Chung Seen Mun

Communication Technology

Over the last few decades, the evolution of communication technology has been vastly transformed.
It is amazing how much communication and technology has changed in such a small time frame. Comparing
the impact in peoples lives over the last decade is like comparing night and day. Our overwhelming
dependence on technology is one of the largest changes seen in modern society. As recently as ten years ago,
it was uncommon for a child in school to own a mobile phone, now almost every child not only owns a
mobile phone but laptops, game systems and I Pods. The worlds way of communicating which once used to
be a time-consuming and extensive process, has transformed itself so much that it now allows people to
connect and be in touch with others around the world; this all happening at the touch of their fingertips. In
21st century that we live in, communication can be done in many different ways other than conventional
speaking right in front of each other. With the immense advancement and progression occurring in our
technological world, our society has become reliant on technology. This always seems to amaze people
because at one point in time, we did not have any of these devices, and now we are so dependent on them.


Beginning with the camera phone, leading to the blackberry or smart phone, and finally emerging
into the IPhone era; all of these devices continue to develop new and improved features. The blackberry,
which has been described as a convergent device, revolutionized the way the business world worked.
Soon after the blackberry, the IPhone was created. The IPhone is one of the worlds highest regarded
technological items. The IPhone designed by Steve Jobs, has more applications in one small device than the
world has ever seen. Some of these applications and qualities being the 5-mega pixel camera, video
recording, GPS navigation, HD TV and video, millions of games, liquid crystal display, face time, and
countless more. One amazing thing about the technological world is if a certain device is lacking a feature or
it is not up to par, then the second version will come out soon enough. For example, the IPhone series has 5
different versions, each better than the previous. Due to the immense capability of these small devices, our
culture is highly dependent and reliant on their phones. Many do not leave home without it, and some even
shower with their phone! Technologies that were once astonishing are no longer used due to the fact that our
phone can literally do it all.


Not only did innovators make it possible to accomplish almost every task possible on their phones,
but they made it possible on computers and laptops too. One of the latest inventions that aid many areas of
work, specifically the social media and business world, is Skype. Skype is a VoIP or voice-over-internet
Protocol, that lets people communicate with both visual and audio. Sweedish, Niklas Zennstrom, founded
Skype in 2003. Skype allows individuals to communicate by voice, visual image, and instant messaging,
almost as if they were sitting in front of each other; however they made be in a different city, or as far as
halfway across the world. This not only allows people in the business world to communicate and make
transactions with each other, but it also permits family and friends to have interactions from anywhere in the
world. Communication Technology has been improving and developing since the first television was born,
many ideas and suggestion of what the future will look like with the continuous development on
communication technology. Avery interesting example of the advancement on communication technology is
a device called Sixth Sense technology. Sixth Sense is a wearable gestural interface device by Pranav
Mistry, a PhD candidate in the Fluid Interfaces Group at the MIT Media Lab. (Pranav Mistry, 2010) This
technology shows that technology can be more interactive with human and someday we will not have to
wear or bring many different types of devices such as hand phone, watch, I Pad, IPod, but one device can
provide information from all the devices we have now combined and so much more.


In case you want to know how communication technology affects our society then you just need to
think of the past days when we had no mobile phone, no computer and no internet. Our routine life
completely has dramatically changed. Life becomes easier and more comfortable than before. It seems that
world is at our finger tips. The Internet has had a major impact on private life. Through social networking
sites family and friends can keep in touch for almost no cost. Instead of paying a lot of money on phone calls
abroad you can now Skype your loved ones for free. Social networking sites are also great for disabled
people who cannot get out of the house to meet friends. By using the search engine Google you will find
an answer for any question. You can save digital photos to your computer and email them to family or
friends to see. Many stay at home mum or dads can now work from home as well as spending time with
their children. You can order your shopping online and have it delivered right to your door. This saves a lot
of time. Communication technology has had a big impact on our professional life too. Businesses now
advertise their products online as it is free. Some people actually make a living by selling online. The goods
can be purchased online by credit cards and delivered straight to your door. Some grocery stores do this too
so you can now do all your shopping online. Business meetings are now held by video conferencing which
means people are travelling less and saving money. They can use emails instead of sending letters which is
cheaper and faster.


The advantages of communication technology are none other than the reason communication
technology are being invented for, to let people around the world to communicate freely to each other, but
now communication technology can share even more things such as photos, videos, and even organize
events with people we did not know before. In past days, communication could be possible with the mean
of letters and telephone but now you have latest modes of communication such as wireless network, email
and instant messaging. It is quite comfy for you to remain connected with your friends and family on the go.
Furthermore, you can find and make friends through social network such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter
and Blogger. With the emergence of communication technology, we get a chance to learn on the web. There
are a number of universities that are permitting the student to take the lectures online. Online learning is
quite convenient and affordable option for those who are unable to go for traditional offline education.


Communication technology brings advantages in an organisation. It speeds the sending of
information. Communication technology tools like electronic mail and text messaging system speed up the
sending of information within and outside of the organization. Also with the use of decentralized computing
systems, sharing of information within an organization is very fast because all data is accessed from one
central unit Database and it is shared across different departments within the organization.
Communication technology also speeds decision making in an organization.
Since communication technology speeds the transfer of information, employees in an organization can easily
consult each other and analyse information in a shortest period and make a decision. Also with the use
of (OLAP) online analytical processing, employees can perform queries on a database to get data about a
specific client or matter and make a quick decision basing on the data retrieved from the database about that
specific client or matter. It also improves organizational communication. Communication technology helps
in the creation of a shared information environment in an organization. It will enable low level employees
communicate with the manager without any need of having a dedicated time for meeting. This allows
information to flow easily from the bottom to the top without any barriers.

But with the nature of communication technology to be free and open to everyone, some people tend
to misuse communication technology for personal gain and interest by affecting other people. Besides
addiction, the issue of communication technology these days are users around the world did not use the
provided communication technology smartly. Users of communication technology should be aware and
educated about the dos and donts using communication technology such as social media. There have been
cases where people post their social number or even bank account carelessly on their social media that
attracts the idea of exploiting the advantages of communication technology. Some users that post all kinds of
photos on their social media also provide ample of information to the public and easily can be targeted by
culprits. Besides that, although one can communicate instantly via internet, you will always miss a warmth
feeling of interaction in this mode of communication. Now people prefer to interact via interact than
personally. Youngsters remain busy in creating their virtual social network and find no time when they can
talk with their parents and friends.


Disadvantage of communication technology in an organisation is poor substitute for face-to-face (ftf)
communication. Since employees are using machines to communicate, they get less time to talk to each
other and know each other better. This has resulted into increased bad relationships at work. Even though
the shy ones will benefit from this technology, but they will also be denied the chance to learn how to
interact with others. It can be very expensive to install a new communication technology system in a very
big organisation. Lets say that an organisation has over 1,000 employees and they want them to access
information from a centralised location. They will have to create a strong data base which will handle all the
queries made by these employees in a minute as well they have to buy a computer for each of these
employees. It is also not safe. Since information has been centralized under one database, it is exposed to
people with wrong intention within the organisation. Also information can be attacked by a hacker or a virus
and all data will be lost in a minute. So the organisation must pay an extra cost to keep this information safe.


With the new and improved means of technology developing, there was also a wide range of
problems that arose. Hacking is one of the major issues involved with communication technology. People
are hacking into company mainframes and stealing peoples details. For example, PlayStation 3 users
accounts were hacked to get their details. Another issue with communications technology is with banks. For
example when ulster banks machines went haywire, peoples money was delayed or not going into their
accounts at all. The development of computer viruses is one of the biggest concerns of computer usage,
viruses can destroy a computers hard drive and compromise its security this is especially worrying in the
financial world where almost everything is computerised. With the invention of Skype and various social
media sites, cyber-bullying and cyber-stalking is becoming increasingly more of a problem


To protect the people of their country, governments around the world have made health, safety and
communications legislations. In Ireland, Data Protection Act 1988 has been produced and was amendment
by Data Protection (Amendment) Act 2003. This act is to provide security when important personal
information is given to an organisation or individual to a person. The aim of these rights is to help you to
make sure that the information stored about you is factually correct, only available to those who should have
it and only used for stated purposes. (Data Protection Commissioner, 2013). Freedom of Information Act
1997 have also been produced in Ireland and amended by the Freedom of Information Act (Amendment)
2003. The Freedom of Information Act establishes statutory rights such as legal right for each person to
access information held by public bodies and government departments and to have official information
related amended where it is incomplete, incorrect or misleading. Everyone also have the legal right to obtain
reasons for decisions affecting him or her. (Citizens Information Board, 2010)


In summary, communication technology provides advantages and disadvantages and without a doubt
have a huge impact on society and the future. Communication technology can be said to be the invention of
the century because of the changes it make to the human race, it can be said to be the line that distinguish
between the era of information technology in comparison to the last era. Regardless of our societies point of
view on the matter of Communication Technology, it is extremely evident that without these brilliant and
genius innovations, our lives would not be the same, and society would not be as prosperous as it is today.
We can only hope that the future hold more developments and advances in technology. Communication
technology provides an insight to our future and will continue to bring benefit to our society provided we
keep in mind of how to use communication technology efficiently.



Reference

Citizens Information Board, 2010. Citizens Information. [Online]
Available at:
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/national_government/standards_and_accounta
bility/freedom_of_information.html
[Accessed 15 May 2014].
Data Protection Commissioner, 2013. Data Protection Commissioner. [Online]
Available at: http://www.dataprotection.ie/docs/A_guide_to_your_rights_-_Plain_English_Version/858.htm
[Accessed 15 May 2014].
Hall, J., 2012. Importance of Technology. [Online]
Available at: http://importanceoftechnology.net/151/impact-of-technology-on-our-life
[Accessed 14 May 2014].
Human Kinetics, 2012. Human Kinetics. [Online]
Available at: http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/technology-can-have-positive-and-negative-
impact-on-social-interactions
[Accessed 14 May 2014].
Pranav Mistry, 2010. Pranav Mistry (Sixth Sense). [Online]
Available at: http://www.pranavmistry.com/projects/sixthsense/
[Accessed 15 May 2014].