Chapter 18: Technology in the Workplace

Information Technology

The Role of Information Technology

• People depend on getting information quickly and easily.
• Information technology (IT) uses computing, electronics, and telecommunications to process and distribute information in digital and other forms.
• Telecommunications is the transmission of information over communication lines.
  • This covers many technologies, including telephones and computer networks.
• Computers are an important part of information technology.
  • So are telephones, fax machines, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other handheld devices.
• Millions of employees work from home.
• IT makes these innovations possible.

How Technology Has Changed the Workplace

• New technology makes it possible to do tasks in different ways.
• Electronic mail, or e-mail, allows workers to communicate with others electronically.
• Wearable computers, manufacturing technology, and specialized software allow more work flexibility.
• Telecommuting is an arrangement that allows employees to work at home while communicating with the workplace by phone, fax, or modem.
• A wearable computer is a small portable computer designed to be used while it is worn on the body.
• Computer-aided design (CAD) is software for designing products with a computer.
  • With CAD, engineers can design without paper.
  • By using CAD and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) programs together, companies can custom-design and make products.
• Most manufacturing plants are partly automated.
  • Robots and computer-controlled machine tools do much of the work.
• Electronic information transfer allows tasks to be done quicker.
  • For example, many companies electronically transfer paychecks to employees’ bank accounts
  • They can use an automatic teller machine (ATM) or their own computer to transfer funds from one bank account to another.
• Virtual training allows people to simulate a real situation using a computer.
• Virtual reality is also used in training. Virtual reality is an artificial, three-dimensional visual world created by a computer.
  • In a virtual world, the computer re-creates places and actions that seem real.

Internet Basics

The Internet

• The Internet is a global computer network.
  • It connects many computer networks, allowing information to flow freely around the world.
• The World Wide Web is part of the Internet.
  • The World Wide Web (or simply the Web) is a system for accessing, changing, and downloading a large set of hypertext-linked documents and other files located on computers connected through the Internet.
• Hypertext is a computer language that allows Internet users to access stored images, text, and other files.
  • It enables direct links to related text, images, sound, and other data.
• The Internet is not owned or controlled by any one person or country.
• The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international association in which member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards.
• A Web browser is a program used for displaying and viewing pages on the Web.
• A search engine is a computer program that can produce a list of documents related to a given topic.
• An intranet is a computer network used by an organization.
  • It works like the Internet, but its access is restricted to authorized users.
• An extranet is an extension of the intranet of a company or organization.
  • It gives authorized users controlled access to the intranet.

Managing Technology Threats

• A hacker is a person who illegally gains access to and sometimes tampers with information in a computer system. Internet users are especially open to security risks.
• Companies use software tools to track computer users online.
• Many Web sites that users visit send cookies to their computer.
  • Cookies are bits of information about a computer user that are stored on that computer’s hard drive.
  • Those who do not want companies to store and use their personal information must reject or delete cookies.
• A computer virus is a program that can insert copies of itself into a computer without the user’s knowledge, often damaging stored data.
  • Viruses are a problem for computer users.
• Security programs such as anti-virus software protect against different types of viruses.
• Spyware is software that tracks what a user does on the Internet.
• A firewall is computer software that prevents unauthorized access to system software or data on a user’s computer.