The information revolution: Applications of IT

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Applications of IT

This section indicates the wide application of IT in modern society. Many of the devices and systems listed here are described later in this book.

• The home. Radio and TV broadcasting, and home video and audio systems, have had a major impact on our lives. Today, these systems increasingly incorporate microchips, and are able to process information not just in the form of sound and image but data and text also. Thus TV sets are used, for example, to pick up and display Ceefax and Oracle transmissions. Washing machines, microwave ovens, cookers, and other home appliances are now controlled by microchips. Quite new kinds of products, which would not have been possible without the microchip, are now commonplace - such as the digital watch, video games, the electronic musical keyboard, and the home computer.

In the future, many of these home devices will prob­ably be linked together and controlled by a computer. This means, for example, that if you are out for the day on a family trip and delayed home, you will be able to phone through to your computer and so reprogram the oven, set the video to record the programme you will otherwise miss, make sure the burglar alarm is on, close the curtains, and switch on the lights to simulate people at home.

• The office. Modern photocopiers, calculators, and type­ writers are controlled by microchips. Most important of all, of course, is the computer, which is able to carry out all types of office task from writing letters and reports to producing charts and graphs and controlling projects.

• The factory. Nowadays, products are often designed using computer-aided design techniques. In the factory itself, the equipment and processes may be controlled by microchips. Even the warehousing of the finished products may be computer-controlled.

• Transport and communications. Telecommunications systems, including the telephone network, are increas­ ingly computer-controlled, as are transport systems such as railways and the underground. Microchips are increasingly used in cars and other vehicles, and in the future may be connected via telecommunications links to traffic-control computers.

• Education and training. Computers and educational software are widely used in schools and colleges. Multi­ media learning materials - such as video material stored on video disk or video tape and linked to computers to form interactive video systems - have been found to be very effective and are growing in popularity.

• The arts. Computers are now being applied to all the main forms of art. They can synthesize music, to provide a wide range of musical sounds and effects, and they can instantly alter musical variables such as pitch, timbre, tempo, and loudness. Computer animation, which made possible a number of films of the Star Wars variety, is now becoming an art form in its own right. Computer graphics, video titling, and other techniques are also being widely used in TV and video production. Even painters can now use computer systems to compose their pictures electronically.

• Retailing, law enforcement, and defence. In retailing, microprocessor-based point-of-sale systems are com­ monplace, and there are often links between these and the banking system, so that goods can be purchased by directly debiting the customer's account. In law enforce­ ment, computers are being used to increase police efficiency in fighting crime. One of the biggest users of microprocessors is now the military, with its computer­ ized battle-management systems, guided missiles, and other hardware.

This list is far from comprehensive, but it illustrates the extent of the impact of IT on our lives.

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