Negative Consequences of Using Technology

Alongside with a wealth of opportunities which technology offers there are many dangers that computers bring to modern society including data glut, techno stress, loss of jobs, computer fraud, efficient invasion of privacy, Internet addiction, etc.

A lot of knowledge is a dangerous thing. Information is becoming the drug of the new century. We are witnessing the rise of a generation of dataholics. As a result, the quest for information can lead to stress. People have to work hard to cope with vast amount of information. Many people complain of losing job satisfaction and having tension with colleagues because of information overload. Boundless information is causing techno stress or Information Fatigue Syndrome.

Many people worry about computers in relation to their jobs. Many feel that keeping up with the swift pace of technological change is impossible because it requires costly and continuous training. Many people in traditional professions such as doctors, teachers, lawyers will be replaced by their electronic competitors.

Сomputer fraud and computer security are another concerns that society must take seriously. It is a well-known fact that the computer industry has been extremely vulnerable in the matter of security because of hacking, viruses, banking, business fraud, theft of information and software, etc.

Much personal information is now stored in computer files. An unauthorized person with an access to this information could use it for blackmail. Also, confidential information about the company’s products can be stolen and sold to competitors.

More and more people, especially youth suffer from Internet addiction chatting in social networks, gaming, browsing prohibited sites. Edutainment software and computer games degrade the literacy of children. Another vital problem of the information age is plagiarism or copycatting.

The society and computer professionals should take steps to cope with these challenges. In order to keep the Internet a safe place to do business and enlarge knowledge, software companies must ensure that their products offer the highest levels of security. And of course, parents and teachers should exercise strict control over what children can see and do on-line.

Fill in a table showing all the opportunities and challenges of the information technology age. Comment on some of them.

Opportunities	Challenges
saves time	information overload

True or false? Express your opinion.

1. The Internet is a constantly changing global network.

2. Modern inventions are labour-saving devices. Without them people remain slaves to boring repetitive work.

3. Many jobs will be lost because of computers.

4. Computerization and techno stress lead to job stress and frequent fatigue.

5. Storing information in computers results in people’s privacy invasion.

6. Technology is a double-edged sword.

Practice the conversation on a negative effect of computers on health with a partner. Then give some other arguments in favor of using computers in our everyday life.

A: As far as I understand you are concerned about computer health risks.

B: I think we are at risk of injury when we use computers every day.

A: Are you kidding?

B: As far as I know, thousands of people have already had medical problems as a result of an extensive operation of computers.

A: What are they?

B: Prolonged computer use causes neck and back pain. If children spend hours playing computer games every day they can develop incorrect posture.

A: You’re right. But parents should control how long their children play computer games. At the same time one of the computer age benefits is that children are becoming smarter. They can even do their homework on-line. I think it’s very helpful.

B: And what about eye strain? I always have sore eyes after several hours in front of the computer.

A: Obviously, you should stand up and have regular breaks. You can even do some exercises. Anyway, you can’t do without your computer, can you?

B: I’d better go out and do sports instead of sitting in front of the monitor. Computers have made us passive and unhealthy.

A: But computers are everywhere, whether we go to reserve a train ticket or to a supermarket. This is because they are faster and help us complete our work without mistakes. We have to develop good computer skills.

B: I can’t say that I fully agree with you. I am sure computers can pose some huge problems. We shouldn’t depend on machines.

A: I don’t think you are fair.

Study a list of words widely used by the Internet users. Add some other word combinations used by you.

IMHO – сокращение от английского «In My Humble Opinion» – «по моему скромному мнению»; в русском Интернете это сокращение записывают как «ИМХО».

LOL – от английского «Laughing Out Loud» – «хохочу во всю глотку».

AFK – сокращение от английского «Away from keyboard» – отошёл (имеется ввиду, что пользователь в данный момент не у компьютера).

FAQ – сокращение от английского «Frequently asked questions» – «часто задаваемые вопросы».

ЗЫ – то же, что Post Scriptum (лат.), или сокращённо P.S. -примечание к написанному. Появляется в тексте, когда забывают переключить клавиатуру с кириллицы на латиницу, впоследствии это переключение не стали делать умышленно для экономии времени.

Даунлоаднуть (download) – скопировать файл (картинку, текст) на свой компьютер.

Сабж (subject) – предмет обсуждения (в форумах, чатах).

Забанить (to ban) – выкинуть из чата без возможности повторного входа. Залочить (to lock) – сделать недоступным вход на определенные сайты детям.

Флейм – (flame) – оскорбления или малоинформативные сообщения.

Флуд – (flood) флад, многократное повторение одинаковых или практически одинаковых сообщений.

Read the main facts from the biography of Bill Gates. Make a list of other people who have contributed to the IT development. Speak in detail about one of them.

28 October, 1955 – was born in Seattle, USA.

At the age of 13 – created his first computer program.

At the age of 15 – wrote traffic regulation program and earned $20,000.

1973 – entered Harvard University; developed BASIC, a programming language.

1975 – set up Microsoft company together with Paul Allen; created the operational system for the first personal computer in the world; launched Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel.

1987 – Microsoft presented its first version of Windows, now used in two-thirds of all computers in the world.

1995 – Microsoft turned to Internet technology; developed Internet Explorer. Wrote the book “The Road Ahead”.

Discuss the problem of students’ overreliance on technology in their studies. Then write an essay “The IT that I use in my studies”.

Today, students use ipads, phones, laptops, etc. to help them with their homework. Don’t know a word? Google it. Don’t know the answer to this math problem? Use a calculator. Don’t want to translate the text? Use machine translators. Does it make sense?