The Impact of Communication Technology

1
The Impact of Communication Technology

• Part 2

2
Economic Impact

• Today, businesses rely on computers, high tech
  telephones, fax machines and local area computer
  networks. These systems have a real effect on our
  economy.
• With global communication comes a global economy.
  Things that happen this morning in New York can
  affect business in Tokyo, thousands of miles
  away, a few hours later.

3
Economic Impact

• Communication technologies are also moving us
  from a production economy to a service economy.
  Instead of building things in a factory, more and
  more people are performing services.
• Technologies make factories more efficient and
  they require less people to work in them.

4
Economic Impact Use of Credit

• Many people live on credit. Many people spend
  more than they earn. Unlike people of the past,
  they are unwilling or unable to save for what
  they want.
• Do you think that high speed communications may
  be a part of the reason people seem to want
  everything right away?
• What about TV advertising. Everyday we watch
  while hundreds of commercials urge us to buy,
  buy, buy.
• Does TV affect our spending habits?

5
Environmental Impact

• Communication tends to be clean technology.
• Compared to smokestack industries like steel
  production, communication industries are easier
  on our environment.

6
Environmental Impact - Downside

• People thought that computers would allow us to
  have a paperless office of the future.
• Computers and photocopiers generate more paper
  copies than ever before.
• When we harvest trees and use energy to produce
  paper, we make an impact on the environment.

7
Cultural Impact

• Many people believe television has made us a less
  literate society than we were a generation or two
  ago.
• People who are literate are able to read and
  write well.
• School test scores have declined.
• Could that be because we read less and watch
  television more?

8
Cultural Impact The Video Revolution

• Many television shows change scenes or images
  every couple of seconds. Something seems to be
  happening constantly.
• We have come to expect this constant action or we
  are bored.
• Many teachers report short attention spans among
  todays students.
• Is television to blame for this?

9
Cultural Impact - Violence

• What about our attitude toward violence?
• Have they changed because of television?
• When we constantly see violent movies and violent
  stories on the evening news, does it desensitize
  us toward violence?

10
Cultural Impacts - Advertising

• Shopping has become a national pastime.
• Instead of spending Sundays going to museums or
  visiting, many families wander around shopping
  malls.
• Do you think the constant advertising on
  television might have something to do with this?

11
Ethical Issues

• Ethical concerns have to do with matters of right
  and wrong.
• Things that are unethical may not necessarily be
  against the law, however, most people agree that
  they are wrong.
• New developments in communication bring with them
  some ethical problems that did not exist before.

12
Digital Editing

• One of the things about digital files is that
  they can be changed very easily.
• This process is called digital editing.
• While digital editing makes many tasks much
  simpler, it may also be used for questionable
  purposes.

13
Digital Editing - Continued

• Photographers pictures can be altered with
  digital editing systems with a few keystrokes,
  often by someone other than the photographer.
• The question is, what rights do photographers
  have regarding their pictures?
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• Digital sound editing enables an audio technician
  to alter the voice of a singer or the sound of an
  instrument. They can make anyone sound good
  singing. Is this right?

14
Data Security

• The ability for programmers to alter software
  creates a problem known as data security.
• When should a programmer be allowed to alter
  software developed by someone else?
• Who should be allowed to access data stored by a
  computer.
• When should software be copy protected so it may
  not be easily duplicated?
• Should companies that purchase software allow
  employees to make a copy for home use?

15
Computer Viruses

• In the late 1980s, computer viruses became a
  major data security issue.
• A computer virus is a program hidden within
  another program.
• When that program is loaded into the computer,
  the virus copies itself onto floppy or hard disks
  that are run on that computer.

16
Computer Viruses Continued

• Sometimes the viruses are meant to be harmless.
  Example just taking up space or making the
  computer run slowly.
• Others may display a graphic or message on the
  monitor.
• Some viruses are written to destroy data in the
  computers they infect. They can completely wipe
  out large databases and destroy years of work.

17
Ethical Questions

• Some people have predicted that a virus could
  bring our country to its knees if it infected key
  databases.
• Others have suggested that it is now easy to
  fix an election since voting results are
  handled by a small number of computers.
• All these legal and ethical questions must be
  answered.