The Impact of Computer Use

On Teenagers’ Life
A computer is a general purpose device
that can be programmed to carry out a set of
arithmetic or logical operations automatically.
Since a sequence of operations can be readily
changed, the computer can solve more than
one kind of problem.
Can You Trust Your Computer?

Introduction
. Computers are more and more universal because its price is decreasing; in
addition, people can’t live without computers, and they offer a lot of attractions to
people.
With the development of computers, the price becomes cheaper and cheaper, so
more and more people begin to use them. At first, computers can only be used by
the rich. At that time, people never imagine that computers will be used in daily
life and change the world. Now they have become a part of our life, such as,
television, fridge and washing machine. In the future, computers will be cheaper
and cheaper. The scientists will invent more and more functions in computers.
When the first personal computer appeared, people couldn’t imagine it will change
the world.

Lots of people can’t live without computer for one day. We are too dependent on
computers. Now we can find wi-fi everywhere because businessmen know that
people like taking their computers everywhere. If a restaurant, hotel and cafe have
wi-fi, many customers will be attracted to those places. We rely too much on the
computer.

On the other hand, using computers let us learn more knowledge easily. We can
get news as soon as possible. Due to computers, we also like to learn new things
now. We think it is interesting to learn something from it. You can find pictures,
videos and some good essays on computers; in addition, using computers gives us
chances to discuss some questions with other people. It makes us know the world
easier and faster. With more and more people depending on computers, people
can’t do some easy operations in daily life. When people find some problems, they
will open their computer as soon as possible and search the questions on Google.
We like to use computer to watch film, play games and do our homework. We use
FaceBook, Twitter and Youtube. It becomes very important in our lives. We can’t
help browsing these websites every day. We all get a disease which is called
Computer Disease. The computer is very useful and interesting for us, but we can’t
be too dependent on it.

Consequently, the computer is good invention and it has a big influence over the
world, but we should use it suitably. The computer is cheaper and more and more
people have it; in addition, someone can’t live without computer everyday and the
computer fascinates us. I think the computer is very useful and exciting, but we
should control time for using it.

Etymology
The first use of the word “computer” was recorded in 1613 in a book called “The
young mans gleanings” by English writer Richard Braithwait I haue read the truest
computer of Times, and the best Arithmetician that euer breathed, and he reduceth
thy dayes into a short number. It referred to a person who carried out calculations,
or computations, and the word continued with the same meaning until the middle
of the 20th century. From the end of the 19th century the word began to take on its
more familiar meaning, a machine that carries out computations.

History
Rudimentary calculating devices first appeared in antiquity and mechanical
calculating aids were invented in the 17th century. The first recorded use of the
word "computer" is also from the 17th century, applied to human computers,
people who performed calculations, often as employment. The first computer
devices were conceived of in the 19th century, and only emerged in their modern
form in the 1940s.
First general-purpose computing device

Charles Babbage, an English mechanical engineer , originated the concept of a

programmable computer. Considered the "father of the computer", he
conceptualized and invented the first mechanical computer in the early 19th
century.
The machine was about a century ahead of its time. All the parts for his machine
had to be made by hand - this was a major problem for a device with thousands of
parts. Eventually, the project was dissolved with the decision of the British
Government to cease funding. Babbage's failure to complete the analytical engine
can be chiefly attributed to difficulties not only of politics and financing, but also
to his desire to develop an increasingly sophisticated computer and to move ahead
faster than anyone else could follow. Nevertheless his son, Henry Babbage,
completed a simplified version of the analytical engine's computing unit in 1888.
He gave a successful demonstration of its use in computing tables in 1906.
Early analog computers

During the first half of the 20th century, many scientific computing needs were
met by increasingly sophisticated analog computers, which used a direct
mechanical or electrical model of the problem as a basis for computation.
However, these were not programmable and generally lacked the versatility and
accuracy of modern digital computers.
The first modern analog computer was a tide-predicting machine, invented by Sir
William Thomson in 1872. The differential analyser, a mechanical analog
computer designed to solve differential equations by integration using wheel-and-
disc mechanisms, was conceptualized in 1876 by James Thomson.
The art of mechanical analog computing reached its zenith with the differential
analyzer, built by H. L. Hazen and Vannevar Bush in 1927. This built on the
mechanical integrators of James Thomson and the torque amplifiers invented by H.
W. Nieman. A dozen of these devices were built before their obsolescence became
obvious.
The modern computer age begins

The first electromechanical computers

Early digital computers were electromechanical; electric switches drove
mechanical relays to perform the calculation. These devices had a low operating
speed and were eventually superseded by much faster all-electric computers,
originally using vacuum tubes. The Z2, created by German engineer Konrad
Zuse in 1939, was one of the earliest examples of an electromechanical relay
computer.
Stored program computers eliminate the need for re-wiring

Early computing machines had fixed programs. Changing its function required the
re-wiring and re-structuring of the machine. With the proposal of the stored-
program computer this changed. A stored-program computer includes by design
an instruction set and can store in memory a set of instructions (a program) that
details the computation. The theoretical basis for the stored-program computer was
laid by Alan Turing in his 1936 paper. In 1945 Turing joined the National Physical
Laboratory and began work on developing an electronic stored-program digital
computer. His 1945 report ‘Proposed Electronic Calculator’ was the first
specification for such a device. John von Neumann at the University of
Pennsylvania, also circulated his First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC in 1945.

The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, nicknamed Baby, was the

world's first stored-program computer. It was built at the Victoria University of
Manchester by Frederic C. Williams, Tom Kilburn and Geoff Tootill, and ran its
first program on 21 June 1948.It was designed as a testbedfor the Williams
tube the first random-access digital storage device. Although the computer was
considered "small and primitive" by the standards of its time, it was the first
working machine to contain all of the elements essential to a modern electronic
computer. At least seven of these later machines were delivered between 1953
and 1957, one of them to Shell labs in Amsterdam. In October 1947, the directors
of British catering company J. Lyons & Company decided to take an active role in
promoting the commercial development of computers. The LEO I computer
became operational in April 1951 [30] and ran the world's first regular routine office
computer job.
The next great advance in computing power came with the advent of the integrated
circuit. The idea of the integrated circuit was first conceived by a radar scientist
working for theRoyal Radar Establishment of the Ministry of Defence, Geoffrey
W.A. Dummer. Dummer presented the first public description of an integrated
circuit at the Symposium on Progress in Quality Electronic Components
in Washington, D.C. on 7 May 1952.
This new development heralded an explosion in the commercial and personal use
of computers and led to the invention of the microprocessor. While the subject of
exactly which device was the first microprocessor is contentious, partly due to lack
of agreement on the exact definition of the term "microprocessor", it is largely
undisputed that the first single-chip microprocessor was the Intel 4004designed
and realized by Ted Hoff, Federico Faggin, and Stanley Mazor at Intel.
Mobility and the growth of smartphone computers
With the continued miniaturization of computing resources, and advancements in
portable battery life, portable computers grew in popularity in the 1990s.The same
developments that spurred the growth of laptop computers and other portable
computers allowed manufacturers to integrate computing resources into cellular
phones. These so-called smartphones run on a variety of operating systems and are
rapidly becoming the dominant computing device on the market, with
manufacturers reporting having shipped an estimated 237 million devices in 2Q
2013.

Can You Trust Your Computer?

The rapid revolution in technology affected our lifestyle drastically and led us to
believe that our lives have changed for the better. Now communication with our
distant friends or relatives, buying branded products or goods on-the-go and
conducting business meeting is possible with just a single click. We believe that all
these changes have made our lives more comfortable than before.

Computers today are becoming as important part of our lives as pen and paper
were about fifty years ago. There can be no denying that this is because of many
benefits we get from using computers. .

The major advantage of using computers

 A computer allows a person to manipulate data easily and quickly, create

text documents, edit them, print them, manipulate images, print them, send
text and images over the Internet, download information over the Internet,
interact with other people easily from home, keep records of transactions,
activities, plan trips, and generally do far more than a person without a
computer.
 You can also play games and post blogs and other stuff.
 Computers help children to be in control of their experience, to set their own
pace, and to select the level of challenge with which they feel comfortable.
 Computers fascinate kids and can draw their full attention, which often
results in a deeper focus and concentration.
 Computers enable children to learn through creating, just as they gain hands-
on knowledge and understanding when they build forts, make up stories, and
paint, increase their skills.
 Computers are helpful because they offer a wide range of functions and
services that are not available anywhere else.
 There are four main uses: word processing, internet/communications, digital
video/audio composition, and desktop publishing.
 It saves time by quick manipulation of data as compared to when done
manually. The errors in data processing are minimized when a computer is
used.
 It has helped in making communication easier by using internet.
  It stores, retrieves, and processes a large amount of data.
 It helps in multitasking of various jobs.

Every coin has two sides.

This simple statement is truer and clearer than one may realize. It is an established
fact that nothing interesting is one-sided. Every little thing is this world has its pros
and cons; nothing is perfect. This is especially true for electronic devices,
prominent among them being the computer. You would be shocked to know that it
was categorized as being among the 40 most health-damaging jobs.

Computerization has brought about a revolution in the world. The machine is

desperately and heavily used every where - in schools, at home, in companies,
institutions, and so on. No doubting its valuable contribution in the fields of space,
agriculture, defense, education, etc., but after a period, it does have some negative
effects. Some of these influences are as follows.

Effects on Education

As mentioned before, this machine has contributed effectively to the field of

education. With the click of a button, one can gather all the possible information
they want. However, what is happening today is that even children who cannot
read and write yet, are already used to this machine. They develop at a very early
age, the habit of playing on the computers for hours on end. Where were the good
old days of outdoor play? At the age of four and five, they are already playing
games and operating software. While this is good in the sense that it makes
children tech-savvy, it is very harmful as well, as they get addicted to this machine
and start misusing it over time. The actual interaction between the teacher and
students has long gone. The Internet does provide a million online learning courses
of course, but in some cases, instead of simplifying the education system, new
complications have arisen.

Effects on Health

According to the latest research, this device does not improve our health, and it can
seriously damage our system when it is improperly used. Manufacturers assert that
the devices are absolutely harmless. Research though, has a different story to tell.
When we work on this machine, staring at the monitor, we need to read, type,
analyze, correct mistakes, and perhaps do all that more than once. The eyes have to
try adjusting to all that pressure, and the eyesight may be damaged. People
working for long hours on this machine have the most health complaints because
of muscle and joint diseases. This might be restricted to neck torpor, pain in the
shoulders, in the loins, etc. However, there can be more grievous problems such as
the carpal tunnel syndrome, which refers to the damage of arm nerves due to the
excessive time spent working on the PC.

The negative effects of computers on our eyes can be referred to as CVS

(Computer Vision Syndrome), which includes dryness of the eyes, eyestrain,
backache, neck ache, wrist ache, reduced acuity of vision, distress, reduced
capacity of concentration, and so on.

The reasons for these health-related problems are - the excess of information and
the electromagnetic fields.

Excess of Information: Our heart spends energy for blood circulation, and our
lungs need energy for breathing. When it comes to our brain, it requires energy for
managing pieces of information. Some scientists consider that the human brain
uses 1,200 Kcal every day. Thus, the problem occurs when our brain needs to take
away the energy resources from other organs in order to supplement for the energy
lapse it has to face. Because of that, people are often under a high level of mental
pressure, which may lead to anxiety, lack of energy, emotional instability, and
inefficiency in completing the required work.

Electromagnetic Fields: Electromagnetic fields affect the biological processes of

our body. People might feel dizziness because of exposure to weak
electromagnetic fields. That is because those low-intensity fields reduce the
intensity of blood pressure. For that reason, we are very likely to sense a decrease
in our body temperature after overusing the laptop.
Effects on Society

We have become so addicted to this device, that we rarely communicate with

people around us. We are capable of working alone due to this device, instead of
collaborating with colleagues, if we were to do the work manually. The work
environment has been severely affected due to this lack of interaction, thus
promoting an anti-social culture. Worse still, and melodramatic though it may
sound, it has brought about weak human bonds. If one is not a member of a social
networking site, he/she is shunned away. People spend more time on these sites
than talking with friends and family.

General Effects

This point might be categorized more under a disadvantage rather than a harmful
influence. Since the advent of this machine and the Internet, people have nowadays
begun to misuse it for various reasons. Hacking is a prime hazard. People have
found ways to circumvent security issues and access private data, which is no less
than a crime. They introduce spyware and malware in people's machines. Personal
data is being accessed illegally. Graphic software like Adobe PhotoShop, has been
wrongly used to create pornographic videos. Computer crimes have come on the
forefront, and little action is taken against the offenders.

All said and done, we have to admit that the harmful influence of the computer is
brought about by all of us. We need to know how carefully and legally to use it,
and where to draw the line. As regards to health issues, we need to take certain
precautions so that we stay away from the negative effects.

Conclusion
Computers play an important role in our life. We can't imagine our life without
them. We use computers for studying and for communication. I think, computers
are a great invention of our time. They help us to find all the necessary information
very quickly and easily, so it saves our time and helps us to gain new knowledge.

Computers today are becoming as important part of our lives as pen and paper
were about fifty years ago. There can be no denying that this is because of many
benefits we get from using computers.

But there is another point of view. A lot of people are sure that a computer
damages our health and intellect. For example, it is dangerous for our vision, and
many people suffer from their obesity because they sit for a long time in front of
the computer. That’s why some people want to forbid computers. I don’t agree
with these people. Though, what I said above is true, you shouldn’t sit in front of
the computer all day long and visit doubtful Internet sites.

All in all, one can conclude that any device if used ethically, is tremendously
useful. On the other hand, if it is used in an illegal way, it is bound to cause
trouble.

In conclusion I would like to stress that I’m for the computer because it helps us in
many ways. And, of course, I agree that the problems connected with the computer
are serious, and we should do everything possible to solve these problems.