The social impacts of the use of IT

How the IT industry has changed. 

In this article I will be explaining how the IT industry has changed within the last 10 years. This includes computer systems, mobile phones and operating systems.

Ten years ago computer systems would operate on Windows 2000 or the majority of them anyway, others would still be on Windows 95 if they hadn't upgraded. For word processing Microsoft Office 2000 suite would have been used.

That's not all that was different. The size of mobile phones were different. Things such as tablets and MP3-4 players didn't exist. There were just Sony Walkman's that could only read cassettes.

Look at the picture below. You can see the antenna sticking out of the top. in the 1990's you had to pull the antenna out of the top.

Television used to run off an analogue signal. Now from two to three years ago we changed over to a digital signal. This meant some people had to buy new TV's and others had to re-tune their television to receive channels again. Now people can view TV programs in HD and 3D. To view TV in 3D people still have to wear special glasses that come with the TV. Soon later people will no longer have to wear these glasses.

Today, it affects the social side of our lives. Teenagers feel the need to be connected to social networks 24-7 such as Facebook and Twitter. Teenagers can't help but refresh their Facebook and Twitter feeds during the day such as on lunch breaks and most young adults too. This then distracts the minds of the younger and side tracks them. Others find they can concentrate on the two. Bullying happens more on the internet and through SMS rather than face to face as it used to. This is known as cyber bullying.

The older generation are beginning to use computers and smartphones. This change will not be an easy one for some of the elderly. Beginning to learn how to use more complicated things when you don't know what you are doing can be quite a struggle. The older generation are continuing to learn how to use applications like Skype® to connect with their family if overseas or long distance. Older people see the benefits of todays technology more than people in the 2000th century as they tend to use these applications everyday.

The new mobile operating system Android® made by Google ® which makes smartphones cheaper, has a friendly user interface and allows millions of types of applications able to be downloaded to a device. More and more people such as the younger generation ages 12-16 are purchasing these smartphones along with the older generation, on a budget, that want the best from their handset.


This is a phone from the year 2000