Society has reaped many benefits from using computers. A user is anyone who communicates with a computer or utilizes the information it generates. Both business and home users can make well-informed decisions because they have instant access to information from anywhere in the world. Students, another type of user, have more tools to assist them in the learning process.
Advantages of Using Computers
Benefits from using computers are possible because computers have the advantages of speed, reliability, consistency, storage, and communications.- Speed: When data, instructions, and information flow along electronic circuits in a computer, they travel at incredibly fast speeds. Many computers process billions or trillions of operations in a single second. Processing involves computing (e.g., adding, subtracting), sorting (e.g., alpha betizing), organizing, displaying images, recording audio, playing music, and showing a movie or video.
- Reliability: The electronic components in modern computers are dependable and reliable because they rarely break or fail.
- Consistency: Given the same input and processes, a computer will produce the same results — consistently. A computing phrase — known as garbage in, garbage out — points out that the accuracy of a computer’s output depends on the accuracy of the input. For example, if you do not use the flash on a digital camera when indoors, the resulting pictures that are displayed on the computer screen may be unusable because they are too dark.
- Storage: A computer can transfer data quickly from storage to memory, process it, and then store it again for future use. Many computers store enormous amounts of data and make this data available for processing anytime it is needed.
- Communications: Most computers today can communicate with other computers, often wirelessly. Computers with this capability can share any of the four infor ma tion processing cycle operations — input, process, output, and storage — with another computer or a user.
Disadvantages of Using Computers
Some disadvantages of computers relate to health risks, the violation of privacy, publicsafety, the impact on the labor force, and the impact on the environment.
- • Health Risks: Prolonged or improper computer use can lead to injuries or disorders of the hands, wrists, elbows, eyes, neck, and back. Computer users can protect themselves from these health risks through proper workplace design, good posture while at the computer, and appropriately spaced work breaks. Two behavioral health risks are computer addiction and technology overload. Computer addiction occurs when someone becomes obsessed with using a computer. Individuals suffering from technology overload feel distressed when deprived of computers and mobile devices. Once recognized, both computer addiction and technology overload are treatable disorders. Read Ethics & Issues 1-1 for a related discussion.
- Violation of Privacy: Nearly every life event is stored in a computer somewhere . . . in medical records, credit reports, tax records, etc. In many instances, where personal and confidential records were not protected properly, individuals have found their privacy violated and identities stolen.
- Public Safety: Adults, teens, and children around the world are using computers to share publicly their photos, videos, journals, music, and other personal information. Some of these unsuspecting, innocent computer users have fallen victim to crimes committed by dangerous strangers. Protect yourself and your dependents from these criminals by being cautious in e-mail messages and on Web sites. For example, do not share information that would allow others to identify or locate you and do not disclose identification numbers, passwords, or other personal security details.
- Impact on Labor Force: Although computers have improved productivity in many ways and created an entire industry with hundreds of thousands of new jobs, the skills of millions of employees have been replaced by computers. Thus, it is crucial that workers keep their education up-to-date. A separate impact on the labor force is that some com panies are outsourcing jobs to foreign countries instead of keeping their homeland labor force employed.
- Impact on Environment: Computer manufacturing processes and computer waste are depleting natural resources and polluting the environment. When computers are discarded in landfills, they can release toxic materials and potentially dangerous levels of lead, mercury, and flame retardants. Green computing involves reducing the electricity consumed and environmental waste generated when using a computer. Strategies that support green computing include recycling, regulating manufacturing processes, extending the life of computers, and immediately donating or properly disposing of replaced computers. When you purchase a new computer, some retailers offer to dispose of your old computer properly.
