Computers in Society

Computers in Society

Our lives have been taken over by machines. We live with many different kinds of

machines but the ones that have been changing our lives more than any other machines, are

computers. Computers that we do work on and play on, while at the same time we listen to music

on and chat with a friend in another country on. Today there are very few things that we can say

can not be done on the computer in some form or another. We live in an age where e-commerce

is becoming the norm, where Napster is something that we all familiar with, and a place where

research to some simply means, a click of the mouse. This all is certainly good news. Without

computers society as a whole might not be at the stage that we are at today. People look to

computers for everything and many peoples’ earnings would not be made without them.

Computers are known by some as man’s best friend, and to many it seems that there is no end to

capabilities they harness. Computers, however, do have some drawbacks that may initially be hard

to realize, yet later on might become more apparent.

One challenge in computer technology was reached when computers began to threaten the

jobs and daily wages of our fellow human beings. Initially it is hard to see how computers can

close the doors on employment opportunities when all one can imagine is all the new jobs that will

be available in computer programming, web site managing and other related areas. However,

under closer inspection it can clearly be seen that computers are beginning to limit the job

spectrum in large numbers. Many companies are being struck down simply because the services

that they are provided more easily or cheaper through the internet or computers. Stock brokerages,

for example, are becoming obsolete because web site offer online trading that is cheap, fast, and

available at the touch of a button. Some jobs are disappearing quickly while others are engaged in

a much slower decline. One has no way of knowing, however, at what speed the electronic age

will continue to proceed at. In some cases the amount of jobs taken from the manual aspect of

some service may indeed be equal to the number of new jobs that are introduced by the electronic

facet of that same service. While in others, a job shortage may be created.