Life In The Information Age

The amount of technology we use in our every day lives has dramatically changed when we think about how much technology there was 30 years ago. And because of the increased amount of technology it is hard to find a job which does not use the latest technology, so you would be unemployable unless you know how to use it.

Offices have changed dramatically within the last 30 years and the majority of the things you would have found within an office in 1980 has all become a piece of technology. What you'd of expected to see in an office 30 years ago would include: adding machines, type writers, filing cabinets and fax machines.




Whereas now a days you would expect to find the newest technology including computers which would store all of the documents and data so that you wouldn't have to print them. In fact all of the things you'd expect to see in 1980 would all be done using a computer as they are capable of almost everything. And because of the laptop being able to do pretty much everything there is less need for more staff.


Another case where the technology has changed the way in which people work would be a sales rep. The way in which they would travel before would include carrying a big address book, full of all the addresses he needs, an atlas so that he'd find his way, a catalogue, a calculator, paper work, and small coins for making phone calls.




Whereas now, a sales rep would only really need one piece of technology which would be a laptop, it would have all of the catalogue on it with a price list, it has a calculator on it, the addresses could be stored in a database. And instead of carrying around an atlas a sales rep now-a-days would invest in a satnav which tells you where to go once you type in the address. And they also wouldn't need to carry change to make phone calls as they would have a mobile phone which would normally be on contract and given to them.

Online Entertainment

There are many uses of IT now-a-day which are rapidly rising. These would include things like: YouTube, iPlayer, 4od and Spotify. Some are used more than others but within the next few years their amount of use will rise even further.

YouTube

Youtube is a video sharing website which was created in 2005 so it is reletively new to our entertainment variety. With this site you can create an account so that you can 'like' or 'dislike' other peoples videos and you can also comment on them, however you can view videos without having an account which can be seen as a great advantage as many other sites require you to be a user and have an account. This website uses Adobe Flash Video so in order to view the videos you will need to download this. Before YouTube to be able to view videos you would have to use napster.

advantages of YouTube:

• You can watch television channels, if you've missed them
• You can subscribe to your favourites
• You can use YouTube on your phone

disadvantages of YouTube:

• Some videos can take a while to load because they're high quality
• If you're watching previous tv shows then you'll be shown adverts
• Sometimes a video is not what it appears to be

In my opinion i think youTube is a great way of watching tv programmes which i have missed and i find that it will be at a decent quality and one that will load reletively fast. I have had a lot of experience with YouTube and i have used it to do things such as: listen to music, watch videos, and watch tv programs.

iPlayer

iPlayer is an internet television and radio service created in 2007, so again is a relitevly new way of using online entertainment. It shows you TV shows in which you may of missed so you have another chance to watch the programs you've missed. The channels that this site provides are all of the BBC channels such as: BBC Three etc.

advantages of iPlayer:

• You can catch up on programs you've missed
• It's at your convinience
• You can pause it
• You don't need a TV Licence

Disadvantages of iPlayer:

• If you have slow internet connection it will be slow
• You would need internet
• The programmes uploaded will have to be taken down after a patricular amount of days
• It could be bad quality

In my opinion i also think that iPlayer is a great way of catching up of programs i have missed and i find it very easy to use. However, because it is a high quality video i sometimes find that it takes a while to watch and so i would then be more likely to stop using iPlayer and use YouTube as it would be faster.

Itunes

Itunes is a media player computer program which is used for playing, downloading and organising music. This software is compatible with iPods, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPads as they sync via Itunes. In order to download music you use the Itunes Store where you can download music, videos, apps, books, podcasts and movies. You are able to connect to to the Istore through Itunes, which is done with great ease, however you always need to have internet.

advantages of itunes:

• It is a quick, easy and simple to use
• You can use it anywhere, if you have an internet connection
• Its full of files that you want

disadvantages of itunes:

• You'll need internet connection to download files

• Songs could be costly

Spotify

Spotify is a music straming service which provides the viewer with a range of different genres to chose from. It was lanched in 2008 spotify services are available in most counties including: France, Spain and the United States. You are now able to access spotify on your mobile phone, providing that you are a paying cusomer and pay the monthly bill which enables you to listen to the music 'offline'. When spotify had been around for about a year they introduced a method of joining up to spotify which you could only do if someone else who already had spotify sent you an invitation but that soon got axed. After this there is now a time limit on how long you can listen to music for which is 10hours and once you exceed this time limit you can no longer listen to music.

I have got a Spotify account and i have done since it first came out. I find it to be a good way of listening to music as you can select a specific genre however i find that because you need really good internet access it takes a while to stream so i would again, be more likely to use another way which would be either YouTube or Itunes. The time limit also put me off of using it as it wasn't only listening time that decreed the amount of time i had left to listen to music but even if i wasnt listening to music and simply just had spotify open it was doing so. However since then i have used it again and have found that my time is not being limited.

advantages of spotify:

• There is something for eveyone because of the wide range of genres
• You can make playlists which contain songs that you like
• You can listen anytime, if you have an internet connection

disadvantages of spotify:

• You need internet connection
• Play back time is limited
• The adverts interupt

Downloading Services

Now-a-day there is a variety of different things in which you can download. The ways that technology is being used for downloading purposes are increasing and have increased a great deal within recent years. There are many different types of downloading services too, such as: Add-ons, Upgrades, Torrents, Open Source and Patches.

Patches
A patch is a type of software that has specifically been designed to fix occurring problems. As well as fixing problems this software also updates programs that you have on your computer. With the patch you'd be able to fix any bugs or security issues. However if the patch is incorrectly designed then it won't be able to do these tasks and it could even cause more problems.

Advantages of having a patch:

• They can add new features and software
• They fix the software if there are any problems
• They can update any out of date software
• It automatically updates

Disadvantages of having a patch:

• Instead of fixing problems, it can cause them
• They take up memory on your computer
• dependent on the size of the patch it could take a while.

Personally i have never used a patch before and i don't think i would be likely to because of the risk of there being problems made rather than solved.

Bit Torrent

Bit Torrent is a peer-to-peer sharing protocol. It is used to share files that are of a large format, you share the files over Internet and where the Internet is concerned there are always risks that could occur so when you make the decision to use bit torrent you need to make sure you are secure. Bit torrent is one of the most common protocols for transferring large files. Bit Torrent has also on average has more active users than YouTube and facbook combined.


The only data that the torrent holds is information about the location of different pieces of target file. They work by all the information needed into smaller pieces which will be stored on different hosts. Because of the pieces of data being separated and broken up into smaller pieces the time it takes to download will be quicker than if the file were to be at its normal larger size. You are also given reviews by other people all that will reassure you that the download will be alright and wont harm your computer.


Advantages of using Bit Torrent:

• It's peer-to-peer so you can download your files from hosts that you trust
• Downloading will be a lot faster

Disadvantages of using Bit Torrent:

• Some people use it for illegal purposes
• There is a risk of getting a virus
• Not all downloads have been reviewed.

Personally i feel that the risks are too high and there is quite a big chance of receiving a virus so i don't think i would feel comfortable or safe using Bit Torrent.