Information technology is everywhere. Here are some ways in which IT touches on and improve our lives everyday--- though we are usually not aware of it.
Television: ABC, CBS, NBC and fox in the United States, CNN around the world; the BBC in Britain; and TF TV in France all rely heavily on graphics and animation to illustrate weather patterns, present sport results, and report the news. These graphics are produced on power microcomputers. Whether they are showing the movement of storm clouds across a region or the results of a public opinion poll, graphics grab our attention in a way words might not.
Shipping: Couriers and package carriers around the world rely on information technology. DHL, TNT, Airborne Express, Federal Express, and United Parcel Service use computer systems to keep track of every package they pick up and deliver. Their worldwide communication networks allow them to determine instantly the origin, current location, and destination of a package.
Paperwork: Despite early predictions, the age of the paperless office is not yet upon us. Most businesses still send, receive and store huge quantities of paper. Some, however, are taking steps to lighten their paper load. For example, whenever any correspondence about policies, claims, or premiums arrives at Texas-based USAA Insurance’s mailroom, the sheets of paper are entered directly into the company’s computer system using a scanner. An electronic image of the correspondence can then be seen on the desktop display screen of any customer service agent (CSA) connected to the company’s data communications network. When a costumer telephones with an inquiry, the CSA can display the previous correspondence on the workstation simply by punching a few buttons. Several CSAs can display an image of the same correspondence simultaneously. The result is quicker service for the customer and less paper for the company.
Money and investments: Stock markets around the world are in transition. On same trading floors, paper is disappearing. In fact, the trading floor itself is disappearing in some places. The London stock market launched a system known as “Big Bang” that makes it possible for stockbrokers to do all their trading electronically. Brokers interconnected through a data communications network, submit and receive bids using their PCs and computer workstations. Electronic trading will displace floor trading at investment markets around the world in the near future.
Agriculture: Several chemical and fertilizer companies now offer a planning service that combines their expertise in agriculture with effective use of information technology. Company advisors employ sophisticated computer programs to help farmers analyze alternative uses for their land. These programs evaluate different planting and fertilizing strategies while estimating crop sensitivity to rain and other environmental conditions. Each strategy can be analyzed to determine which will yield the most desirable results in terms of productivity and profits.
Taxation and accounting: People don’t like to pay taxes and they don’t like filling out forms either. Nothing can be done about the first dislike, but the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has installed a system that allows people to file their federal tax returns electronically using the PC in their home or office. Use of the electronic filling service has grown substantially every year since its inception in 1989.
Some pioneering public accounting firms have developed the capability to file IRS tax returns electronically. H&R block was the first to combine the IRS electronic filing process with its own Rapid Refund program. The happy result: Block’s customers can receive a refund the same day they file their return.
Training:
Some companies are using information
technology in their employee training programs. For instance, insurance
adjusters in training at State Farm Insurance can view damage scenes (automobile
accidents or natural disasters) on a computer display screen. The screen allows
them to scrutinize photographs and images of the damage from any direction to
estimate the extent of the repairs needed. Interacting with the computer, the
trainees ask questions and retrieve information about the damage. They get
answers only to the questions they ask; however, at the end of the training
session, the trainees receive suggestions about other questions they should have
asked and further views of the damage they should have checked to produce a more
accurate analysis.
Lufthansa,
SwissAir, JAL, British Airways, SAS, American, Delta, United, and other airlines
around the world conduct pilot training through flight simulators. These
computer-controlled training systems duplicate the cockpit of a plane and
simulate conditions pilots encounter during real flights. They allow pilots to
practice corrective actions under simulated emergency conditions they hope they
will never have to face in the air.
The home:
France Telecom, the French telephone-company, stopped handing out telephone
directories to its customers several years ago. Instead, it gives them computer
terminals connected to a communications network. Today, Minitel, as the network
service is called, has become a major vehicle for obtaining a wide variety of
goods and services: airline reservations, theater tickets---and telephone
numbers. Minitel is available to every household in France and is included free
with telephone installation. The service is so successful that France Telecom
now exports a version of Minitel to Europe and North America.
Health and
medicine: It will come as no surprise that
hospitals and clinics use computers to keep records and generate invoices. They
also use computers to diagnose and treat patients’ problems. For example, the
CAT scanner is an imaging device that enables physicians to look beneath the
patient’s skin. As the scanner passes over the patient, it displays an image
of bone and tissue structures on a computer screen. The CAT scanner has become
invaluable in identifying cancer and other conditions that benefit from early
treatment.
Manufacturing:
Robots have moved from the realm of science fiction to the factory floor over
the last few decades. Automobiles made around the world, whether by
Daimler-Benz, Peugeot, Ford, GM, Chrysler, Honda, or Toyota, are touched by
robots at some point in the manufacturing process. Robots do the monotonous jobs
that people don’t want, such as spraying paint and welding seams.
Journalism:
Reporters and journalists rely heavily on word processors to prepare news
articles and write their columns. Few use typewriters anymore. The graphics
people who design the illustrations that accompany the text also use computers.
At the offices of USA Today, the national U.S. newspaper sold throughout
North America, Europe and the Middle East, charts and graphs are produced on a
PC that uses a special illustrator software program. Computer stores make this
package (Adobe Freehand) available to anyone for only a few hundred dollars.
Energy:
A gas pump that accepts credit cards is operating in many
countries today. To use it, you just place the credit card in the automated
pumps reader and your vehicle begins fueling up. The pumps built-in computer
notes the cost of the fuel pumped, transmits the details of the transaction over
communications lines to your bank or credit card agency, and prints a receipt
for you. You never have to wait for an attendant or go into the station.
Automated gas pumps don’t reduce the amount of fuel your vehicle consumes, but
they do reduce the time and energy you burn in fueling up.
Large office buildings consume huge quantities of energy in both summer
and winter. Thanks to information technology this energy usage is better managed
than ever before. Using a system of thermostats and sensors interconnected
through communications network, a computer constantly monitors temperatures
around the clock, controlling heating and cooling devices to maintain the
pre-specified comfort level. At the end of the workday and on weekends, the
system automatically adjusts the temperature, thus conserving additional energy.
Some systems can also determine when a room is no longer occupied and shut off
lights.
SPORTS:
Auto racing draws enthusiasts around the world. In all the auto
circuits including Formula 1, Indianapolis, IMSA and NASCAR, computers are an
integral part of racecars and a central element in racing strategy. Today’s
racecars are fitted with on-board computers and communications capabilities.
Data regarding rate of fuel use, engine functions, braking patterns and speed
are monitored, displayed in the drive cockpit and transmitted from the racecar
to the crew in the pits. These data provide information that can influence
racing strategy and determine whether a team wins or loses.
Implicit
in using IT are three fundamental responsibilities:
·
To be informed. Users have to know how computer networks can be
applied in different situations and the capabilities and limitation of IT in
those situations.
·
To make proper use of IT. User need to take responsibility for
employing IT in desirable ethical ways that help people and do not infringe on
their privacy, rights or well-being.
·
To safeguard. User must take responsibility for protecting data
and information that are in a computer or transmitted over a network against
intentional or accidental damage or loss. They also need to guard against the
failure of all processes that rely on information technology.
An important
principle follows from these responsibilities: People who use information
technology have the obligation to consider both the upside and the downside of
the introducing IT into any situation.
The Career Side of Information Technology
Some career
demands a detailed knowledge of the intricacies of computers and communication
systems. Most business careers, however, require only a good understanding of
what can and cannot be done with IT and what should not be done with it.