Life in the Information Age

Technology has changed our lives dramatically over the last couple of decades.  The information age has changed our lives in many different ways.  An example of this would be in the way people work in offices and on the go. 

In the 1980’s, there was not a computer on every desk and only the important people in the office got to have a phone on their desk.  The things people used to use to do their work were adding machines, which we now call calculators, and typewriters for typing up reports and letters.  The offices in the 1980’s used to have lots of filing cabinets that were full of files and reports on paper.  Today we do not use as many filing cabinets because most of the information is stored on the computer hard drives or on servers.  However, some hard copies are still required for some important documents just in case something happens to the digital copy.

Also in today’s offices, you are basically unemployable if you have no knowledge or skills on the computer.  If you don’t have basic skills such as using a word processor, you wouldn’t be able to do the office work as effectively as everyone else.  This is because using the computer is faster, more accurate and what people expect you to use.

Things have also changed for people that are on the go.  Instead of being expected to only work when you get to your work building, you are now expected to do work while you are travelling to your work building.  Years ago people would have just read the paper and had a cup of tea while they were travelling on the train, but now people use their laptops and smart phones to do reports, presentations and make important phone calls.

Before all the technology in the work place, important people like managers would have had a skilled secretary that would write their letters and reports for them because they would not have time to do it themselves.  However, today nearly every manager would have their own computer which makes it easier and faster to write their own letters and reports.  Even though this seems better than before, it means there are fewer jobs.

An example of how a specific job has changed is a sales rep.  Years ago, a sales rep would have carried a diary, a road atlas and other maps, change for pay phones, a calculator, a note pad, lots of forms and CD’s for the numerous car journeys.  This has completely changed thanks to the information age.  All a sales rep used to carry can now be replaced by just a few objects.  The diary that the sales rep would have carried can be replaced by the diary on a smart phone, the road atlas and other maps can be replaced again by a smart phone with internet or a sat nav,  the change for pay phones is no longer needed because of mobile phones, a calculator can also be replaced by a smart phone, the note pad can be replaced by a laptop or net book and the CD’s can be replaced by an ipod, an mp3 player or once again, a smart phone.  All this technology makes the sales reps job much easier.  The sales rep would have also needed to go into the office about 2 times a week to type up the paperwork he had been doing by hand, but now they don’t need to go to the office at all because of laptops or desktop computers that they could have with them all the time or at home.

Because of the Internet and the ability to communicate with the company network from anywhere in the world, many workers now work part time or full time from home.
Telework is not a specific job, it is a method of working which usually means doing work from home. There is no legal definition of teleworking, but the important feature is the use of information technology to enable people to work away from the office.
This could apply to people working full time or part-time at home, those managing their time between home and work, and mainly mobile workers who use their home as an administrative base.
Telework is growing. Over 7 million people in the UK now use IT to help them work away from the traditional office environment, either full time or part time.

On the positive side, ICT has resulted in many new jobs being created created.
Here are a few examples - I'm sure you can think of many more.

Network Technician

• Helps set up office and school networks
• Monitors network performance
• Installs new software
• Sets up and monitors user accounts
• Ensures network security

Computer programmer

• Writes the code for new software
• Adapts or develops existing software

Website Designer

With the explosion of the Internet, there has been a huge demand for people who can design and write websites.
There has also been many jobs created around web advertising, web hosting and e-commerce.

Help Desk Operator

• Answers technical problems from staff
• Provides advice when software/hardware not working
• Resets passwords
• Can remotely control a computer screen to demonstrate how to do something.

Business Analyst

Because businesses need specialist software and hardware to suit their particular needs, most large organisations employ a team of business analysts.
These analysts examine the methods currently used by the company and determine what works and what needs improving.

Technology has not just changed the way we work, it has changed the way we go shopping.  Years ago, if you wanted to buy something you would find what you wanted in the shop, go up to the till, the person on the till would have added up all of the products prices and you would pay by cash.  In today’s world, we would find what we wanted, go up to the till, the person scans the barcodes on the products, the computer tells them what the total amount to pay is and we would pay with our credit or debit card.  This is much easier and safer than carrying cash around with you all the time because if your wallet or purse got stolen, you would lose your money, but today if your card gets stolen then you would deactivate it and the criminal wouldn’t be able to buy anything with it because of your pin code.  This kind of till is called the Electronic Point of Sales.