Modernization Of Computers Essay, Research Paper

Since the first computer was made in the late fifties, the technology has developed extremely. Computers which took the place of a living-room then, are now being made in creditcard-formats. More and more areas are being taken overby the computer.As computers are capable of handling large amounts of data in a very shorttime, they are well suited for wordprocessing. I guess that it won’t be longtill all the paper-archives are replaced by magnetic tapes and diskettes. A diskette can contain much more data than a written page, and it takes lessplace It is possible to get the Norwegian telephone book on just one diskette.In near future, a new area will be taken over by computers, namely maps.Different routes are stored on one single compact-disk. Imagine, simply insert the CD into the CD-driver in your car, and tell the computer where to go. Therest will be done automatically. This will be a safer, faster, and morecomfortable way to travel. Another new area, called “virtual reality” is currently being tested. This is away to simulate reality on a monitor. In order to feel this so-called realityyou have to wear special electronic glasses and an electronic suit. Fastened tothe suit are sensors, which send information to the main computer. Thiscomputer works with the data and displays them on the electronic spectacles. This is a technique which use three-dimentional views, therefore the scenery seems incredibly realistic. If you want to be a boxer, simply change thescenery on the main computer, and you are in the ring.Today, many kids have got video games. You could say these games are thepresent’s answer to ludo and monopoly. In a way, it is a great advantage thatthe kids are being presented to computors at an early age, because they willdefinitely have to use them later, when they start to work. In the future therewill be few occupations which won’t use computors, one way or another. But thevideogames are often being presented as something negative, which hinder thekids from doing homework and other more useful activities. This partially true,if they do much of it. But generally, I think the young people’s contact withcomputers is positive.In Norway today, it is getting more common to have a computer at home. You canuse a personal computer to keep household-budgets or other economics. It isalso possible to get in touch with your bank and transwer money while you’re inyour sitting-room.It is possible to contact other databases and gather information from them. Theuse of computers has lead to other criminal actions. “Hacking” is one of them.A “hacker” steals and manipulates information from other databases. Thesecrimes can be very harmful. In The USA, hackers have managed to break intoNASA’s database.The computer-programmes, the software, are extremely high priced, sometimesthey are even more expensive than the hardware. Therefore it is not unusual tomake copies of these programmes. This is strictly illegal, but nobody seems tocare, because it is difficult to control it. Software producers loose BILLIONSof dollars each year because of this.Many methods have been invented to prevent this, but since the “hackers” oftenare more intelligent than those who make the software, I doubt that there will ever be a successfull way to hinder this.