to the Arriva website. As a result you may lose your job for being late or not turning up at all.
Another aspect of this site is that it helps them to save money as it is regularly updated which shows all the different information available on special offers. For example a ticket to Newcastle witch is half price benefits some people as train tickets do cost a lot and are quite rare especially on late bookings. However the user’s internet may be slow and they then end up buying a ticket with no discount. This would result in the person buying the ticket paying full price as they are unaware the offer has already ended. This means they may feel they have been over charged and problems may arise further. Also people will need to be informed on access for disabled people. For example wheel chair access or access for the blind with dogs. This is clearly stated on the website in different forms. For example it is stated in just writing, in a video for people with learning disabilities. All of these features benefit society as it informs them of what they can and cannot do on board the train. However a negative of this function is if they don’t notice the sites disability information or if they do not have access to the internet. They will then be disappointed that they cannot board the train.
Emergency services
Each of the three main emergency services have websites. Each county has a separate website but they mainly follow the same format. All of them discussing what they do and why. The metropolitan police website from London contained information such as what they do for the local area. Another example of a type of information offered by this website is the RSS news feed down the side of the site which contains information about recent crimes, and appeals. This has a positive impact on society as people can easily access it and it means they feel involved.as a result of this the public try to help out as much as they can by pressing on a case and typing in what they know. This is positive as it helps the metropolitan police with their investigations and eventually helps them solve the case. There is also a section on their website where you can find out how to enrol and get the right qualifications to be able to do the job successfully. A positive impact of this feature is that people with internet access can research about numerous careers within the force by simply using this section of the metropolitan police website. However there is a negative of this. For example if you do not have access to the internet this important information cannot be viewed. This then impacts on the possible future of their life. In addition another means of accessing information by the metropolitan police website is through the use of their neighbourhood profiles, these profiles provide information to the general public to inform them whether the crime count is high or low in that particular neighbourhood. A positive aspect to this feature is that users know what neighbourhoods to stay clear of due to high crime. You can also view similar information through social networking sites. For example there are many pages on face book about local police forces and how they are tackling crime. This benefits society and individuals as they know the police or any emergency service department are doing their job and know exactly what they are focusing on.
Another emergency service with its own website is the local fire department, a section of this website offers helpful information is the section about what to do when individuals are stuck in different sorts of fires/dangerous situations. A positive impact of this section is that it provides potentially lifesaving information to the general public for many different types of situations, this would be a huge benefit because people who would have no clue on what to do in these situations beforehand would now know what to do. However the negative impacts of this feature are as follows. One negative impact is that people without access to internet will not be aware of this information, therefore they will not be as likely to know what to do in certain situations which may result in injury or even death. The second disadvantage may be that people will think they know what to do and make a mistake. As a result they could make a mistake in which they make the condition worse. The final aspect of this department is that the area also provides information on how to be recruited by the department, (like the metropolitan websites recruitment tab) a positive aspect of this feature is that the general public can get an idea on how they would be able to join the service and this makes it a lot easier as you can do this from home.