Social Impact of Computers and Cell phones

Computer technology is probably the most significant technology since the industrial revolution. The computer has the ability to make routine tasks easy and quick. The technology also saves lives, enables us to explore the world, and enhance communication. Potential impacts of this technology on the society include the loss of privacy, theft
of devices and information, and the breakdown of the complex systems that integral parts of our lives depend on. Computer has influenced the social life of individuals more than any other invention. Computers and mobile phones enhance social experience by enabling easier communication, better entertainment, education, and transportation. The technology also enables the persons with disabilities to have a better social experience using input/output devices. The computer and mobile phones have certainly changed the society for the better, however, the overuse of this technology results in negative consequences to the individual and society.
Social Impact of Computers and Cell phones
Computers and mobile phones help create an informed, connected, and converging society, which contribute to the welfare of individual members through social responsibility. Computers and mobile phones enable individuals regardless of their location to engage in collective activities. The technologies prevent the isolation of individuals from social connections and empower people to engage in other medium of communication, such as interactive TV shows. The mobile phone enables the bridging of the digital divide, especially for geographically dispersed populations, by enabling people to access the latest information regardless of their location. This improve the social connection between varies groups in the society because it improves the distribution of wealth and the stimulation of social dynamic to create positive change (Mitchel 13). The technologies make individuals available anywhere at any time.
The computers and mobile phones enable individuals to maintain close and instantaneous contact with other members of their social circles regardless of their location. This enables individuals to keep up with their social lives. The technologies also improve work life because one can access email and other work documents from a portable computer or mobile phone. The flexibility of work life enables people to dedicate more time to social interactions. Social interaction is the active engaged of two or more parties. Social interactions are popular with adolescents and young adults because of their desire to take risks in relationships, and for individual entertainment to avoid boredom. Computers and mobile phones are an important part of the younger generations life that they cannot imagine spending a day without them (Lifespan). The individuals tie their sense of self to the technologies.
The use of computers and mobile phones has both negative and positive impact on society. Some of the negative impact on the society includes the use of these technologies to commit crimes, such as kidnapping and blackmailing. Other negative impacts of these technologies include capturing of blue films and pornographic images. Mobile phones also invade the personal space of others when an individual in a public place answers a phone call. When one party in a conversation answers a ringing phone, the other is left with a sense of being left alone, which may cause social anxiety and a feeling of annoyance towards the individual who answered the phone. The issue of neglecting responsibilities and interactions is common with the youngsters. The youngsters spend most of their evening texting their friends neglecting the interaction with parents and other members of the family (Lifespan).
The small size of mobile phones and portable computers makes them an attractive target for theft. These devices enable users to access personal e-mails, the Internet, GPS navigation, store passwords, and other sensitive information. Because people are using the devices to store sensitive information, they are a more and more valuable target for attack, especially because one does not need any technical information to carry a hand held device. Computer and mobile phones enable people through the Internet to access online markets and purchase products and services through the Internet in the comfort of their homes. Technology facilitate easier shopping and purchasing for products thus encourage impulse buying and over expenditure, especially with the option of using credit cards that is available in many online stores  (Richtel). The online stores and online transfer of money create another security risk for the individual using the computer of mobile phone because the technologies are prone to hacking and other errors, which may result in financial losses.
Computers and mobile phones make it easier to stay connected and are good tools for making and maintaining friendships. However, a recent study reveals that the use of cell phones hinders interactions with the people around ever in instances that the mobile phone or computer is not in use. Being connected through the internet and mobile network reduces the interaction with the people in the immediate vicinity. However, computer and mobile phones allow for spontaneous and frequent communication with family members and close friends regardless of their geographic location through e-mail, texting, and voice calls. The technologies significantly increase peoples capacity to maintain an intimate relationship without the necessarily being close to each other (Michael).
Computing technology has changed how the people interact with social institutions and their social attitudes towards these institutions. Members of the society expect elements of the society regardless of their location to be better informed than previous. The members of the society also expect that information regarding the social institutions is available to them so that they can make decisions that are more informed (Riley). Computing technology enable the social institutions to be serve the members of the society because they can better collect statistical information and analysis the information to manage issues affecting the society in a better manner.
The computing technology has also influenced the society in terms of defense capabilities. Computer and mobile phone technologies enable the government to develop better equipment to defend the society. Mobile technology enables the coordination of efforts in a different location by enabling real time communication. The development of computer technologies, such as computer modeling techniques, enables the development of designs that would be impossible to achieve without computers. Computers also enable the encryption of electronic data, which enables individuals and institutions to achieve better security (Itō 44). The decryption of information is a challenge for those attempting to access data illegally. The decryption of secure data is common in government agencies charged with the responsibility of collecting intelligence (Richtel).
Computer and mobile phone technology has influenced how education resources are provided to the student. The development of information technology (IT) has led to the introduction of IT related courses in the education establishment as the education institutions try to meet the demand for IT specialist. The distribution of information within the education institutions has also changed because of the computer and mobile phone technologies. Modern universities offer a distant learning option where the student can access information and lectures through the Internet. The distant learning option enables more people to access education than was previous possible. The dispersal of students and the lack of a physical structure enable education to be available to the students at a cheap price. Computer and mobile technology enable researchers to access a wider variety of information because of the books and journals in modern libraries have a digital format. These technologies also enable researchers to collaborate on projects regardless of their geographical location (Riley).
Computer technologies enable people with disabilities to be as competitive in the job market as people with no disabilities. This is because the computer and mobile phone technologies enable them to do almost anything an enabled person can do. For example, individuals who are blind or suffer from visual impairment can access the internet using special input and output devices. This enables people with disabilities to communicate and enjoy as many resources as any other person (Richtel). The vast amount of information in the Internet ensures that persons with disability have access to practical disability-related information and can converse with other individuals across the globe facing the same challenges (Straubhaar, LaRose & Davenport 27).
Computers and mobile phones provide for sensory expansion of humans by allowing people to experience an array of sensory stimulation in a single geographical location. However, the virtual world made possible by the computing technology can only augment the physical reality but never replace it. People who communicate through computers and mobile phones feel the need to make in real life. Technology enables the development of relationship in a faster manner than would happen in real life, especially through electronic messaging. Technology enables the development of relationship between people who are geographically dispersed (Straubhaar, LaRose & Davenport 34). Otherwise, these people would never meet without the intervention of electronic communication. The technology not only fosters the development of communication among geographically dispersed people, it also enables the development of relationship among people living in proximity (Itō 45).
The reliance of technology on everyday life is part of something larger; the technological civilization. Computers and mobile phones facilitate the spread of ideas and products across the globe faster than before. The access to these technologies facilitates the transformation of individual members of a society. This results in a creeping sameness across the globe regardless of geographical location because of the availability of similar information. This is threatening local cultures, especially because of the uniformity encouraged by advertisement and entertainment available through these devices. Prior to the development of these technologies, human interaction was limited by location and duration of time spent. These technologies facilitate continued interaction among geographically dispersed individuals. The interaction results in the sharing of ideas, which results in the development of an ideal. This threatens the local cultures, especially because different people have different histories and resources (Richtel).
Computer and mobile phones play a central in the society, however, like any other technologies; they have a negative influence on society. The computers and mobile phones create problems related to ethics. There are issues of personal privacy, access rights, and harmful actions. The technologies enable the exchange of date from anybody located in any part of the world to another in any part of the world at any time. This increases the probability of violating an individuals or a group of peoples right to privacy. Because of the current popularity of the technologies, there are more and more people with access to the internet and large volumes of data (Itō 67). Without proper security, the data is easily accessible and may result harmful effects on the individual if the data falls in the wrong hands. The security of the computer and mobile phones is also an issue of concern for the society, especially because computers control important aspects of every day live. The spread of computers in almost every aspect of life means that, in some instances, a computer error or failure could result in loss of life or damages to property. For example, many hospitals employ computerized monitoring systems for those patients in the critical unit.
The emergences of computers and mobile phones resulted in the development of a new branch of crime (cyber crime). Cyber crime is the use of computers and mobile phones as the primary means of committing crimes, such as theft. Other forms of crime that qualify as cyber crime include identify theft, bullying, and stalking. The computer and mobile phones reduce face-to-face interactions by enabling one to conduct business and interact with other individuals without necessarily meeting. This creates a loophole for thieves to exploit. Transactions in the internet are conducted in automated systems with only a user name and password required to qualify as the legitimate owner (Straubhaar, LaRose & Davenport 57). This information can be easily stolen and used to cause harm to an individual. The ease of interaction that computers and mobile phones facilitate encourages bullies and stalkers to use them as means of identifying their victims. The devices also enable individuals to interact on the internet while remaining relatively anonymous, which encourage incidents of bullying and stalking.
Conclusion
Computers and mobile phones have drastically changed how people interact and conduct their day-to-day lives. With the power to process information fast and perform simple commands at lightning speed, these devices enable interaction across different geographical regions in real time. This eliminates the initial limitation imposed on the human species by evolution that limits interaction and sharing of information to space and time. Prior to the development of these technologies, the development of cultures and other aspects of life occurred in groups of people living in the same place for an appreciate amount of time. With the invention of the computer and mobile phone, the spread of the technological culture is unlimited by geographic dispersal of individuals or time. The technologies have many positive effects on the society. These include enabling the interaction of complete strangers from different geographical locations in real time; it also facilitates the interaction family and friends regardless of their locations. Although the computer and mobile phones are helpful in so many ways if used without limitations, these technologies pose a danger to not only the individual but also the society. The over use of these technologies reduce face to face interaction, especially between people from different age groups, such parents and their children. The portability of these devices the limitless capabilities they offer to the users are a major distraction in many classrooms because many of the youths and young adults are addicted to the screen.

 Works cited
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