Honey, IT just shrunk the globe<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): In just a matter of decades, the technology has
\nvirtually shrunk the globe. Everything seems to be within reach
\nnowadays.<\/p>\n
Put a tiny house-for-sale advertisement on the web, and soon
\nenough offers will come flooding in.<\/p>\n
Reporters no longer need to lug around bulky suitcases to
\ncarry their laptops and heavy satellite discs in to transmit news
\nstories from remote places, dense jungles or mountain tops. With
\na palm-sized PDA and a pocket-sized cell phone, news can be
\ntransmitted to their offices in seconds.<\/p>\n
Parents need not fly to Singapore, the Netherlands or the
\nStates to consult with experts regarding their child's autism.
\nThey can now simply log on to websites which provide information
\nand advice of specialists regarding this behavioral abnormality.<\/p>\n
"After a series of discussions on autism at a discussion room
\nin the Internet, a noted American doctor has agreed to come to
\nJakarta soon. We will jointly pay for his airfare and
\naccommodation here," Johansyah, a member of the discussion group,
\nsaid recently.<\/p>\n
Some university lecturers here have even created their own
\nwebsites to keep students posted of his or her schedules, or to
\nleave questions or notes. Others give out their e-mail address
\nfor the same purpose.<\/p>\n
"I find e-mails very helpful, particularly with students
\npreparing their thesis under my supervision, and I can check them
\nat any place and at anytime." said a sociology lecturer from the
\nUniversity of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Housewives even run their own businesses from home while
\ncaring for their children.<\/p>\n
Other working women "watch over" their children from a
\ndistance, again thanks to the technology revolution.<\/p>\n
All they need to do is balance their work and family life.<\/p>\n
A mother of five, Eileen O'Connor, who is a CNN anchor and
\nreporter, admitted that she and her husband have limited time for
\ntheir three older children who are always asking for help with
\ntheir homework, but fortunately they are "saved" by the World
\nWide Web.<\/p>\n
In a story written on CNN's website, the former White House
\ncorrespondent said:<\/p>\n
"I know that to do homework, one has to listen to the
\nteacher's instruction, write down the assignment in the notebook
\nand remember which books to take home.<\/p>\n
"My fourth grader keeps forgetting one book or the other and
\nso she now writes down what books she needs beneath the
\nassignment.<\/p>\n
"Just as the process of looking things up in books is part of
\nlearning, so is the process of using the WWW.<\/p>\n
"When I look up things on the Internet, I find other
\ninformation, so I end up exploring and learning even more.
\nTechnology is a learning and living tool that children must also
\nlearn to navigate.<\/p>\n
"Just as I see the potential of using online resources, I am
\nalso concerned that it could become too easy.<\/p>\n
"I do not want my children to rely too heavily on whatever
\npops up on a screen, believing it all too readily. They need to
\nlook at it with a critical eye and -- yes, my husband is right --
\nfind a number of sources to compare it with," O'Connor said.<\/p>\n
Unlike O'Connor, who utilizes the advanced IT for time
\nefficiency, many IT-savvy people have turned their hobbies and
\nskills into money-making businesses, without having to rent a
\ncostly, cozy and well-equipped office.<\/p>\n
They run their companies from home, with their spouse and
\nchildren around them.<\/p>\n
They are usually suppliers and distributors and all promotions
\nand transactions are done with a click of the mouse.<\/p>\n
In a bid to lure more buyers, some have opened "traditional"
\nshowrooms, meaning real ones.<\/p>\n
"We now have to rent a space at Ratu Plaza (shopping center in
\nSouth Jakarta) for our sales office and showroom to display the
\nproducts we have," said Mizrina Kairawati Lubis of Arzabuana, an
\nauthorized dealer for Intel and Hewlett Packard products.<\/p>\n
"But it doesn't mean that we have to stop our digital business
\nactivities at home, which is our head office and workshop," she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Dr. John V. Pavlik, executive director and a professor of the
\nCenter for New Media at Columbia University Graduate School of
\nJournalism in the United States of America, acknowledged that
\nadvanced technology really helps him in his hectic schedule.<\/p>\n
"When my students want to meet with me, they look up my
\nschedule posted at Visto.com\/guests," said the author of
\nJournalism and New Media.<\/p>\n
"After entering a password, they check my guest calendar to
\nsee when I am free and then e-mail me to book an appointment.
\nThis reduces time spent 'playing tag' by voice mail and e-mail,"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Pavlik said he could access his Visto.com account with a Web
\nbrowser from anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n
"My students would prefer to talk to my assistant, and there
\nmight be advantages to this, such as prioritizing certain
\nappointments.<\/p>\n
The only problem is, I do not have a human assistant. My staff
\nbudget does not quite have room for one, so having a digital
\nalternative is a win for both my students and me," he said.<\/p>\n
"I am a mobile, sometimes seemingly nomadic, person,
\nconstantly traveling from coast-to-coast and abroad. But
\naccessing my documents on the road is no longer a problem.<\/p>\n
"In fact, it has never been easier. When I create a document,
\nwhether text or multimedia, I not only save it on the hard drive
\nof my PC, floppy or Jaz disk, but also back it up on my password-
\nprotected, free online hard drive at driveway.com, DocSpace.com
\nor freedrive.com.<\/p>\n
"These sites provide me with many megabytes of free storage. I
\ncan keep files on them of any size, as long as they do not exceed
\nthe entire online hard drive capacity. Then I can access those
\nfiles from anywhere by using a browser.<\/p>\n
"I can also create 'public' folders in which I put files I
\nlike to share with others. People can log on and access files
\nsuch as photos and papers.<\/p>\n
"So when I travel I do not have to bring every document or
\ndisk that I might conceivably need. I just need a PC with Web
\naccess to get to my stored material. Moreover, should my PC
\ncrash, or should I misplace a floppy or Jaz disk, or if the
\nbuilding's network crashes or my office catches fire, I still
\nhave the files backed up somewhere," Pavlik said.<\/p>\n
Receiving faxes online, he said, means he does not have to
\nwade through the dozens that pile up in the mail room in the
\njournalism school's shared fax machine.<\/p>\n
"When someone wants to send me a fax, I give him or her my
\nnumber at www.efax.com, as it automatically sends the document as
\nan attachment to my Yahoo e-mail account. I can print the e-fax
\nor keep it in digital format, accessible globally via the Web,"
\nPavlik explained.<\/p>\n
A similar service can be found at www.fax4free.com.<\/p>\n
Pavlik also often send faxes via the Internet to just about
\nanywhere via TPC Fax at www.tpc.int\/sendfax.html.<\/p>\n
"Same advantages; no wading, little waiting," he said.<\/p>\n
It is now a common phenomenon, being "hyperconnected".<\/p>\n
But perhaps the biggest practical problems with building a
\ndigital personal information space are security and privacy.<\/p>\n
All these businesses are of course not giving out free faxing,
\nonline hard drives and digital guest calendars just to make our
\nlives easier.<\/p>\n
They are building a business out of e-commerce -- and they are
\ndelivering targeted advertisements and tracking your online
\nactivity each time you log on.<\/p>\n
Before registering at any site, be wise to review the privacy
\npolicies closely.<\/p>\n
"Once your details are out there in cyberspace, even protected
\nby a password, clever computer hackers may be able to unlock your
\nfile and look at -- or even steal -- your personal information,"
\nPavlik reminded.<\/p>\n
"They can, conceivably, see what time I have logged on, where
\nI am working from, and read what I am working on," he added.<\/p>\n
Well, we have just been discussing the current information
\ntechnology and how it can shrink distance and time.<\/p>\n
Can you imagine how small the globe would seem in the coming
\ndecades?<\/p>\n
-- K. Basrie<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/honey-it-just-shrunk-the-globe-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }