Questions about computing

Daniel

USA

16

12 years

Absolutly, they help us get stuff dome quickly, they are fun, we have cool movies because of them, they help fight crime (sometimes), etc.

I'm not worried about this kind of stuff. Anti-social people would be anti-social anyway. Computers also make a lot of jobs too.

The mouse is the most important innovation (aside from the keyboard and monitor)

Greatly, I hope to get into a career working with computers and they give me stuff to do in my spare time. I don't know how I would live without my computer.

Computers will do a lot of stuff we don't like to do. Games will get cooler and they will take us into space (because some people can't fly rockets by themselves. [SMILE] People will spend more on games and computers and everyone will be happy until they computers gang up on us and strangle us to death! *choking noises*.

Colin

USA

18

As long as I can remember

Yes, they help tremendously with organization and speeding up certain tasks

We are already dependant on computers and we will continue to get more dependant regardless of whether we want to or not. Computers probably create just as many jobs as they destroy.

The internet.

Computers occupy most of my spare time, and I hope to someday work as a game programmer.

I think that entertainment will be increasingly done with computers.

Steven

USA

21

My earliest memory is with a computer, which would make it since 1987 or so.

Yes, of course. It is rare to find a case where individuals making choices for their own improvement fails to improve society. Computers and computer networks allow us to automate tasks and educate ourselves.

No. Where these things occur, their proximate cause is not their ultimate cause, and it is their ultimate cause that should be addressed.

Microprocessors

Well, I've been playing on them all my life, started programming them in grade school, and now I spend pretty much all day, every day on one computer or another. It would be difficult to find an area of my life it didn't have a significant impact on.

The basics of computing will be as significant as the basics of mathematics (or perhaps we will not distinguish between computing and math in the future). People will get more and more used to the idea of using Turing-complete interfaces of one sort or another, and will start to recognize the commonalities between them. This opens the door for widespread computer-literacy.

Name? Megan

Where are you from? USA

How old are you? 25

For how long have you used computers? since about 1988 so, 17 years

Do you think personal computers have been a good thing for society (why/why not)? Absolutely, computers have made it easier for people to create large documents and simple programs or algorithms to help with simple (or complex) tasks

Do you think we should beware of being too dependent on computers (lost jobs, anti-social people, etc.)? Aside from people not knowing how to spell because they have become so dependent on the spell-checker, not too many societal problems (notwithstanding people being killed over virtual world implements...but things like this happen anyway, this is just branching out in to a new medium).

What has in your opinion been the most important development in computing (e.g. GPU, GUI, mouse etc.)? Mouse

How has computers affected your life? Definitely has made my legal research much easier as I don't have to spend hours in a library searching for the form I need or waiting for a book

How do you think computers will affect the society in the future? The globe will shrink even more...I mean, people will be able to communicate with other countries much more easily than in the past. People will also have a lot more information at their fingertips and people (hopefully) will be more educated and open-minded about things

Name: Corey
Location: USA
Age: 20
I've had an interest in computers for about 9 years now, and have used them for at least 15.

Computers for the most part have been a good thing for society because they allow infomation to be collected, stored, proccessed, and searched at a faster rate then writing it down on paper does. However if not properly secured this can also cause problems.

Economicly we are defintitly dependend on computers, and physicaly some people are dependent on computers to stay alive. However as long as we are the ones controlling the computers this is not a problem.

The three most important developments for modern computing era.
1- the creation of the microcomputer (aka desktop) basicly the start of this era.
2- Microsoft, specificly windows 3.1 like or hate them their marketing made the desktop common place.
3- the internet - a global network that makes sharing data, incredibly easy.

A computer is a tool use serving for use as a gamming machine, to writing essays.


They will contiune to be more powerful, and preform more complicated task. They will continue to be more and more integraded with society and indivuals.

country from - USA (los angeles, CA)

age - 18

i've used computers since age 4 (maybe even 3.5, i'd have to ask my parents)

PC's have definately been good things for society. Of course everything brings its share of problems but in this case the good outweighs the bad

you shouldn't be too dependent on computers - they fail too much - and you have to be leery of malicious people and overintrusive government. That said I don't know what I would do without my email, facebook, or wikipedia. Once during a power outage I rigged up a battery system just so I could get on the internet using a laptop and cable modem :)

most important development in computing - the internet. nothing else comes close to the amount of info or the wide variety of people. the world truly is small now.

affected my life - in the positive. most of what I know, I learned off the internet. it helps feed my interests.

society in the future - more communication. imagine looking up wikipedia on your cell or videochatting with people in europe/china/india and thinking nothing of it.

Name:
Ondřej

Where are you from (country)?
Czech Republic

How old are you?
17

For how long have you used computers?
Since I was five, or so. I've had my own computer since I was 12.

Do you think personal computers have been a good thing for society (why/why not)?
Yes, I do. Computers have made a lot of things much simpler, and some even possible. We're able to do complex calculations just in a few seconds (logarithms are just beggining of this).

As far as personal computers go — office tools are a very nice thing, indeed. Imagine a secretary using just typewriter and paper diary instead of a computer. Of course, it is possible, but now, with computers, she can work much more efficiently and accurately.

And we do not have to go far for something good about computers — just imagine — people from almost all over the world can share their opinions on computers in just a few minutes, thanks to this forum and this thread.

Do you think we should beware of being too dependent on computers (lost jobs, anti-social people, etc.)?
As I said — there is nothing 100% good or 100% bad. Independence is a nice thing, indeed, but dependence can sometimes be much nicer. Our society is already heavily dependent on other things (like cars, heavy machines, other electronics) and computers are just another thing we are becoming (or maybe have already become) dependent on.

In regars to lost jobs — many jobs from times past have ceased to be needed and many new have begun to be needed. Computers mean the loss of job in some areas, but at the same time they mean a lot of new job opportunities in new areas.

I am anti–social myself, and I just don't get why you assume it's anything bad. [grin] To say so — I have been antisocial since I entered the kindergarten and computers and Internet didn't change anything on this. In fact, they made my life easier, since I can hang around with people on IRC and various forums, so I can get to the society at least a little. Without this, I might be forced to go out and talk to some real faces, but my life wouldn't be as comfortable. And I'm afraid I'd be anti–social anyways. You are born either social or anti–social and computers can only support that; they can not be the cause.

What has in your opinion been the most important development in computing (e.g. GPU, GUI, mouse etc.)?
Fast internet connections? [smile] I don't like being opinionless, but I don't think I have experienced anything truely "revolutionizing" in my relatively short experience with using computers.

How have computers affected your life?
Computers haven't changed my life, they have become my life. [grin]

To be honest, I have absolutely no idea what I would do if computers didn't exist... Maybe I'd end up on crack or... who knows?

How do you think computers will affect the society in the future?
I don't think anything like "perfect society" will emerge thanks to the computers, rather computers will stand in background of almost anything in the society. Hydrogen cars, interplanetary travel, more efficient use of energy, discovery of the meaning of life? Who knows? [smile]

Computers have changed the society somehow and I think the same plot will remain until something unpredictable happens.