” The ultimate global impact on humankind of the development of Applied Technology and the Management of the Information systems during the 21st century

THE SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE 21ST CENTURY

2007

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART 1 . INTRODUCTION 4

Chapter 1 .1 . Introduction to the Study 4

Chapter 1 .2 . Thesis Statement 5

Chapter 1 .3 . Research Objectives 6

Chapter 1 .4 . Methodologies 6

Section 1 .4 .1 . Qualitative Research Methodology 6

Section 1 .4 .2 . Secondary Research 7

Section 1 .4 .3 . Research Strategies 8

Subsection 1 .4 .3 .1 . Descriptive Research Strategy 9

Subsection 1 .4 .3 .2 . Content Analysis Method 9

Subsection

1 .4 .3 .3 . Collection and Analysis of Other

Archival , Administrative , and

Performance Data 9

Chapter 1 .5 . Scope and Limitations of the Study 10

Chapter 1 .6 . Organization of the Thesis 11

PART 2 . DEVELOPMENTS IN IT 11

Chapter 2 .1 . Hardware Developments 11

Section 2 .1 .1 . Advanced Computer Hardware 12

Subsection 2 .1 .1 .1 . Current Trends 12

Subsection 2 .1 .1 .2 . Social Impact Characteristics of

Computers 15

Section 2 .1 .2 . The Rise of the MP3 Player 19

Section 2 .1 .3 . Communications Developments 22

Subsection 2 .1 .3 .1 . Personal Digital Assistants 22

Subsection 2 .1 .3 .2 . BlackBerries 23

Subsection 2 .1 .3 .3 . Smart ' phones 23

Subsection 2 .1 .3 .4 . VOIP 24

Section 2 .1 .5 . Wireless Technology 25

Subsection 2 .1 .5 .1 . Benefits 25

Subsection 2 .1 .5 .2 . Security Issues 26

Chapter 2 .2 . Software Developments 26

Section 2 .2 .1 . E-Business 26

Section 2 .2 .2 . Operating Systems 28

Section 2 .2 .3 . Online Data Storage (20-25 years from now ) 28

PART 3 . THE GLOBAL MARKET 30

Chapter 3 .1 . The Influence of Market Forces on IT Development 30

Chapter 3 .2 . ICT and Economic Growth 33

Chapter 3 .3 . Development Facilities Worldwide 35

PART 4 . IMPACT OF IT 41

Chapter 4 .1 . Advantages of IT 41

Chapter 4 .2 . Disadvantages of IT 43

Chapter 4 .3 . Impact on Education 45

Chapter 4 .4 . Impact on Nutrition and Health 46

Chapter 4 .5 . Impact on Lifestyle 48

Chapter 4 .6 . A Smaller World ' 49

PART 5 . CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 51

Chapter 5 .1 . Conclusions 51

Chapter 5 .2 . Recommendations 52

BIBLIOGRAPHY 55

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE 1 . COUNTRY-WIDE IMPACT OF ICT 34 PART 1 . INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1 .1 . Introduction to the Study

Information technology today has had a very pervasive effect on people 's daily lives and will continue to have such an effect in the years to come (Hall and Ritchie , 1997 . We are surrounded by information technology , whether we are at work , at school , at home , or at our community , and even take it for granted as a natural part of our day-to-day activities . The huge advances in the development of information technology in the past decade has resulted in a highly global community , with the growth of IT resulting in a huge impact on different aspects of civil society (Independent Sector , 2001 information technology investments and productivity (Subirana et al 2003 , social life (Meadowcroft , 2005 , and economic life...