Lives Through The Advances In Computer Technology example essay topic

Computer Technology and its Impact on Society By Julie A. Rodgers, For The Paper Store - July 1999 VISIT web - for more information on using this paper properly! Most of us are benefiting a great deal from the technological advances being made in the computer and industry. Even the writing of this paper would not be possible, or as probable, without the computer technology that is available today. From our automobiles to airplanes, from our employment to our vacations, nearly everything we do is linked somehow to a computer and the advancements made in the computer industry.

But this does not necessarily make the technological growth of computers a good thing for society in general. While it has certainly given us a great deal of benefits that are incredibly important, such as life saving devices, it has also driven us further and further away from living our lives as human beings, in the purest sense of the meaning. We are moving further and further away from understanding what it is to be human and what it is to work and think independently from technology. This is not necessarily a good thing. Back in the earlier days f the computer, we were truly thrilled with it. Even as short a time ago as the late 1980's, we were still unsure of what it was capable of: The advent of the microcomputer has already had a significant impact on society, but it will be during the decade of the 1990's that a lasting impression will be made.

Computer technology took us to the moon in the 1960's, gave us credit cards in the 1970's, and automated teller machines and lotteries in the 1980's. Now, at the beginning of the 1990's, computer technology is strategic all nonexpendable in the corporate world. The computers that affect the world today are still mostly mainframes and minicomputers, but within the next decade the influence of computing technology will be determined by the microcomputer (Helliwell 16). Much has changed, and not necessarily for the better. In examining what damage the computer has done, or is capable of doing, we illustrate a science fiction scenario. We are all familiar with stories of civilizations, far in the future, that have incredible amounts of technology at their fingertips.

But in these science fiction scenarios, we also find that the societies who have this technology are living off another's design and they know little, if anything, about how to operate the system. They merely enjoy the benefits and live on in ignorance. Suddenly this society must face a dilemma when the technology is breaking down, and they do not understand it enough to fix it. They have lost the knowledge. While this may seem like a far fetched tale, it is clearly what many of us are becoming. Technology, and more importantly, computer technology, has given us a great deal of benefits over the relatively short span of its life thus far.

We are now communicating with people, and nations, in ways never dreamed of. The planet is becoming more and more unified in many ways, all due to the computer and computer technology. Hospitals and the health industry have obtained the capability to help many more people and save more lives, through the advances in computer technology. People are able to work at home more now, than they have in years, due to the communication abilities made possible by the computer, an issue which may well help many family structures in the country.

But, despite all of the great advances that have been made with computers, the disadvantages may well, far outweigh the advantages, merely because too many people are ignorant and essentially go with the flow, never once examining their lives in relationship to whether computers have helped them or harmed them. To start with, people rely far too much on computers, much like the science fiction scenario. For example, when making flight reservations, and even when taking a flight, we do not stop and consider the fact that we are literally putting our lives in the hands of a computer. When computers were relatively new, there were numerous times when nuclear war between Russia and the United States was almost a reality due to a malfunction of a computer. When we turn on our lights, turn on our water, pay any bills, or pay for anything at the store, we are relying on computers. What happens if one machine fails A simple inconvenience can put us in a situation where we are literally lost as to what to do.

For example, recently in the grocery store, which is in the town this writer lives in, was out of milk due to a failure in power and computer communications at a dairy. How many people were without milk for a day Did it make any of those people stop and think about how reliant they have become on computers and computer technology Probably not, and if so, it probably only lasted for the day they had no milk. We are becoming a people that do not know how to live or survive without technology, much less computer technology. Computers, and home computers, are becoming more and more widely used, obviously making a big change in many peoples lives. For example, our children now have access to the entire country, including many people and pieces of information that they may well not be ready for. How many talk shows have we seen, or heard about, where they talk of young girls being lied to and lured away by someone they met on the internet How many people do we personally know who have been influenced one way or another by the internet and people they have met on the internet Our society is changing, and in many ways, aside from reliance and human survival basics, we are becoming a very new race of humans here in this country.

One of the biggest complaints, in relationship to the Internet, has been pornography. While many of these people who are complaining about it are essentially people who would like to thwart our rights as Americans, there is a great deal of negativity attached to the reality of pornography on the Internet. Pornography has been proven to boost the violent level of men with any tendency for such behavior, and it has been proven to instigate incidents of sexual harassment, even among the so-called enlightened college group. It is available, in the privacy of ones own home, with the use of the computer.

It is relatively free, and allows the viewer total anonymity. In addition to pornography, there is also a very new trend taking place, which has a sexual nature, in relationship to the internet. This is what is know as cybersex. marriages and otherwise normal relationships, have been destroyed due to the fact that people can sign on the computer and have cybersex (written computer communication) with complete strangers. If you go into any chat room on the internet you will find people asking for cybersex or talking about sex in general.

While this is not necessarily a bad thing in itself, ensuring many people are having the safest sex they can, it is also an indicator of where this society is going in general, when it comes to the computer. Not only do we rely on it, but what we have a tendency to use it for is secretive actions that we would not normally involve ourselves in. In some ways, it brings out the worst side of people, for they can be as deceptive and unrealistic as they want. But the problem remains that while advances in technology have changed this country from a stable agricultural and commercial society to a modern industrial society and although some of the changes have not been good, few people would want to resign themselves to the limitations of the old days (Brooks 96). There is, undoubtedly, a great deal to be gained from the computer and the computer industry, but the problem is with the people as a whole. Most people are not looking at the computer as a tool, but rather a complete way of life that helps them escape from reality and from real knowledge and real work.

Morris states that this is even the case with education and our children: But society must be wary of trusting a substantial amount of the education of its children to sophisticated machines and technological innovations (11). The point is, computers are not bad, nor are they negative, just like many other objects in our material world are not bad or negative. It is all in how we use them and how we rely on them that makes a situation or reality a negative one. There are, as mentioned, many ways in which computers have helped our society, but if we continue in our ignorance, we may find that we have lost all we have to the world of computers.

Bibliography

Brooks, Doug. Technology keeps the U.S. moving at full throttle. (column)., Government Computer News, (1988): October, vs.
7 n 22, pp. 96 (1). Helliwell, John. Waiting for the true impact of PCs on society. (The Hard Edge) (column)., PC Week, (1989): December, vs.
6 n 51, pp. 16 (1). Morris, James M... The human touch. (computer information technology and education)., The Wilson Quarterly, (1998): Autumn, vs.