By Dmitrijs and Ronan

Introduction

PCs and less complex computers have been used for almost a century now to perform computational tasks for humans at speeds a human can’t ever beat. The societal changes from these been significant from storing data and processing data, entertainment and replacing jobs. Computers keep getting better and with innovation in the future computers may be even more prevalent in our lives. 

The Question

What type of negative and positive effects have computers had on society?

Vocabulary

1. STEM Job

STEM jobs are occupations that require an education in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics disciplines

2. Hacker

computer hacker is a computer expert who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means.

3. Firmware

In computing, firmware is a specific class of computer software that provides the low-level control for a device’s specific hardware.

4. Malware

software that is specifically designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to a computer system.

5. Automation

Automation is the technology by which a process or procedure is performed with minimal human assistance.

Geography

Computers are a modern luxury and while in a developed country they are commonplace in poor countries computers are not commonplace. There are a multitude of obstacles like poverty and lack of infrastructure in the way for people in developing countries to use computers.

Positive Effects

Economic:

Computers can be programmed to allow humans to store and manipulate data like with visicalc which is the first electronic spreadsheet app made which along with other similar apps got rid of the dull routine tasks of accounting by hand. With the advent of computers came new jobs for creating software, firmware and hardware along with related jobs

Military:

Computers were invented for war and are still used in the various technologies that help with communications and training.

Social:

Computers allow for people to do many things like create and enjoy video games. Graphic software allows for artists to create videos, art, animation much faster and with more tools then by hand. Computers allow us to store data like pictures or books we like electronically in hardrives which are denser and safer then if it was a physical article.

Negative Effects

Economic:

Computers have allowed for many manual tasks to be completed much more efficiently and less human input however this has a downside. Many industries involving manual labor can be automated with computers programmed to perform tasks which takes jobs away from workers who might not be educated enough to transition to stem jobs.

Social:

There are numerous social issues that computers have created involving people’s private information which can be stolen. Identity theft is a serious crime that has affected many people and can damage someone’s future. Information can be stolen from scams or malware that can often be difficult to notice until it is too late. Computers can also be used to interact with other people and some of them are up to no good like predators and hackers.

Your Task

1. After viewing all the information above, answer the question by developing your own opinion on the effects computers have on society based on what you learned from this web quest
2. Describe the effects that computers have on your own life

Conclusion

In conclusion computers have not been around for that long and yet they still drastically change how we go about our lives for better or worse. its interesting to see how computers have changed the world and its also interesting to speculate on how it will change in the future. But one thing that is certain is that its very unlikely that computers will stop existing and its important that we be smart about how we integrate computers into our world in the future.

Sources

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Cassel, David. “How VisiCalc’s Spreadsheets Changed the World.” The New Stack, 2 June 2019, thenewstack.io/how-visicalcs-spreadsheets-changed-the-world/.

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“Robots ‘to Replace up to 20 Million Factory Jobs’ by 2030.” BBC News, BBC, 26 June 2019, http://www.bbc.com/news/business-48760799.

Stephrobenson, ~. “The Mechanical Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Revolution.” Hddworld, 10 Apr. 2016, hddworld.wordpress.com/2016/04/10/the-mechanical-hard-disk-drive-hdd-revolution/.

“Use of Computers for Military Training.” Techwalla, http://www.techwalla.com/articles/use-of-computers-for-military-training.

“What Is Automation?” IBM, http://www.ibm.com/topics/automation.

“What Is Identity Theft?” TransUnion, http://www.transunion.ca/identity-theft.