What effects has the computer had on our lives?
The twenty-first century is already turning out to be the century of the
computer. The computer revolution that started after the Second World War is
now developing exponentially and computers are beginning to influence and
take over nearly every aspect of our lives. Computers are clearly changing and
affecting society in many ways. The two main areas in which computers have
brought about a profound change in our lives are in the economic field and in
the field of communications.
The computer has led to immense changes in economic and business life.
First, businesses now have to be computerised or they risk failure. Every big
corporation bases its operations on computing, regardless of which sector they
are in. For example, Coca-Cola, the BBC and Levi’s market and sell different
products and services, yet they all share one basic property – without
computers their operations would collapse. Second, computing is an economic
dynamo. Japan, China, India and many other countries have large IT sectors
which drive their economies upwards. Furthermore, the developed world is
moving from an industrial-based economy to a computer and IT-based one.
It is not just in business that computers have affected us so profoundly;
communication has been revolutionised totally. Firstly, whereas before, people
wrote letters, which would often take weeks to reach their destinations, or
speak on the phone, which was terribly expensive, now they e-mail. For
instance, instead of waiting weeks for a letter now, we can read it instantly,
seconds after it’s been written. Secondly, many people use computers to
communicate with people all around the world using chat rooms and chat
programs, this was impossible before the computer became widespread. As a
result, now people who live thousands of kilometres away from each other can
communicate as much as they want and whenever they want using e-mail
and/or chat rooms.
In conclusion, computers have had a profound effect on our lives in
many ways and it is in business and communication that they have had the
greatest influence. In the future, if the computer continues evolving at such
speed, our business practices and methods of communication will undergo even
more radical changes.