The access of electronic information has had a huge impact to my parents’ lives as well. Nowadays they pay most of their payments such as bills and taxes using on-line banking which is very time efficient and convenient because there is no need to go to bank or local council to pay those payments and wait in queue any more. Also because of such a facility to use on-line banking my parents started to shop on-line. It often saves them huge amounts of money because only in a few clicks of mouse, comparison websites such as can find the cheapest price of some certain product or service available which is very helpful if you want to save some money. The other way how availability of electronic information affected my parents’ daily lives is the way they find out the latest news. Only a few years ago they used to buy newspapers, listen to radio or watch TV news broadcast to get the latest news, while now they are doing that using the internet and a simple personal computer or sometimes even a mobile phone.
Changes in the sources of information
Paper- based sources of information
More and more people are using internet for finding information as it is much faster and more time efficient way to get the information than using books and encyclopaedias. Also e-books because of its cheapness and convenience are becoming more and more popular. According to Telegraph this year Amazon even sold more e-books than paper books on Christmas Day. Therefore libraries and book stores are becoming redundant, which means that paper-based sources of information are no longer necessary and might be not used in the future at all; many non-public organisations and even some countries are reducing their expenditures by using less paper. As an example I can show that Hawaii. This year Hawaii senate are planning to save $1,2million by reducing paper consumption. Instead of that e-mails and other electronic information will be used; However, paper-based sources are still being widely used because they don’t need any electronic devices to support them; also some people prefer to read from a paper than from a screen; in many countries contracts and documents must still be signed on paper for legal reasons.
Another good example how the availability of electronic information has affected our society and is making paper-based information sources unnecessary is a facility to make self diagnosis. The NHS now offers a self diagnosis tool on their website in order for you to diagnose yourself or someone else. Therefore doctors can concentrate more on other patients, who might be much more sick than you are. Their website also enables you to look up other diseases or conditions so you can educate yourself about the signs of them.
Transport and travel
The access of electronic information has made travelling and booking transport much easier and improved many peoples’ lives. Because of increased availability of electronic information all the information such as time tables, costs of transport, discounts can be found on the internet in websites such as National Rail which offers information about the whole rail network in the UK in an easy-to-access way, so people don’t need to go to a train station or any other place anymore to find out the timetables or any other information; for those, travelling by car or motorcycle, there are a few websites as well, which provide information about the roads condition, traffic jams and any other problems, such as road works or accidents so therefore drivers can save time by choosing the fastest way to their final destination.
Banking
Banking is one of the most important areas affected by the increased access to the electronic information because it’s related to individuals’ as well as the whole society’s finances and money in general. People in the past had to go to bank to pay their taxes, bills and other payments. Also they would know how much money they have in their bank account only when they received a monthly statement or went to a bank to ask. While nowadays everything is being done using on-line banking so people can make payments in much easier and faster and in some cases even safer way. Also internet banking means that individuals are much better informed about their position and can manage their money much more easily; origin of on-line banking made some online auction websites such as eBay or on-line shops as Amazon to develop fabulously fast. Statistics show that last year 64% of all recent internet users had ever puchased goods or services over the internet, which means that physical high-street shops are becoming redundant.
Impacts on Methods of communication for non-public organisations
In the past most firms would have probably sent you a mail or would have called you if they wanted to contact you. The main disadvantage of mails is that it might take a few days and sometimes even weeks to reach the client, and the problem with telephones is that the costs of calls used to be quite high. While nowadays non-public organisations have many different options how to contact their client. The most popular ones are e-mail; Skype; MSN; Facebook; Twitter; YouTube; telephones; websites of firms; TV; podcasts and mails. Increased options of communication are good for both companies and its clients because they can contact each other quicker. Also a client might find out the price lists, delivery options, warranty rules or any other information in faster and in more convenient way, because the method of communication can be chosen.
The availability of electronic information has changed the way non-public organisations advertise themselves as well. Let’s say 20 years ago, the only way for advertising was TV; radio; stands and simple mails, leaflets or flyers. The problem with those is that it’s very hard and expensive to reach the final target group of customers using those methods of communication, which means that loads of money is being wasted on nothing. While nowadays non-public organisations can advertise themselves in much cheaper and more efficient way using e-mail for spamming, Facebook or Google for choosing what target group they want to reach, YouTube instead of TV. Banner advertisements and pop-ups are also widely used by companies.
The way non-public organisations communicate internally has also changed. In the past mostly face to face communication have been done, while nowadays usage of video conferences is progressively increasing; other methods of communication such as intranet and e-mails have already taken a huge role in companies; e-mail is probably the most widely used technology for internal communication because of its simplicity. It has many advantages against simple paper mails, because it's only a matter of seconds to send someone a message or to receive it; it also costs much less. According to NY Times the reason why video conferences, e-mails and intranet are getting more popular within non-public organisations is that it have reduced the need for business travel, which means that less money is being spent on travelling therefore expenditures are smaller.
Effects on people who do not have access or don’t want to have access to the internet
Some people can't have access to the internet while some just don't want to have it. The main reason why some people don't want to have access to the internet is that it costs too much, while some just feel that they don't need it and can't see any advantages of it. Whereas some people in the world couldn't have the access to the internet even if they would want to because of the policy of the government. The best example why some people can't have an access to the internet because of the policy of the government is North Korea. It's probably the most isolated country in the world because there is no broadband data network or in other words, the internet therefore citizens can't access news from the world and don't know anything about the world except what government what them to know. I think it's bad because people no matter where people live or who they are have should have rights to access reliable information and news from all over the world.
Some people in democratic countries, such as Great Britain don't have an access to the internet because of many number of reasons. A survey made in 2008 shows that most families don't have it because they just don't need it and don't feel demand of it; others said that it costs too much; and another group of correspondents said that they just don't have skills for using the internet. Nowadays when usage of electronic information is so important, people who don't have an access to the internet suffer in many ways e.g. getting worse insurance and loan deals, getting paid less for not having skills to use the internet. If we believe BBC, last year insurance was 355% more expensive to buy in person than on the internet. So people who can't afford having the internet because it's too expensive for them have to pay more than those who can have an access to the internet, which means that they probably earn more as well. Also for those who don't have an access to the internet is sometimes harder to find a job than for those who have an access to the internet because most employers nowadays are looking for new workers through the internet. However, number of families who have an access to the internet in their homes is becoming progressively larger. According to statistics.gov.uk, last year 75% of all families in the UK had an access to the internet
Summary
Electronic information such as the internet is getting more and more significant in many peoples' lives. Sometimes it's helpful because people save money and time using the internet instead of traditional paper-based information sources. However, there are still many people who have no access to the internet which makes them suffer.
Bibliography
Books: GCE AS level for OCR Applied ICT – Series Editor K. Mary Reid- Heinemann – 2005
Internet Sites:
-Statistics of internet usage, statistics about on-line shopping in the UK
-Reasons why some people don't want to or can't have access to the internet. Statistics of internet usage in the UK (2008)
- Amazon sold more e-books than paper books on Christmas day.
- Video conferencing gains as travel costs raise.
-Much more expensive insurance when buying in person instead of using the internet.
-Statistics of internet usage in 2009/2010
-North Korea is the most isolated country in the world.
