PERSONAL COMPUTER (PC) BENEFITS:
- Processing power
- Can perform many calculations almost simultaneously.
- Growth potential
- As of 2009, only 25% of the world has access to a PC.
- User-friendly
- Albeit limited by the limitations of current hardware technology.
- Research
- Fast research tool.
- Record-keeping
- Can store vast amounts of data in one place that is easier & faster to retrieve than it would be from a physical library.
- Widespread
- No worrries about wasting money on a fad; easy to obtain; relatively inexpensive.
- Power
- Uses very little.
- Size
- Portable: Can be used in hardware devices of any size.
- Networking
- Two heads are often better than one. PC power shared over long distances along with the speed & convenience of e-mail.
- Encryption
- Makes it easier to hide your personal & confidential information from others.
- Solid state
- Less moving parts to breakdown &/or go wrong - can last your lifetime.
- Counting
- Fast & accurate.
- Easier mathematical calculations
- Less work for humans when trading with one another.
- No boredom
- Humans are freed to do less repetitive work that is inherently error-prone - for humans to do.
- No fatigue
- Does not make mistakes through tiredness.
- No errors
- Computers cannot possibly makes mistakes - only their programmers.
- Personal organisers
- Can schedule ones day with reminders of prioriised tasks.
- Speed
- Faster than humans since electrons move fast.
- Reliability & Accuracy
- Repetitive work is done automatically; producing less errors and more consistency than with humans.
- Separates Form from Content.
- Content comes first and so should be better since input is separated from output.
- Separates Input from Output.
- Content comes first and so should be better since input is separated from output. This also means that editing is made simpler before the production of a final version of the document: No need for tear-up documents with errors and start again; producing less physical waste.
- Establish relationshsips between different sets of data
- Data sets can be automatically analysed for relationships that would often pass by unnoticed or takes ages to define; eg,
How many 30-to-40-year-old, White, male bus drivers live in Chicago
.
PC DISBENEFITS:
- Research
- Unreliable research tool.
- Networking
- A chain is only as strong as its weakest link; Spam.
- Intelligence
- Computers cannot think - they can only mimic.
- Usability
- Weak user interfaces are the norm.
WORLD-WIDE WEB (www) BENEFITS:
- Single documents for Multiple audiences
- The Web allows for the creation of single documents for multiple audiences. Tooltips and hyperlinks mean that documents can be written for advanced users - the links are used by beginners to define terms that they may be unfamiliar with. An advanced reader can scan information quickly without the need for explanations of terms they already know; while the beginner can quickly find meanings if they do not know them. Thus, only one document need be created rather than, say, three: Beginner; Intermediate; Advanced.
- Hyperlinks
- The Web is inherently based on hyprlinking. This saves having to re-invent the wheel since readers can be referred to other Web documents that the author, then, no longer has to write. Documents can thus be brief and to-the-point without losing content, clarity & depth. Hyperlinks are a modern form of See also-type cross-references - usually found in printed book indexes - that are used to take you to another hypertext page for more detailed information on a given subject. It also extends the way printed books work by also allowing for sound & moving pictures to be included in documents.
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