When I started Primary School at around 9 years old, I.C.T started to affect me differently. At this age I started to use I.C.T more frequently.
I would browse the internet which is an international network of computers. The internet has two main parts, World Wide Web and Email. The internet is I.C.T as it communicates & informs the user. The internet has a lot of information and can be accessed anywhere in the world providing there is a PC and a telephone line available. To connect to the internet, I use a modem to dial up a computer owned by an internet provider.
At school I would use the computer to do homework, such as writing letters and reports using word processor. The reason why the school encouraged children to use I.C.T is because when using computers it is very easy to change mistakes made keeping work neat and well presented. Word processing can delete, cut and paste, and spell check. The alternative is to hand write or use a type writer, which does not have these functions.
I.C.T also affected me away from school. In the house I started to use more household appliances, for example the Microwave. The Microwave is an I.C.T system because it takes information in, stores it then carries it out. For instance if you wanted to heat some meat you would type in how much minutes you wanted the meat to heat for, then the microwave processes this information and does the task. When the task is finished the microwave then informs you that it’s done.
Also when I was around 9 years old I started to use the Television more which is I.C.T. The television is I.C.T because it communicates with the user, the television can communicate with the user in different ways. The T.V may communicate with a child different to the way it communicates with an adult, by the channels watched. For example the “10 O’clock news” communicates on a serious level with the user while “the Simpsons” would communicate with the user on a funny level.
When I turned about 12 years old I started to go to secondary school. At this age I started to get more independent and I started to rely on I.C.T more.
I.C.T affected me when I was going to & from school. The Oyster card which allows you to travel on the bus is designed around I.C.T, when you bleep the card it comes up with information about your pass. Such as expiry date & zones allowed in. This is an I.C.T system because it stores information on a data base.
I.C.T also affected me when I started using Mobile Phones. Mobile phones are I.C.T because they allow the user to communicate with other people. The advantages of Mobile phones are you can be contacted anywhere at any time. This affects the way we communicate with other people as with mobile phones you can also text people which is a service which was not able before the invention of mobile phones. Texting is used instead of phoning e.g if you have ran out of credit, or you need to get a message quickly to someone but you can not make the call. I also use picture messaging which is basically taking a record and sending digital photos. This process is very quick and easy. Photos are stored digitally on the phone on a memory chip which stores files. This is convenient because phones are smaller than camera’s and you can send pictures instantly.
Another piece of I.C.T that I was aware of was the Burglar Alarm. This I.C.T system waits on an input device this could be something like a heat detector. When this gets to high the output device which would be an Alarm would trigger and Inform people of an unwanted entry.
When I turned 15 years old I was even more dependant on I.C.T. I started to use I.C.T to entertain myself. I used it for downloading files such as MP3s. Legislation laws play a part in how I am allowed to download. Peer 2 Peer downloading is when a number of computers are connected together and share files. This is illegal because it’s free and artists lose money so now you must pay for each track that you download.
Legislation also affects me more at this stage of my life. When browsing the internet there are laws on what websites under 18’s are allowed to enter. For example I am not allowed to enter pornographic websites, because its against the law.
When I was 15 I also started to use I.C.T a lot more with my studies. I used the internet to research information about different subjects, I think this was a good way to research because it’s very efficient. The alternate choice of me gathering information would be to go to libraries & read books, this would be very time consuming.
At this stage I.C.T also affected me by communication. The process of E-Mail is a way of communicating with people through computers. The advantages of E-Mail is its very quick, it’s almost instant. Another advantage of E-Mail is it can be sent to a number of people at the same time. In some cases a company may send the same E-Mail to all of its workers this could be a number of 500 people. This is called group mail.
At this stage of my life I am thinking about my future and what sort of career I want. I.C.T affects my options for the future, these days I.C.T do a lot of jobs which used to be done by people. For example a lot of jobs which use “batch production” are often now done by computers. The reason why I.C.T has taken over factory workers is because they are more efficient as they don’t have to have breaks & can be programmed to multi-task. These computers are usually run by a technician in case any problems occur. This affects the sort of job I want to be in. Personally I would want to be in a job which could not be taken over by a computer one day.
I think I.C.T has changed the way I interact with other people. Since I have been using I.C.T I think it has minimized my interaction with other people. The reason why I think this is because many weekends I stay in and just play computer games & don’t go out and interact with other people. I think in this sense I.C.T detracts from our quality of life as people become more anti-social.
There are other services which I use which use I.C.T, such as an ATM machine. ATM machines are used by people when they are ready to withdraw money. I type in a Personal Identity Number. This gives me access to my account details. I then type in an amount of money that I wish to withdraw, this is the input device. The output device is the cash which the machine gives out. When shopping for clothes, trainers and food, ICT is used. The bar code is scanned over a machine. The bar code holds information about that product e.g. what it is, what the price is and how many items are in stock. Once the stock is running low the computer automatically reorders the item. This is known as stock control.
I.C.T has affected the way I complete a number of tasks. Most of the effects are positive and benefit me, however there are certain aspects of I.C.T that do not benefit me for the good.
