(Course number)
Questions:
1. After considerable thought, what is the greatest danger that people living in the US face because of the rapid expansion of technology?
2. What is the greatest benefit that technology offers for US American today?
1.) There is no doubt that the advancement in technology is good, but we cannot also escape from the collateral danger that is always attached to it. In cyber technology, for instance, identity theft is just one of the problems that pose the greatest nightmare. It is a known fact that most computers have become a safe box for personal data, files, and even confidential documents. The moment we use the internet, our computer becomes vulnerable to criminally oriented intruders. Even if we say that our system is protected by anti-hacking programs and devices, still we cannot totally rely so much on them because those criminals out there are also computer savvies and they keep themselves abreast with the fast changing technology development. Anytime they can easily get access to our system and steal our identity.
2.) Our daily activities have benefited so much from the advancement of computer technology. From simple communication through mobile phones to booking airline tickets, or from online monitoring of the security of our house to building mega dikes and bridges are now done with the facility of computers. However, for me, the greatest benefits that computer technology had brought to humankind are those that pertain to science, health, and medicine because they save and preserve life. For instance, even the endoscopy apparatus was cutting-edge when it was first introduced. You can just imagine how a fiber-optic camera is inserted into our body to examine the condition of polyps growing in our colon without having to undergo invasive surgery. If it were not for the state-of-the-art technology, a patient would have undergone a long and costly surgical procedure just to examine an organ inside his body. Indeed, advancement in technology contributes much to the welfare and health of man.
Classmate (Jessica F’s) Answers
1.) Many things had been brought by the advancement in technology. There are those that are used to improve man’s life, but there are also those that threaten his security and privacy. Computer hacking is just one of those dangers that serve as a menace to cyber technology. Not only that it can delete or steal all our files from our computers, but it can likewise manipulate bank records and stash away millions of dollars from such financial institution. Thinking perhaps that even small gadgets can be tweaked by cyber hacking, some people felt so much threatened to the extent that they disabled the use of their Wi-fi capable pacemakers. Indeed, the peril that this cyber intrusion had brought becomes life-threatening. Moreover, the danger does not only stop on computer hacking, it has gone even overboard to spying on the citizen’s privacy. Space satellite is a classic example of a spying gadget, which can magnify an image more than a million times from the surface of the earth. It can also track a person’s whereabouts through his ATM card. The ones we thought to serve us has now lorded it over us.
2.) One of the best things that cyber technology has ushered is the easy access to knowledge and information. Before the birth of computers, access to information was so limited. We had to rely on radios, televisions, and newspapers in order to get the current events. Even communication was done through letters, Morse-coded telegraphs, or wired long distance telephones. That is why progress was also snail-paced. With the advent of computer technology, access to knowledge and information has revolutionized. Now, with just a click of the mouse we can get what we want to know about a particular topic or subject on the internet. Moreover, if we want to engage in a particular hobby, the internet can teach us the DIY or the Do-It-Yourself method. Indeed, with advancement in technology, we have become more knowledgeable.
