Computers
have been said to pose threat to our mental and physical well being (health)
and also in our work place and is likely to be that way for many years. We
should also be aware of the major concerns raised about the possible effects of
computers on our health and work place.
1 Emotional Stress- Emotional problems
such as financial worries, feelings of incompetence and disorientation often
produce emotional stress.
2 Layoff Or Reassignment- One of the first criticisms
levelled at computers upon their entry into the work place was their very
presence resulted in job-related
stress. When computers came in, many people were laid off and had to
find new jobs. Clerical workers especially worried about job security.
3 Fear Of Falling Behind- The micro computing boom has placed
computing power of awesome dimensions at almost everyone’s fingertips. Some
researchers perceive a widespread fear that failure to learn how to use these
machines will make one ‘’fall behind’’.
4 Burnout- Burnout is caused not by fear of computers but
by overuse of them. The infusion off microcomputers into home and office has
raised new concerns about what will happen to children and managers who have
inadvertently been swept into the tide of the computer revolution.
5 Dangers Posed By Display Device- Large numbers of data entry operators have
reported a variety of physical and mental problems emanating from their
interaction with display devices. These includes blurred eyesight, eyestrain,
acute fatigue, headaches and backaches.
6 Environment Related Concerns- The surge in the microcomputer has
caused variety of environmental concern. The environmental protection agency
has estimated the home and office microcomputer systems now annually consume
about 82 billion worth of electricity. This indirectly has resulted in the
discharge of tons of pollutants into the atmosphere.
7 Social Related Worries- The future generations have relied
on compeers so much that they lose sight of fundamental thought processes that
computers are intended to model. Many teachers complain that some children who
own pocket calculators can’t do arithmetic by hand. There is no question, of
course, that computer has altered the structure of work and play just as
mechanised farm machinery changed the nature of agriculture airplanes and
automobiles changed the nature of travel. Many people have accepted these
disruptions as the price of ‘progress’.
8 Computer Crime- Computer crime is defined as the use of computers
to commit unauthorized acts. It has many forms. Some cases involve the use of
computer for theft of financial assets, such as money or equipment. Other
concern the copying of information- processing resources such as program or
data to the owners detriment. Still other cases involve manipulation of data
such as grades of personal advantage. The cost of computer crime to individuals and
organization is estimated at billions of dollars annually in addition to
undetected or unreported incidents and is hard to pin down. Some of the
specific forms of computer crime can take are:
Data digging,
super zapping, scavenging, trapdoors, logic bombs and computer viruses, data
leakage, software, piracy.
9 Computers And Privacy- Privacy refers to how information
about individuals is used and by whom. We can appreciate that sometimes
selected people or organizations have a legitimate need for some of this
information.
A doctor
needs accurate medical history of patients. A company or government may need to
probe into the lives of people applying for unusually sensitive jobs. No matter
how legitimate the need, however, once personal information has been made
available to others, there is always the danger that it will be misused.
The
problem of how to protect privacy and ensure that personal information is not
misused was with us long before electronic computers existed. But modern
computer systems, with their ability to store and manipulate unprecedented
quantities of data and to make those data available to many locations have
added a new dimension to the privacy issue. The greater the ability to collect,
store, use, and disseminate information, the greater the potential for abuse of
that information.
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