3.3. Answer the following questions based on the text.

1. What is the criterion in defining types of computer users?

2. What kind of a computer user are you?

3. They say, computer-oriented users live in a WYSIWYG world, don’t they?

4. How will you characterise goal-oriented users? Why do they constitute the second largest group of computer users?

5. Why do computer-oriented users make the smallest group of computer users? Why are they named hackers?

6. Do you find it necessary to correctly identify the type of end user you deal with?

7. How will you characterise the IT Wannabe type? Have you ever met such an ICT worker type?

8. What can you say about the Rottweiler end-users? Who, do you think, mainly fall into this category?

9. Can you describe the Baby type? What kind of people do usually belong to this type of users?

10. Is the Luddite type of computer users well-spread? What are these users like?

11. What are technophobic people? What are the possible reasons they avoid computer use?

12. What kind of qualities should an ICT worker type possess? Make a list of positive qualities.

3.4. Work in groups. Consider the following issues and report the information you have discussed back to the class.

1. Three Broad Categories of Computer Users.

2. The Main ICT Worker Types.

3. The Majority of Computer Users are not Interested in Hidden Implementations.

4. Supplementary reading

4.1. Scan the following texts and choose from the list (a-d) the sentence which best summarises each part (1-2) of the text. There are two extra sentences which you do not need to use.

A The Less Common Types of Computer Users

B Ergonomics is Introduced for Computer User’s Health and Productivity

C E-waste is an Issue Coming into View

D Re-usables, Working and Repairable Electronics

Next Generation of Computer Users are for Ergonomics and against e-waste

1

Ergonomics is the science of designing the workplace environment to fit the user. Proper ergonomic design is necessary to prevent repetitive strain injuries, which can develop over time and can lead to long-term disability.

It is concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system. Ergonomics is employed to fulfill the two goals of health and productivity. It is relevant in the design of such things as safe furniture and easy-to-use interfaces to machines.

The computer desk is a furniture piece designed to comfortably and aesthetically provide a working surface and house or conceal office equipment including computers, peripherals and cabling for office and home-office users. The ergonomic desk is a modern desk form which, like the adjustable drawing table or drafting table, offers mechanical adjustments for the placement of its elements in order to maximize user comfort and efficiency. The ergonomic desk is usually a stand-alone piece of furniture allowing access to the adjustment mechanisms. Some ergonomic desks have a sufficiently large desktop height adjustment to create either a common sit-down desk or a less common standing desk, which allows the user to work while standing. The ergonomic desk is usually a close companion to the ergonomic chair.

The most common form of the computer desk is a variant of the ergonomic desk, which has an adjustable keyboard tray and sufficient desktop space for handwriting. Provisions for a monitor shelf and holes for routing cables are integrated in the design, making it easier to connect the computer components together. The typical armoire desk provides space for a keyboard, mouse, monitor, printer, and speakers. Cubicle desk designs for business and government workplaces include a range of shelves, trays and cable-routing holes for computer systems. In some computer desks, the cabling is affixed to the modesty panel at the back of the desk, to create a neater appearance.

There are a great variety of computer desk shapes and forms. Large multi-student computer desks configured in rows are designed to house dozens of computer systems while facilitating wiring, general maintenance, theft prevention and vandalism reduction. Small rolling lectern desks or computer carts with tiny desktops provide just enough room for a laptop computer and a mouse pad. Computer desks are typically mass-produced and require some self-assembly.

2

Electronic waste may be defined as all secondary computers, entertainment device electronics, mobile phones, and other items such as television sets and refrigerators, whether sold, donated, or discarded by their original owners. E-waste includes used electronics which are destined for reuse, resale, salvage, recycling, or disposal.

Others define the re-usables, working and repairable electronics, and secondary scrap (copper, steel, plastic, etc.) to be “commodities”, and reserve the term waste for residue or material which was represented as working or repairable but which is dumped or disposed or discarded by the buyer rather than recycled, including residue from reuse and recycling operations. Because loads of surplus electronics are frequently commingled (good, recyclable, and non-recyclable), several public policy advocates apply the term e-waste broadly to all surplus electronics.

Environmental groups claim that the informal processing of electronic waste in developing countries causes serious health and pollution problems. Some electronic scrap components, such as CRTs, contain contaminants such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, mercury, and brominated flame retardants. Activists claim that even in developed countries recycling and disposal of e-waste may involve significant risk to workers and communities and great care must be taken to avoid unsafe exposure in recycling operations and leaching of material such as heavy metals from landfills and incinerator ashes. Scrap industry and USA EPA officials agree that materials should be managed with caution, but that environmental dangers of unused electronics have been exaggerated by groups which benefit from increased regulation.

Debate continues over the distinction between commodity and waste electronics definitions. Protectionists may broaden the definition of waste electronics. The high value of the computer recycling subset of electronic waste (working and reusable laptops, computers, and components like RAM) can help pay the cost of transportation for a large number of worthless electronic commodities.

Rapid change in technology, low initial cost, and planned obsolescence, have resulted in a fast-growing surplus of electronic waste around the globe. Dave Kruch, CEO of Cash For Laptops, regards electronic waste as a “rapidly expanding” issue. Technical solutions are available, but in most cases a legal framework, a collection system, logistics, and other services need to be implemented before a technical solution can be applied. An estimated 50 million tons of e-waste is produced each year. The USA discards 30 million computers each year and 100 million phones are disposed of in Europe each year. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that only 15-20% of e-waste is recycled, the rest of these electronics go directly into landfills and incinerators.