Computers Make the World Smaller and Smarter (part 2)

Multimedia systems are known for their educational and entertainment value, which we call ‘edutainment’. Multimedia combines text with sound, video, animation, and graphics, which greatly enhances the interaction between user and machine and can make information more interesting and appealing to people. Expert systems software enables computers to ‘think’ like experts. Medical diagnosis expert systems, for example, can help doctors to pinpoint a patient’s illness, suggest further tests, and prescribe appropriate drugs.

Connectivity enables computers and software that might otherwise be incompatible to communicate and to share resources. Now that computers are proliferating in many areas and networks are available for people to access data and communicate with others, personal computers are becoming interpersonal PCs. They have the potential to significantly improve the way we relate to each other. Many people today telecommunicate – that is, use their computers to stay in touch with the office while they are working at home. With the proper tools, hospital staff can get a diagnosis from a medical expert hundreds or thousands of miles away. Similarly, the disabled can communicate more efficiently using computers.

Distance learning and videoconferencing are concepts made possible with the use of an electronic classroom or boardroom accessible to people in remote locations. Vast databases of information are currently available to users of the Internet, all of whom can send mail messages to each other. The information superhighway is designed to significantly expand this interactive connectivity so that people will have free access to all these recourses.

People power is critical to ensuring that hardware, software and connectivity are effectively integrated in a socially responsible way. People – computer users and computer professionals – are the ones who will decide which hardware, software, and networks endure and how great an impact they will have on our lives. Ultimately people power are used not only efficient but in a socially responsible way.

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