The internet has opened up cheap and plentiful data for anyone to access. The group of people who benefit most from this are students. If a child wants to find anything out, it is just a short sentence in a search engine away. On one hand this allows for unlimited further research and revision, while sites like BBC bitesize summarize the course and use the multimedia capabilities of computers to create interactive and engaging ways of teaching.
There are substantial downsides however. It is possible for a student to completely plagirise a report or essay and computer assisted cheating in the U.K has gotten to the point that all coursework must now be supervised in lesson, heavily impacting on their education.
Furthermore, not all sources are reliable and the ability to upload anything, factually correct or wrong, means much misinformation exists. On the other hand, this problem has almost solved itself, the universal problem created a massive hole in the market that was just waiting to be filled.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, internet encyclopaedia that is published in numerous languages. Unlike it's competitors the entire site is completely written and voluntarily donated by users on the internet. It doesn't contain any adverts either, but maintains itself via contributions from the general public. It currently has 16 million articles (3.4 million in English) and is ranked 7th in the world (Wikipedia 2010).
The benefits of the site are it's pleasant aesthetics, a minimalist white and blue colour scheme uninterrupted by any adverts and a universal structure to it's articles, which modifies slightly when appropriate, but ultimately makes for easy navigation. To the left is a helpful navigation bar that takes the user to any of the pages from where they are, contains functions such as print and edit and also directs to foreign translations of the page you are currently on. The top right has a search bar and complementary information about the page, such as sources of the site, history of creation and a forum where authors collaborate. The page starts with an introduction that summarises the entire article and usually contains a definition. To the right of this is an embedded box containing key statistics and facts and below the introduction is a contents box hyperlinked to the appropriate section. The entire article is fitted to one page, making navigation, searching and reading much easier. Coupled with the, typically, very in depth information and sheer amount of articles, compared to the alternatives of compiling information for yourself from various sources on the internet or paying for the right to use other services, Wikipedia places itself as the premier source of information and it's traffic and cultural influence certainly reinforce this.
It is not without it's flaws however. Critics accuse the site of bias, inconsistencies, weakness to vandalism and over dependence on cultural impact. While these complaints are true and evidence of these can easily be found or created, there are substantial counter-arguments. First of all, such problems are impossible to irridicate when creation is left in the hands of the public. Furthermore, a report in prestigous scientific journal Nature found that EncyclopaediaBritannica, the closed, professionally written competitor, suffered many of the same problems. Also the vandalism rarely lasts, new additions are alerted to the original authors, who are typically in the place to analyse and be critical, with obvious slurs rarely lasting more than a week on even the most obscure of topics. (Wikipedia, 2010)
The major problem is the quality can lead to laziness on the users part, completely forgetting to look for information on any other sources. Another downside is that the site has become attributed to these lazy people, and higher academic bodies can have a prejudice against it's use for finding factual information, despite all the reasons that make this generally inaccurate.
More than anything, Wikipedia can be seen to a testament of man's thirst for knowledge and desire to share facts and resources, as well as it's inherent need to destroy and slur.Working Style
GPS' (global positioning system) are normally small hardware devices put inside the front cabin of vehicles to be viewed by the driver. It assists them in finding destinations by displaying a map centralised to your current position and verbally telling the driver when and where to turn. The gadget is in contact with between 24 and 32 satellites, which determines the machines location, direction and speed (Wikipedia, 2010). It has the capacity to find routes between two given locations and acknowledge closed roads and speed cameras in it's calculations. Compared to the common alternative, physical maps, a GPS is superior in many ways. Firstly it is smaller while being considerably more in depth, effectively covering the whole planet. Secondly, the act of reading a map is trickier as it requires the driver to stop and find there position, and then calculate a route for themselves with inferior information. Then they must keep checking this route and turning the page while driving, which is dangerous.
The benefit to business is that transport, one of the primary factors in most industries, is made more efficient. Also it requires drivers to be less skilled as they do not need to already have a good grasp of the countries road networks to be good at their jobs. For civilians it is equally helpful for the same reasons.
Today GPS are not just found in standalone devices, but have also migrated to laptops and mobile phones.
The downsides are that a signal is not always available if a satellite is not overhead, though the progression of technology has minimised problems. Dependance on the technology makes this a greater problem as overuse leaves the driver less experienced at finding the location for themselves. More often the route finding can choose a terrible path to take, and if the driver is unaware of this they can end up a long way from their destination, late or lost.
Commerce
EPoS (Electronic Point of Sale) refers to checkout counters in physical brick stores that aids in calculating the cost of the customers purchases. Almost universally a barcode system is used. They work by representing data through the width and spacing of printed lines, though in some exceptions they also come in patterns of squares, dots, hexagons and other geometric patterns. When they are placed in front of an optical scanner, called a barcode reader, they can draw from this the price and name of the item. This system is almost universally used in all stores, this is because it improves efficiency dramatically. A checkout worker doesn't need to spend time looking for prices, typing into a checkout machine, meaning they need less training and can work faster. To print a barcode cost 0.5¢ (US) which is almost a negligible cost. The practice has become so widespread omitting this small cost would put off markets purchasing. While some stores don't implement the system it is simply because they don't need to or can't. For example, a small newspaper shop has no need to buy expensive technology because they don't have the large demand and pricing for goods is often decided by the shopkeeper, implementing a barcode system would limit his price flexibility. Also, in a restaurant, it is not practical to print a barcode on a plate. In large restaurants that quickly scan food, like fast food emporiums or canteens, they might instead use a computer with a list of foods and select the foods, allowing the machine to recall the price and work out the total. This has all the benefits of the barcode system but uses a human to scan the item and input the data instead.
In addition to the barcode reader, EPoS usually have something of basic computer to help. On these machines simple functions like delete mis-scanned items, call for assistance and view offers is available. In supermarkets they are also often linked to a set of scales to weigh goods such as fruits and vegetables. When the cashier tells the machine what kind of good was scanned it automatically calculates the cost of the item, again improving efficiency.
Today EPoS have evolved further, self service tills are continuing to crop up in supermarkets. Effectively the customers replace the cashier scanning and bagging the good themselves. This reduces the cost of manual labour and because people with few items are encouraged to use the service, reducing queues. In effect though, the machine can be complicated to use, especially for more technologically illiterate people like the elderly, though the common alternative remains for their use. It can also increase the chance of shop lifting so a guard is usually posted to watch over the machines, however because he watch over multiple machines the net labour cost is reduced, though this only reduces the chance of theft instead of eliminating it. Finally exposure to public makes the risks of the expensive technology being damaged and broken over time drastically greater.
Another advancement in EPoS technology is linking the customers shop to a digital account.
EPoS (Electronic Point of Sale) refers to checkout counters in physical brick stores that aids in calculating the cost of the customers purchases. Almost universally a barcode system is used. They work by representing data through the width and spacing of printed lines, though in some exceptions they also come in patterns of squares, dots, hexagons and other geometric patterns. When they are placed in front of an optical scanner, called a barcode reader, they can draw from this the price and name of the item. This system is almost universally used in all stores, this is because it improves efficiency dramatically. A checkout worker doesn't need to spend time looking for prices, typing into a checkout machine, meaning they need less training and can work faster. To print a barcode cost 0.5¢ (US) which is almost a negligible cost. The practice has become so widespread omitting this small cost would put off markets purchasing. While some stores don't implement the system it is simply because they don't need to or can't. For example, a small newspaper shop has no need to buy expensive technology because they don't have the large demand and pricing for goods is often decided by the shopkeeper, implementing a barcode system would limit his price flexibility. Also, in a restaurant, it is not practical to print a barcode on a plate. In large restaurants that quickly scan food, like fast food emporiums or canteens, they might instead use a computer with a list of foods and select the foods, allowing the machine to recall the price and work out the total. This has all the benefits of the barcode system but uses a human to scan the item and input the data instead.
In addition to the barcode reader, EPoS usually have something of basic computer to help. On these machines simple functions like delete mis-scanned items, call for assistance and view offers is available. In supermarkets they are also often linked to a set of scales to weigh goods such as fruits and vegetables. When the cashier tells the machine what kind of good was scanned it automatically calculates the cost of the item, again improving efficiency.
Today EPoS have evolved further, self service tills are continuing to crop up in supermarkets. Effectively the customers replace the cashier scanning and bagging the good themselves. This reduces the cost of manual labour and because people with few items are encouraged to use the service, reducing queues. In effect though, the machine can be complicated to use, especially for more technologically illiterate people like the elderly, though the common alternative remains for their use. It can also increase the chance of shop lifting so a guard is usually posted to watch over the machines, however because he watch over multiple machines the net labour cost is reduced, though this only reduces the chance of theft instead of eliminating it. Finally exposure to public makes the risks of the expensive technology being damaged and broken over time drastically greater.
Another advancement in EPoS technology is linking the customers shop to a digital account.
Tesco Clubcard
Tesco is Britain’s leading supermarket retailer with a market share of about 30%. Originally just a reward scheme (a system that gives the customer discounts and offers depending on how often they use the store, designed to increase brand loyalty) in 2005 it evolved into a digital databank of customers information with data on what and when they bought, allowing for more targeted advertising. Today it is linked to their online retail website (www.tesco.com/groceries) that lets customers browse through the items they have previously bought. This improves the service by making shopping easier and therefore attracting more use.At the till all the customer needs to do is swipe a card or key fob and this data is then put on Tesco's database.
It has additional uses, for example Tesco encourages customers to re-use bags by rewarding them with "green" points, giving them access to better discounts.A new, better type of EPoS has been developed and may see widespread implementation. RFID tags (Radio Frequency Identification) hold data, but unlike barcodes do not need to be individually scanned. The benefits are obvious as this means a customer’s entire shop can be scanned and billed instantly. There are problems though. At the minute it is hard for the technology to differentiate between a trolley of goods and other items elsewhere and noticing faults is reduced, meaning the chances of being mis-billed is much greater. On top of this the chips need cost 0.8¢ (US) which is more expensive for the producer than barcodes. Finally, new scanners would need installing and the transition to the new system will be expensive and difficult. However if the faults are ironed out it is very likely we will see this technology more and more in the future because of the great advantages it brings.
Employment Opportunities
The automated workings and lack of physical space has made the internet an ideal space for posting, collating, viewing and organising data. For example, one area greatly aided by new technology is classified ads.
Craigslist
Craigslist is a website where people can submit adverts for free. The site works by organising the ads into types, with sections dedicated to jobs, housings, personals, sales, services, gigs, community events, resumes and a forum. The free cost of posting an ad and the wide amount of places it covers, 570 cities in 50 countries, means the service can provide thousands of oppurtunities for the people looking for them.
The digital format however allows for specific searches. This is vastly superior to the alternative of manually reading through papers. The ability to narrow down searches further by advanced filters means finding exactly what you are looking for is very easy.
However, the ease of posting ads and wide internet audience has led to many illegal practices being performed. Craigslist has always carried an "adult services" section. Initially, like the rest of the site, posting was unmoderated and free. After a torrent of alleged and proven illegal activity past this section Craigsilst faced alot of negative press, prosecution and general public pressure. Internationally this section now required a valid home address and phone number to prove posters identity, a small fee to cover costs and further identify, and review for decency by a payed moderation team.Monster
Monster is also an employment site, but differs from Craigslist in many fundamental ways. Wheras Craigslist is a buyers market, the worker browses through job listings, Monster is a sellers market. The user looking for employment uploads a CV which is forwarded to business based on proximity, suitable skills and the users preference. On top of what the job seeker would like the site has a "compatibility test" that lets the user know what kind of work fits them best. To help extensive aid in creating a CV is a available such as templates and a page on how to write it and what to insert. Furthermore tips are given on how to do the interview aswell as career advice.
Monster also allows the job seeker to browse vacancies and manually forward there CV. While being in exactly the same market as Craigslist the two companies are not really competitors. Both have found a gap in the market and capitalized, expanded and all encompassed their areas, in much the same fashion as other internet monopolies.Legislation and I.C.T
With the influx of new technology and abilities, the law has had to adjust in order to regulate, monitor, control and generally police the world of I.T. Legislation such as the Data Protection Acts (1984), Copyright, Designs and Patent Act (1998) and Computer Misuse Act (1990) set out to defend intellectual rights laying down the law on what is covered by copyright, individuals and business rights to privacy in addition to the punishment for breaching these laws.
On the other hand the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000) detail the boundaries which the state may access information, within this are included the right to demand private information for internet service providers and cooperation for surveillance. All these actions however must be approved by an acknowledged court of law before they may happen.
Finally the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) has been amended to include the effects of long periods of time being spent sitting at a desk and the effects of prolonged screen use. In effect it requires employers to act upon a set of technicalities such as suitable lighting, breaks, health checks and space. The point of this is purely to keep the health and well being of people well.
Crime
Computers, the internet in particular, have provided an entirely new platform for criminal activity. The anonymity and lack of physical involvement coupled with the difficulty of tracking and proving charges allows much contraband to make it's way online. Videos and photographs of illegal activities such as cruelty to animals and child pornography have long been a problem but the wanton disregard of copyright and intellectual property is the much more common form of illegal internet use
The Pirate Bay
A Swedish hosted index of BitTorrents ( a protocol for sharing large files) The Pirate Bay is the 89th most popular website in the world (Alexa, 2010). Simply put it is a search engine for free downloads of music, films, software, digital books and other media. Despite there clear illegal activities the site is still up and running. Four men who are responsible for running the site were sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of equivalent £2,600,000 in 2009 though are still appealing this case. The site has only been down twice and for no more than 3 days. Apart from it's resilient and popular what is most surprising is it's attitude. The domain name is a clear taunt to the authorities and in 2009 in response to director Christopher Nolan's public statements against the site they temporarily changed the name on the homepage to "The Pirate Bat" in acknowledgement of his recent film The Dark Knight, one of the films in the Batman cannon, that they had been mass distributing during it's theatrical release.
On top of the economic disadvantages piracy is also having a dramatic effect on art. For many bands it is becoming much harder to be signed to a recording label as the music industry becomes much less profitable.
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