Read the text: Pitfalls of New Information and Communication Technologies (Part II)

Man in the information world of computer technology

It is impossible to imagine modem production, sci­ence and technology without the use of information technologies. It would seem the word "computer" has just recently entered our vocabulary and today life without this device appears unthinkable. Today, all rel­atively simple and complex but routine work in pro­duction management, industry, and economy are entrusted to computing machinery.

It is now difficult to name an area of human indus­trial or domestic activities that can do without com­puters. Automated control systems (ACSs), opera­tional data reporting systems, information and referral systems with an unlimited volume of reference and bibliographic information. ACSs for managing finan­cial and economic activities of enterprises, socio – hygienic, health and environmental monitoring, data and knowledge bases and banks, automatic systems of data collection and communication and computer networks; this is a far from complete list of the realities of the world-historical significance of computers and new information and communication technologies. The computer has become a common phenomenon. Not only in offices and research laboratories, but also in schools, hospitals, and residential apartments. Due to the significant progress in this field, a personal com­puter (PC) for many people is simply a sort of house­hold object.

There is no need to explain the role played by infor­mation exchange in the modern society Major corpo­rations which have branches in different cities and countries , are in constant need of the effective transfer of production information both between their divi­sions and between their partners and suppliers.

Computer technologies have enriched humanity with a host of new and unexpected opportunities. A magnificent tornado of communication technologies came down on mankind, whose consequences are often unpredictable.

Internet technologies currently occupy a leading position in the information world in the depth and breadth of their penetration into other branches of knowledge. The Internet has 530 million users: already by the end of 2001 the total number of users and the gradual embrace of all aspects of public life were one of the most global structures in the world and the most vivid manifestation of globalization and informatization of socio-economic processes. This opens new vistas of opportunities, about which people could only dream in the recent past.

With its increasing number of users and the propor­tion of Internet services in the global economy, the global network is beginning to exert a significant impact on existing territorial and social systems, including both the economy and society as a whole.

The emergence of global open network informa­tion technologies marks the beginning of a new era in the development of methods and means of informa­tion processing. In such networks, the user perceives himself and is perceived by others as an integral com­ponent of a unified global information society. This is a great victory of the human mind.

The resources and opportunities provided by the Internet to people can be used and treated in two ways. In the first case, the Internet is regarded as a powerful tool that enhances human capabilities, i.e., as a means of communication and retrieval of different informa­tion; in the second case the global network is treated by an individual as a condition for the reproduction of a particular psychological state. Mankind creates and develops new information technologies to provide control over existing reality, but at the same time, these technologies arc able to control us and manage us. This is a reciprocal process.

Problems of internet addiction

The emergence of broad access to the Internet resulted in a significant change in the life of modern man, due to the convenience of using the World Wide Web and the wide range of services offered. A great variety of actions can now be performed online and actually those have become our second nature, for instance, we can make purchases, learn the news, reserve tickets for airplanes or hotel rooms, and carry out research work. Society has also observed the rapid development of various virtual communities; people who join them spend a large portion of their lives there.

The basic needs that arc satisfied by online games arc recreation, emotional balance, excitement and overcoming obstacles, and withdrawal from reality. Online games allow users to satisfy their unfulfilled desires and needs, and to acquire things they lack in their real life. This is sort of an attempt to move beyond the everyday life in order to find another space for sur­vival and sense of security.

The information civilization is undergoing an information revolution with the inevitable negative information-related emotional stresses, which is one of the most important risk factors of certain diseases.

Internet communication gives people ample opportunities in terms of the dynamics of the need- motivational sphere (educational, recreational, com­mercial, gaming and even illegal activities, as well as the preparation to overcome emerging problems). However, society has to pay for all the advantages and benefits obtained. This payment is in the form of the new, currently only emerging problem of pathological Internet use, or Internet Addiction Disorder. In the most general form, Internet addiction is defined as "non-chemical (behavioral) addiction that involves human—machine interaction". It is characterized by an obsessive desire to get online when off line, and the inability to exit the net­work when online.

I. Answer the questions:

1. Why is it impossible to imagine modem production, sci­ence and technology without the use of information technologies?

2. How many users does the Internet have?

3. Why did Computer technologies enrich humanity?

4. Why do Internet technologies currently occupy a leading position in the information world?

5. What kind of opportunities do Internet technologies give us? What for it can be used?

6. Which problems do Internet technologies create?

II. Describe your position about IT.

Lesson 16