Discussion Question 4/27/11

1- Is the Turing test a valid test of intelligence? Why or why not?

The Turing test being a valid test of intelligence all depends. It depends on the way that the computer is built, so generally I would say that it is not a valid test of intelligence. You never know when a computer can be wrong if you yourself do not know the answer to a question, so it is (generally) not a valid test of intelligence.

2- List several mental task that people do better than computers. List several mental tasks that computers do better than people. Can you find any general characteristics that distinguish the items on the two lists?

A mental task that humans do better than computers is the feel of emotion. Since computers do not have emotion, it is obvious that a human would do this better than them. A task that a computer does better than a person would is keep the names of something (say a list of groceries). Since humans tend to forget easily, and computers never forget anything, the computer would be a better mental task holder. Generally the characteristics of computers are good memory and for humans are emotion.

Discussion Question 4/15/11

You are planning on starting your own business selling clothes. Discuss pros and cons for starting an e-business.You are planning on starting your own business selling clothes. Selling clothes using e-commerce is an effective way to start a business. If one does not have the resources to open up their own shop (which is usually the case), then he can start out by creating an account on ebay for free and start buying and selling there. Also, he will be working at the comfort of his home computer. A con about this, however, is that advertising is a little bit harder. Using e-commerce doesnt make your buying and selling an official store, so not as many people will know about your business. This causes less profitable funds from the items you have, because less people are aware of your business.

Chapter 13 Reading Questions, Part 2

6) What is the purpose of an extranet? What are the main characteristics?

The main purpose of this technology is to let the outsiders for the firm to communicate with the organization as when required. Extranet use the same protocols as intranet for the sake of data sharing and communication through web with little enhanced security and privacy.

7) Describe some of the issues a company must deal with to successfully conduct business with consumers over the internet.

In order to successfully conduct business with consumers on the internet, companies must ensure to the user that they have legit business transactions, because people do not want to be scammed. The main issue is trust in the website, and if a business can get a consumer to trust them, then they are good to go.

8) List the capabilities e-commerce software should provide

E-commerce software should provide an easy way for users to buy and sell the products that they are trading, for this is the most essential part and the foundation of e-commerce. It should provide users control to edit prices, items, etc.

9) Describe some ethical issues involved in electronic commerce.

There are a few, but two that immediately pop into mind are integrity and global equalization. As for integrity, the e-commerce sites must make sure that it is nearly impossible to hack them, because people can get scammed and that will lead to a lot of trouble. As for global equalization, if an e-commerce business wants to exceed, they must make sure users all over the world have access, so they must set up global shipping.

Discussion Question

If someone discovers a cure for the common cold, should he or she hide it to protect the jobs of all the people who work in the huge cold-medicine industry? Identify reasons why so many people react negatively to advances in technology that eliminates some jobs. A person who finds something important to human life such as a cure for the common cold should make it public so that everyone benefits from it. Hiding it would protect the jobs of those who work in the cold-medicine industry, but that is a minority when compared to the billions of people in the world who would benefit from this cure. People react negatively to the advances in technology because they threaten jobs, and in economic times like these that is one of the most important things.

Chapter 13 Reading Questions, Part 1

2) Is e-commerce possible without the Internet? Explain your answer.

E-commerce is not possible without the Internet, because that is the foundation of e-commerce. Without the internet, it would just be a normal business. That is why there is an "e" before commerce

3) Describe the three forms of e-commerce.

-B2B: E-commerce transactions between businesses

-B2C: E-commerce transactions between businesses and customers

-C2C (consumer to consumer): the e-commerce model which represents individuals, organizations, or companies that are selling and buying directly from each other via the Internet

4) What are the purposes of an intranet? What are the main characteristics?

The intranet popular type of network used by many organizations around the world to keep their businesses more paperless and their employees more productive. It features networking protocols that the standard Internet uses, such as the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol and the Hypertext Transfer Protocol.

5) What are three important ways companies use intranets?

Companies use intranet to allow information access for employees, internal business transactions and in order to work together effectively.

Chapter 11 Reading Questions, Part 2

7) Describe several controversies surrounding the electronic sweat shop.

Majority of the workers face racism and sexism due to their backgrounds and female gender. They also experience health issues such as back problems from the shop.

8) Why is education critical for our future as we automate more jobs?

Technology is making huge advancements, and so humanity needs to make advancements along with them. As technology increases, so will our IQ levels need to increase.

10.) What kind of education does a student to prepare for living and working in the information age?

Students must prepare for different working conditions, they need to be familiar with technology and just be able to be prepared literately and mathematically

15) Describe several ways people use home computers

People use home computers in a lot of different ways. They can be used for online resources, news articles, home businesses, jobs, etc.

Discussion Questions 4/6/11

Do computers increase or decrease efficiency?

They do both. Computers can increase efficiency when the user is hard at work and doing everything he is asked to do. However you can also take it the other way and say if a user is distracted by the vast world of the internet, then a computer would only do harm and decrease his efficiency.

What are some fears generated by the use of tech/computers in the work place?

Using a computer at a work place will more likely than not mean using private information that you do not want people getting into such as email information or credit card info. When at a work place, you risk exposing this information to others if you forget to sign out or clear your history.

List 3 jobs/skills that have become obsolete in the 21st century and 3 jobs/skills that have taken their place.

Blue print makers (hand-drawn), have been replaced by blue print makers using a computer

Map makers (hand-drawn), have been replaced by map websites such as Google Maps

Elevator Operators, have been replaced by pressing buttons (originally they were manually controlled by humans)

Chapter 11 Reading Questions, Part 1

2.) What are the major components of the modern automated factory?

Some of the major components are robots and computers in general

4) What are the advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting from the point of view of the worker? Management? Society?

Some of the advantages include increased job satisfaction for the worker and higher productivity for the management. Disadvantages include distractions and security concerns for the worker and management, respectively.

5) Describe several software tools used by managers, and explain how they help them do their jobs.

There are several software tools that managers can use but it all depends on the time of manager he is (i.e where he works). Most managers, however, will use a spreadsheet because it is an efficient and organized way to keep data of a large amount of employees. Other software managers might use include calculator, Word, etc.

6) What is de-skilling? what is up-skilling? Give examples of each.

De-skilling is making a job easier so less skill is required, and Up-skilling is the exact opposite. An example would be one-click items for cashiers instead of putting the prices manually for de-skilling and engineers might have to solve problems that calculators can for up-skilling.