Impact Of IT on Society.

Introduction. Information technology (IT) is concerned with the

development, management, and use of computer-based information systems.

Humans have been storing, retrieving, manipulating and communicating information since the Sumerians in Mesopotamia developed writing in about 3000 BC, but the term "information technology" in its modern sense first appeared in a 1958 article published in the Harvard Business Review; authors Leavitt and Whisler commented that "the new technology does not yet have a single established name. We shall call it information technology (IT). Based on the storage and processing technology employed, it is possible to distinguish four distinct phases of IT development: pre-mechanical (3000 BC – 1450 AD), mechanical (1450–1840), electromechanical (1840–1940) and electronic.This article focuses on the latter of those periods, which began in about 1940.

Definition.The Information Technology Association of America has defined information technology (IT) as "the study, design, development, application, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems", but the term has also been applied more narrowly to describe a branch of engineering dealing with the use of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data.Although commonly used to refer to computers and computer networks, IT encompasses other information-distribution technologies such as television and telephones, a wider field more explicitly known as information and communications technology.

Abstract.First, the society in the developed countries will be divided into two major groups: On the one hand,there will be technophile people, who embrace the new possibilities which Information Technology offers to their lives. On the other hand, there will be technophobic people, who will obstruct the inroads of Information Technology into their daily lives. Contrary to what most people would think, this part of the population will not only consist of ecologists, but also of conservative people who see technology as something unnatural for humanity, people who don’t immediately profit from technological progress such as the rural population and people who are simply overwhelmed by the new technologies and cannot keep up with the pace anymore. This group of technophobic people has a potential to grow temporarily to at most 25% of the total population.

Secondly, the definition of society for the 75% of the population who will embrace Information Technology will change radically. What makes a society today will not be of much importance in the future. People would these days agree that a society is defined mostly by location, language, culture,political system, shared customs, standard of living and common history. Most of these things will fade in importance, instead other things will be much more important, namely personal preferences and interests. Due to the new technical ossibilities, societies will look different and consist of different people.

The History of Information Technology.

One of the very first information processors.

Information Technology is defined as the use of computers and software to manage information. In some companies, it can be called Management Information Services (MIS) or Information Services (IS). The information technology department of a large company is responsible for storing information, protecting information, processing the information, transmitting the information, and later retrieving information if needed. Around 1980, computers with integrated circuits on a single chip started to become available as an affordable item, specifically designed for use by consumers. The first IBM (News   -Alert) PC was released in 1981.

Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs), which are the programs that enable users to look at screens with windows, clickable commands and color—appeared in the late 1980s. Windows was introduced in 1983, while the first Apple Macintosh came on the market in 1984.

Fifteen years ago, a computer with 24 megabytes of random access memory (RAM (News -Alert)) was great amount of memory. Currently, most new computers boast a memory of one gigabyte – which is an increase of over forty times.

Information technology has also shifted from focusing on single computers to networks of computers, as the years have passed and technology has advanced. Networked computers allow many different users to have access to common databases, which has allowed databases to be where most business records for big companies are held. Software that implements these databases has quickly become a billion-dollar industry. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software drives business activities for many large enterprises who sells products across the world.

Information technology has brought us the Internet. The web has quickly grown to become a primary choice in order for people to communicate whether it be through email or instant messaging services. The Internet also works as an advertising platform for millions of businesses around the globe.Information technology has made banking online a reality. So much time was once spent on daily trips to the bank, but now via the Internet people can keep tabs on all their bank transactions with the click of a mouse.Some big companies in the IT industry are Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Cisco, Apple, Dell (News   -Alert), Hp, Toshiba and Compaq.

Information Technology in India.

Advantages of IT.

Made our lives Easier.Decreased Manual work.Word processing quicker and easier.Social/ Communication .Education.Meet more friends.Improved communication using email, social networking.Quicker communication .

Disadvantages of IT.

Unemployment .Privacy .Lack of job security.Dominant culture. Primitive societies.More people are starving . Less face to face communication.More chance of bullying. Cyber stalking.

Technophile versus technophobic society.

Technophile

Population.Technop

hobic Populati

on.

New society.

New society

Diversified Contact

s

Ubiquitous Computing

HUD

Benefits of IT (Information Technology) in Modern Day Business.

Business has become very competitive.Improve infrastructure performance .Improve internal and Externally, operating efficiency and quality. Purchases from different countries easier and more convenient. Increasing awareness and

reducing prejudice.Helped to make communication cheaper, quicker, and more efficient

Conclusions. Technological research has to pay attention in the sense that there can be no advance in technical areas without considering the social impacts an innovation has. As has been shown, not all developments will be received with pleasure by all people, but they are a force to be reckoned with when releasing new technologies. Researchers have to try and make technology fit as seamlessly as possible into the lives of humans.IT should be seen as something useful and not as a necessary evil otherwise researchers may end up as scapegoats for a significant part of the population. Having said that, when looking at the market today, there are already some technologies which were badly accepted by the population, such as the WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) services. The people simply didn’t see the benefit behind. This time it was the mistake of marketing people, but it is foreseeable that technologies will fail in the future because they are not accepted by the population for social reasons.

The conclusion that can be drawn from this is that it might make sense to start setting up a field, of study (e.g. at universities or research laboratories) which focuses on the impact of (technological) innovation. It seems important that researchers not only focus on their field of study,but also be aware of the social consequences of their work.3. Mobility will be, contrary to popular belief, less important in the new century, mainly due to the fact that most business contacts can be handled via virtual reality, without the need to travel constantly around the world. Also, depending on how far the virtual travelling possibility grows,leisure time traffic may also be reduced. This raises questions about the current direction of traffic policy, building more and more new roads and airports, which may be obsolete sooner than we think.