Impact of smart phones on society

Prroblem with distracting students

It’s been an issue in schools, colleges, and universities across the country for quite some time. In fact, cellular phones were an early problem when students were distracted by phone calls and texts messaging, but now smartphones can do just about anything your computer or laptop can, but in an easily concealable handheld device. According to an article posted in Trends in Ed, 50% of students own smartphones. The use of phones is usually discouraged on the first day of class by teachers and professors, or talked about in the class syllabus with consequences for even the first infraction.  After all, since smartphones pretty much allow you to do anything you want these days, having them in the classroom might be distracting students more than ever.

Wasting student's time

Smartphones allow students to text, check, and interact on social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter, check their e-mails, play games online, and even watch TV. This is extremely distracting for not only the student (because they are obviously not paying attention), but can also become distracting for other students around them. If a professor or teacher has to stop their lecture or instruction to ask a student to turn off their phone, it is also distracting the entire class.

In addition, while it wouldn’t be particularly easy for students to make calls during exams to cheat on tests, it can be fairly easy for students in a packed or crowded classroom or lecture hall to use their phones to access information online to cheat on tests. In fact, an article posted in Phone Arena showed some startling statistics about the use of smartphones for cheating in the classroom. This could be through the use of text exchanges with other students, using the Internet to find answers, using advanced calculators and phone applications, taking snapshots of an exam, or reading notes that are saved on the phone to help on the test.

Most smartphones are also equipped with abilities to shoot video and take pictures. This means that anything that goes on in the classroom can easily be recorded by a student and immediately uploaded to Youtube, or any other site where video and filing sharing is allowed. This could be an invasion of a classmate’s or professor’s privacy, as they probably would not be notified that the video was shared on an online website.

Causing bullying

Finally, smartphones can encourage bullying and hazing. Bullying and hazing are very serious problems in schools across the U.S. As mentioned before, most smartphones do come equipped with camera and video technology, which can be used to videotape and photograph bullying and hazing. Because many of the students who encourage and enjoy bullying and hazing likely want to show what they have done to other students, they can use their smartphones to videotape incidents to ridicule the person they targeted.

Entertainment and Conectivity

A smartphone is like a smaller version of a computer because it has nearly all the features that a computer has (unlike a normal nonsmartphone). So thats an advantage of having a smartphone because it has alot of features such as camera, internet, (IM) etc..... Therefore its easy to talk to other people and even chat instantly, share ideas, browse the web take pictures etc....

Impact of online banking on society

Some advantages of using online banking may include the following:

• Reducing cost - virtual banks pass the money they save on overhead like buildings and tellers along to you in the form of higher yields, lower fees and more generous account thresholds.
• Convenience - unlike your corner bank, online banking sites never close; they're available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and they're only a mouse click away.
• Ubiquity - if you're out of state or even out of the country when a money problem arises, you can log on instantly to your online bank and take care of business, 24/7.
• Transaction speed - online bank sites generally execute and confirm transactions at or quicker than ATM processing speeds.
• Efficiency - you can access and manage all of your bank accounts, including IRAs, CDs, even securities, from one secure site.
• Effectiveness - many online banking sites now offer sophisticated tools, including account aggregation, stock quotes, rate alerts and portfolio managing programs to help you manage all of your assets more effectively. Most are also compatible with money managing programs such as Quicken and Microsoft Money.

Some disadvantages of online banking may include the following:

• Start-up may take time - in order to register for your bank's online program, you will probably have to provide ID and sign a form at a bank branch. If you and your spouse wish to view and manage your assets together online, one of you may have to sign a durable power of attorney before the bank will display all of your holdings together.
• Learning curve - banking sites can be difficult to navigate at first. Plan to invest some time and/or read the tutorials in order to become comfortable in your virtual lobby.
• Bank site changes - even the largest banks periodically upgrade their online programs, adding new features in unfamiliar places. In some cases, you may have to re-enter account information.
• The trust thing - for many people, the biggest hurdle to online banking is learning to trust it. Did my transaction go through? Did I push the transfer button once or twice? Best bet: always print the transaction receipt and keep it with your bank records until it shows up on your personal site and/or your bank statement.

Impact of online shopping on society

Home shopping options are many and varied and changing all the time. Most major supermarkets are now on-line, offering home delivery of goods and increasingly, the major high street stores are also competing for on-line trading. The Internet lends itself to shops selling goods which are easily portable, such as CDs and books.

The benefits of home shopping to the customer include:

         .You can avoid long queues, save time and shop from the comfort of your own home.

         .You do not have to travel into city centres or pay for car parking costs.

         .You can shop around for the best prices and shop abroad for cheaper goods.

         .It can offer the customer a wider range of shopping, 24 hours a day all year round.

         .People who are house-bound have the ability to shop and have goods delivered.

The possible drawbacks of home shopping include:

         .Security worries about payment by credit card over the Internet.

         .You do not get to see the goods before purchase which may be defective.

         .You may worry that the goods will never arrive!

         .There may be concerns over retailers collecting details about the buying habits of customers.

Benefits to the company include:

        .It opens the market to customers nationally and internationally.

        .It enables smaller companies to compete with larger companies.

        .There may be a possible reduction in staffing and/or shopping outlets, thereby reducing costs.

        .You can offer 24 hour shopping at minimum cost.

Impact of e-mailing on society

Email has had a wonderful impact on the amount of information being sent world wide. It is now an important method of transmitting information previously sent by regular mail, telephone, courier, fax, television, or radio.

Email can also be abused by companies who think that they can use the internet as an advertisement opportunity. Many companies send unsolicited mail known as spam. The U.S. Congress passed a law in 2003 that was designed to curb spam. This law makes it illegal to send messages that use deceptive subject lines and false return addresses, proving fines for as much as 6$ million and possible prison terms for violators. The law states that all messages, solicited or unsolicited, must have a valid postal address and an opt-out mechanism so that recipients can prevent future email solicitations.