Technology has helped in shaping both the business world and our society in general. Many fields have been impacted by technology including but not limited to education, health, entertainment and communication just to mention few. As the world develops, more technology will emerge, and this technology will have both a positive and a negative impact. Technology and human life cannot be separated; society has a cyclical co-dependence on technology. We use technology, depend on technology in our life and our needs and demands for technology keep on rising every day.
Positive Effects of Technologies
Improved entertainment. Technology has changed the entertainment industry. Now we have many options to choose from. You can have a playlist of 10,000 songs on your iPod or you can watch movie on the go with an iPod. The list is endless.
Improved innovation. Modern technologies have been prominent in job role creation and the emerging of technology-based companies. With access to a computer and the Internet, anyone can start a business while at home. Most successful technology-based ventures like Apple, Amazon or Facebook, to mention but a few, started from home but now they employ thousands of people.
Globalization of knowledge. Today you can use the Internet to get the latest news from any country around the globe. Services like Twitter have enabled people to become a journalist, so they report news on the instant by tweeting. Services like Wikipedia.org is well equipped with data on about anything, though not 100% always accurate.
Improved social discovery. Finding both old and new friends have become very simple. With social networks like Facebook and Twitter, you can easily keep up with all your old friends and also make new ones.
Improved communication. Electronic media such as radio, television, the Internet, and social media have improved the ways in which ideas are exchanged that can contribute to the development of our society. With the help of communication technologies such as telephones, video conferencing, email or instant messengers, to name but a few, the movement of information within an organization or business has become instantaneous.
Technology has created new methods of education. Use of educational video games and puzzles has increased student’s interest in learning. Basing on research, students enjoy learning with technology, many schools have started providing free Internet on the school campus, this helps students do research and learn on their own.
Online education has made educational material and data accessible anywhere. The use of Internet technology has opened institutional boundaries. Students from developing countries now have a chance to study their desired courses at a standard similar in some cases to first world education institutions. This type of education increases their likelihood of employment at international platform
Increase production and saves time. Businesses today more than ever use technology to automate tasks. A good example is a bakery which uses electronic temperature sensors to detect a drop or increase in room or oven temperature in a bakery. These sensors send information directly to the operator, reporting any temperature change. This temperature system saves the bakery time, and it also results in consistent higher quality products.
Improve financial management. Accounting software like Quick Books, Bookkeeper, Sage 50, and Account Edge perform various accounting tasks in a business. Business owners can easily balance their books with less experience in accounting because this software is well equipped with every tool needed in accounting.
Improve data storage, file management and data reporting/ analysis. Businesses use cloud hosting services to store and backup business data. Also, it saves on paperwork and makes transfer and access to data possible remotely. With services like dropbox.com business owners can access their data anytime anywhere. Additionally, databases today allow for greater correlation of information, analysis of this data relationship can encourage better and more informed decision making, resulting in potential growth.
Improves business competitive advantage. Companies have used technology to gain the competitive advantage over their competitors. Businesses that innovate and adopt technology to remain efficient and improve processes, typically have high customer loyalty rates. As they can consistently meet and exceed expectations of their customers.
Credit cards and smartcards make payment safer. Buying and selling of goods and services have become simple because of these smart cards. A user can go to a merchant’s website and make an order using their smart card or credit card. The money is transferred from the consumers account to the merchant’s account in seconds, and then the merchant delivers the item to the consumer’s address. This transaction saves time for both parties and is often safer, as companies like PayPal allow for buy protection and refunds.
Electronic bill presentation and payment (EBPP). Systems send us bills over the Internet giving us an easy convenient way to pay. No more paper bills in the mail.
Online banking/ convenient payments. Many banks have integrated advanced information technology systems to improve their customer service. Today, it is effortless to withdraw money or make a purchase using a credit card or smartphone with a simple tap. This saves customers from wasting time lining up in banks or from carrying a lot of cash.
Fast credit. The technology used in banks helps in the gathering of financial details and credit scores about each customer, the information gathered can be used when a customer applies for credit in that bank.
Artificial intelligence. AI has upgraded human in his natural intelligence power and now even a high table can think, analyze and make sequence of the work to be done by the authority sitting on the table. There are various examples as such in the global world.
Negative Effects of Technology
Cyber-sickness. With the increased addiction to social networks and Internet games, people are spending more time on computers and reject their normal offline life, resulting in increased isolation and social.
Poor quality publications online. Many online publishers post content for monetary purposes, so you may find that most the content published online is not accurate or well detailed to help students and researchers.
Over-dependence on information. Students no longer take time to solve equations and research topics. All they do is a query in Google or on a calculator, poof the answer. Without these devices, they would not know how to achieve the same results in a library or on paper.
Job exclusion. Technology has replaced many positions humans used to occupy. Software is now doing complete accounting, so trained accountants have fewer opportunities; robots can cut the lawn or clean the pools, no need for a handyman.
Implementation expenses. Small businesses sometimes struggle to afford and maintain expensive core technology, so they end up losing their clients to a company which has the capital and resources necessary to compete in the industry.
Security breaches. Since businesses store their data on remote cloud servers which can be accessed online with a username and password, they risk potentially losing that data to hackers or viruses.
Faulty products and duplication. In some cases, auction websites have products that are not original, so a user can bid on a shoe thinking it is original, upon delivery, they discover that the shoe is fake and it does not meet your expectation.
Internet security issues. For the merchant to process an order online, a consumer has to provide their financial details. Experienced hackers can use this loophole to channel this information and use it for their own needs.
Privacy. E-commerce websites collect personal data using cookies to know more about us and suggest products based on that information. Initially, data was collected without any notice, now most websites declare they intend to collect your information.
Money laundering. Cases of online money laundering are on the rise, and this has exposed many online users to the predators.
Security. Banking security has improved significantly, however, so has hacking expertise. If your information is connected to the Internet, there is always the possibility it may get hacked.
Conclusion
Technology has greatly helped us to become more efficient thus increasing our productivity. It has also helped us a great deal to be able to save on many resources such as time and money and these are great benefits that cannot be ignored. It has also worked well in bringing unity into the world by turning it into a global village which has in turn helped people to more easily overcome their cultural, racial and continental barriers. Research shows that the correct use of modern technologies requires a comprehensive understanding to the reality of change that happens to the community. Thus, this requires concerted efforts through full cooperation among all sectors of society, from family to government institutions, along with the presence of useful awareness programs supervised by these institutions and pursued by the family to utilize the modern technologies accurately in order to ensure and protect the future generations. It is obvious that modern technologies can be a double-edged weapon. They have their advantages, but with many inventions, they can completely change our lives, for better or worse. As a result, we must work for the interest of social connection to preserve people's feelings towards each other away from the addiction to technology.
References
Bosamia, Mansi. (2013). Positive and Negative Impacts of Information and Communication Technology in our Everyday Life. The Impact of Information Technology on Work and society.
Danis C. M., Ellis J.B, Kellogg W. A. et al (2011) Mobile Phones for Health Education in the Developing World SMS as a User Interface. ACM DEV.
Hanafizadeh, Payam & Ghandchi, Samira & Asgarimehr, Masoud. (2017). Impact of Information Technology on Lifestyle: A Literature Review and Classification. International Journal of Virtual Communities and Social Networking. 9. 1-23. 10.4018/IJVCSN.201704010
Rosen, Bernard Carl. Winners and Losers of the Information Revolution: Psychosocial Change and its Discontents. U.S.A.: Praeger Publishers, 1998.
Rosenberg, Richard. The Social Impact of Computers. Oxford: Elsevier Academic Press, 2004.
Sagarmay Deb (2014, 4(1): 25-29) Advances in Computing, Central Queensland University Impact of IT on society.
Schaffhauser, Dian. 2009. 'Which Came First--The Technology or the Pedagogy?' T.H.E. Journal 36, no. 8: 27-32.
Star, Susan Leigh. The Cultures of Computing: Issue 42. Blackwell Publisher, 1995. Tobin, K. “The Role of Wait Time in Higher Cognitive Level Learning”, Review of Educational Research, 57, 69-95.