What electronic information do I access and what impact has this had on my life
Personally the internet plays a huge part in my life and I use it frequently everyday where ever I am. When at home I will be on my laptop where I can talk to my friends through social networking site like Facebook. I also shop for cloths DVDs and anything that I might need to get for birthdays of Christmas presents. The internet also provides me with very useful resources for school work and when it comes to exams I personally use YouTube to revise as people and teachers post videos which are easy to understand and can be replayed whenever you are ready. However most people will use sites such as BBC bite size which gives you lots of information and useful links. Also when I am at home I use the internet whilst gaming on my games console, with the internet I can play and talk to all of my friends who are online. With a new mobile phone I can do most of this on my phone through 3G internet which means I can talk to my friends and go online to see videos or event details where ever I can get connection.
There are also many negative effects of the internet such as viruses, security and privacy. The internet can be a very dangerous place however with new antivirus software and firewalls I have not personally been majorly affected by any of these problems.
Effects of Availability of Electronic Information in the Household
Having the internet at home is now common thing. More than 60 per cent of UK households now have access to the Internet from home. Instead of reading textbooks and newspapers , or asking their parents, children now look things up on the internet to help them with their homework. This isn’t necessarily such a good thing, it opens up the possibility of plagiarism and some people argue that by manually looking in a textbook you learn more.
However the internet at home is not always bad, when used in the correct way. I find it very useful when doing research. It is also cheaper than buying textbooks and a lot faster than flicking through them. Many adults also find the internet very useful as there are now facilities that allow you to sort out your finances online, book holidays, track people and do most of your day to day shopping.
Effects of Availability of Electronic Information on My family
In past years the internet has had a huge impact on my family’s lives and other families throughout the world. One of the biggest impact it has had on my family is through internet sites such as Facebook and software such as Windows Live Messenger, which allow easy communication on a daily basis wherever they may be, allowing such communication with family in this way will decrease the use of phones and letters which in turn could save money. However recently advances in mobile phone technology have allowed me and others to do all of this on their mobile phones with wireless capabilities it can cost no more than doing it on the computer.
The internet supplies families with a new means of communication through the sharing of not only general information but photos, videos etc. My family uses the internet for online shopping, more than going into town, especially for birthdays and Christmas as it supplies items for a cheaper price and saves a lot of time, as opposed to going buying all your presents in shops. Sites like Amazon allow you to buy all your gifts in one place and most major retailers have their own personal section were you can purchase their goods. Online banking is another impact on my family’s life, as all of us are able to see our details and make payments online. My family also uses the internet and electronic information to do such things as booking holidays, booking tickets and general research (family tree etc.)
Even though my parents are frequent users of the internet they also see bad points to having the access to sites like Facebook etc. As people don’t have to go out anymore we as a family are becoming much lazier.
However I think that overall it has had a positive impact my family as it has aided them in important areas in life such as shopping and banking.
Effects of Availability of Electronic Information on Businesses
ICT has removed boring repetitive manual tasks in businesses because machinery is being used far more often. Jobs can be applied for online. Software can be shared remotely over the Internet, as well as documents and files. Shares can be also monitored, bought and sold over the Internet. New jobs have been created due to I.T such as call centres that solve your computing problems over the phone.
Also many people use their credit cards and other such cards to do their shopping. They can do this because of the communications between the shops and banks that allow the shops to take money out of your bank remotely to pay for products you purchase through the online shopping service.
With applications such as “video conferencing”, companies can interact with each other from thousands of miles away. Employees will not have to travel to other countries to discuss business ventures, but can do so via a video link. This cuts down costs for the company.
Effects on those who do not have or want access to ICT
Many people now rely on the internet and regard it as vital to their everyday life. They find it hard to believe that some may not have access to the internet and may not want it. 72 percent of people that do not currently have access to the internet said that will not want it within the next year. But are these people at a disadvantage? With an increase of internet based information such as product recall, there is a risk that those without the internet will miss out on important information. For example important information about benefits and different schemes in place to help people in financial difficulty is stored on the internet, when those that need this information are the same people that cannot afford computers. Many utility companies and shops have discounted internet prices that those without the internet miss out on.
Currently there is a great push to enable more people to access the internet whether it be at home, school, work, the library, or an internet café. Within the next few decades more and more sources of information and communication will be internet based. For example channel four has recently launched an internet TV service, MSN and Apple are just two providers of internet radio, and several sites like Bebo, support Skype (an online telephone/video service).
There are however two sides to the coin, many people seem to forget that even though the internet and other electronic information helps us enormously with day to day life, there was and still is an entire generation that do not and never will use the internet but seem to get along just fine.
Bibliography
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