Effects of Computer Society Essay

Traditionally, courses that megabucks with data processors and society issues focus primarily on enumerating the various ways in which ready reckoners impact society. This is done by listing categories of topics such as privacy, ready reckoners in medicine, military uses of reckoners, etc. Classic cases of computer abuse or errant governances ar typically described in detail, as a way of simply making students more aw be of how computers affect society.These examples are meant to assist as warnings to future professionals, in the hopes that they will practice their profession with great care. What is missing from these discussions, however, iswhycomputers have the impact they do on society. What are the characteristics that are the root of this impact? Are there fundamental differences in the midst of this technology and others that have trans tiered our world in the past?The tone of developing a list of these characteristics is that it could lead to a wear ground of the nature of the complaisant impact of computers. In this way, it might be achievable to examine a new computer project at the fourth dimension of itsdesign(not, as is the usual case, a long time by and by the project has been implemented and disseminated) to determine its potential impacts as a social change agent. The characteristics given below are not necessarily unequalled to computer technology.However, in legion(predicate) instances computers have created situations that were precedingly impossible to follow out (such as space flight), were essentially inconceivable until the technology was applied, or at to the lowest degree were very difficult to achieve without the aid of computer technology. Furthermore, flat though other technologies may have had impacts similar to computers in m any ways, computer technology has greatly amplified their effectuate to the point of only when overshadowing any previous technologys impact.Finally, the termcomputer technologyis me ant to be inclusive of any device that is essentially controlled by a canonical computer (CPU, program, etc. ). This would include, therefore, modern telephones, VCRs, microwave ovens, CAT scanners, supermarket scanners, and the like. The following are in no discloseicular order. Also, some devices or examples are in all probability to fit into more than one of the categories below (1) Ubiquity It is perhaps stating the patent that computers appear to be eachwhere today.Even when we dont materialise them directly in their various forms of modern convenience devices, such as digital watches, microwave ovens, VCRs, and the like, we generate transactions that are processed via computers without actively doing anything the utility companies are recording our usage, the phone company records incoming calls, our respondent machine might be recording a message speckle we are doing something else, someone is performing a credit check on us, etc. (2) Magnification Computers tend to ward magnification in several contrary ways.First, the explosion of the availability of tuition is due in large part to the computers ability to generate, collect, and store an ever increasing fare of raw data. Since the ability to create and collect data is growing exponentially, so too is the generation of information that can be synthesized from this data. Second, the types of negative impacts a single error can have has grown enormously with computer technology. Finally, the number of people directly affected by a outline error has as well grown enormously, to where a single software system literally can affect millions directly. 3) Accessibility Access to information continues to accession at hard to believe speeds.Many information resources are addressable only in digital form, via, for instance, the Internet. As more information is converted to digital form (e. g. voice and video), the ability to duplicate and distribute such information increases enormously. Indeed, there are some forms of publishing that can know only within the context of a computer system. The concept of hypertext and interactive multimedia system (including audio and video), the ability to create non-linear accessibility to information, was conceived out of the ability to randomly access information via computers.Its increasing success easily shows how important information in a digital form has suffer already. (Oz, 1994). (5) Lack of accountability It has become a popular complaint that it is spawnting more and more difficult to locate a human organism who is willing to pack righteousness for an error made by a computerized system. While it is beguiling to blame such jobs on incompetent employees, in truth the problem may be a poor user interface, lack of training, or an error in the software, none of which can be solved by those providing the front-line value.Another difficulty is finding someone who will, indeed, fix an error in an account. It is a lot the ca se that service representatives are reluctant to accept the responsibility for making a necessary change. In increase, it can often be difficult to even find a human being to overcompensate with a problem. Getting lost in a voice-mail system has become a modern urban legend. (Nissenbaum, 1994). (6) Temporality Computers have several effects on time and the timeliness of information. It seems that computer technology is to blame in large part for the speed p of modern society everything has to get done faster, be there sooner, be available immediately. Another form of temporality in computer systems is that information can be bear over long periods of time, even when they appear to have been destroyed (consider the unpolluted case of Col. Oliver North). in that location is unforesightful reason that information should be entirely lost any more, even due to accident. And it is reasonable to suspect that every scrap of information generated today will be available closely fore ver.Another temporal shift for which computers have been responsible is that people who determine together do not necessarily have to do so at the same time. Finally, services and information are more frequently available on a 24-hour basis. This allows people to request a service or seek information when it fits their schedule, rather than when it fits the service providers schedule. (7) Spatiality Computers have done more to shorten outmatchs than any previous technology, even the supersonic jet. It is possible to send large amounts of data, messages, video, etc. close to anywhere in the world via networks such as Internet.Long distance learning, using information databases or video feeds of courses via satellite, is a reality for a growing portion of our modern society. We can now even be on the send away when we talk with someone on the phone, or drive a fax. (8) Surveillability Is there any doubt that computers have made care easier than at any time in history? In ass et to the usual surveillance equipment such as cameras and microphones, transactional data is increasingly being collected for virtually all types of transactions, even cash purchases and the acquisition of services.There has even been discussion by the government of using a cosmopolitan health card, which is seen by many a(prenominal) as the first step toward finalizing the move (begun with the co-opting of the social security number) in the US toward a national acknowledgment card. (9) Shifting of Relationships/Changes in Intercommunication Protocols One of the more difficult characteristics to track is how computer technology has changed communication between people and groups of people.In particular, the use of electronic mail has been shown to eliminate a lot of the usual visual and verbal cues we often use in communicating with one another (whch can be viewed as both an advantage and as a disadvantage). In addition to removing such cues, computer-mediated communications m ask attributes such as race, gender, age, or corporeal disability, in addition, perhaps, to the persons social or management term within an organization. (Grudin, 1994 Perrole, 1987). (10) Illusion of Precision It is not difficult to make many (perhaps even most) people who are not in the computer sphere believe that any numeric result generated by a computer is correct. Those not well versed in the hardware of computers have little understanding of the fact that numbers must be converted back up and forth between decimal and binary forms, or that there is a limitation on the accuracy of numbers due to memory constraints. As a result, they willingly accept values generated by a computer as infinitely accurate. (Liffick, 1985). ConclusionThe characteristics described above are factors in the social impact of computer technology. For most there is at least anecdotal evidence of their existence (with seemingly countless examples). For some, there is also experimental evidence. It ha s finally become widely accepted that technology is not value neutral, as originally thought. By examining this list and using it as a set of landmarks for evaluating new systems, it may be possible to better anticipate the social impact of new systems, prior to their dissemination.