Smart Phones Beneficial or Detrimental - Research Paper Example

Smart Phones Beneficial or Detrimental Background: Smart phones have successfully achieved an important place in the current world scenario. Being initiated in the year 1984 as Psion Organizer II, smart phones have today, with the virtues of rapid technological advancements, gained an astonishing pace in the daily lives of humankind. As a result, smart phones are now available in new models from different brands such as Nokia N95, Blackberry and Samsung among others with upgraded features. Aim: The aim of the essay is to recognize and critically evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of smart phones in the modern day lifestyles of humankind. Conclusion: Today, because of the vibrant qualities of smart phones, these devices have become almost necessary for business purposes, in educational sectors and altogether in the society. Similar to any other invention, smart phones are also not without its disadvantages irrespective of the virtues it attempts to reward to the humankind today. Nevertheless, its pros and cons in terms of its uses depend entirely on the intentions of the user owing to which, smart phones can neither be confirmed as an advantageous innovation, nor can it be alleged as disadvantageous. Introduction A smartphone is a device which is constructed on mobile operating system with the incorporation of advanced connectivity as well as computing facility as compared to other feature phones. In the modern day context of essentialized rapid connectivity, smartphone has captured the imagination of the people throughout the world. It has provided the users with significant flexibility and convenience to execute varied tasks from a single hand-held device. Nowadays, through smart phones, it has become possible to capture high resolution pictures that can be edited after the photos have been captured. It can also be stated that through smart phones, a number of official documents can be created, edited and uploaded to the Cloud through Cloud Computing. It is in this context that convenient and efficient scope of using internet facilities is a key feature of smart phone. Smart phone also comprises Global Positioning System (GPS) for searching latest news, views and updates from around the world along with certain other valuable applications for the user (Guo, Wang, & Zhu, 2004). Taking into account the historic transitions in the lifestyles of human beings it can be observed that people began their journey with the technological aspects through mobile phones. As time went on and with the up-gradation of technology, the tastes and the preferences of people also change. People using feature mobile phones are now significantly inclining towards using smart phones particular to satisfy the increasing need of their changing lifestyles. With the Operating Systems, smart phones open Application Programming Interface (API) and sophisticated competences provide competitive services, creating opportunities for crimes in terms of safety breaches and spreading of viruses in the related context. In this related context, it can be stated that the usage of smart phones possess a number of pros and a few limitations as well which can be identified through business and social perspectives. Generally from the point of view of business perspectives, certain beneficial aspects of smartphone include its application of Google, application of Android Operating System in the market, Open Sources and Active Sync. Similarly, detrimental facets from consumer or business perspective comprise its limited life of battery, fragmentation and application related complexities which can discourage a person to own a smart phone at certain instances (Wei, Chandran, Chang, Chang & Nichols, 2009). Similarly, in relation to the social context, the usage of smart phone in the educational sector has certain beneficial aspects for students. For instance, with the virtues of smart phones students are able to gather a variety of information from a broader context moving beyond their traditional study materials from around the world through convenient as well as rapid access of internet. On the contrary, excessive use of smart phones also can result in loss of time for students owing to the fact that at times they might engage making unnecessary communication with their peers or friends through advanced chatting or other features provided in smartphone negatively influencing their concentration upon their academic objectives. In other words, smart phones at times can make students distracted from the basic requirements of gathering knowledge and performing necessary activities such as focusing on reading and writing skills, as well as hampering their concentration at large (The George Lucas Educational Foundation, 2012). Essay Map and Thesis Statement The essay intends to provide a thorough reviewed analysis of the benefits and the detrimental aspects that have been observed due to the usage of smartphone. The analysis will be based upon the key issue identified in the essay. The question to be considered in this regard can be framed as, “In what terms, smartphones can be regarded as beneficial or detrimental for the society and the users in different segments”. The essay will proceed by conducting a literature review and a background assessment in relation to the issue in concern. The key focus of the review would be thereby to identify from various researches regarding the viewpoints of the authors concerning the beneficial or detrimental aspects of smart phone. Smart phones are believed to be quite important to the society possessing certain outcomes in the business, education, global as well as in the national sectors. In-spite of certain fathomable advantages, smart phones also comprise certain detrimental aspects, which needs to be taken into consideration before incorporating its use in the social context. Careful use of smart phone needs to be made especially in the education sector and also by the young generation who are regarded as one of the key user segments of such devices. Data secrecy and misuse of personal information needs to be carefully observed as a key detrimental aspect, for the users of smart phone who at times might not be well attuned with the security features of the device (The George Lucas Educational Foundation, 2012). Similarly, in the business context, it is found that smart phones provide beneficial outcomes for the users by assisting them in preparing their business presentations, accessing emails and chatting with concerned authorities among others. Such imperative benefits can facilitate the user with faster accessibility and can also enable to save invaluable time of the user. However, in social context, it can be recognized that at times extensive use of smart phones can make the user engrossed to it all the times, which can further affect the social skills of the person as interaction with other peers or friends in person becomes gradually meager. Therefore, based on these understandings the entire paper would intend to draw on different viewpoints and come to a precise justification that whether smart phones are beneficial or detrimental to the entire society. Literature Review and Background Information The primary focus of the literature review section would be to describe, summarize, evaluate and clarify the findings obtained by different researches regarding the problem area concerning with the issue that whether smartphones are beneficial or detrimental. It is worth mentioning in this context that since the innovation of smart phones, it effect on the societal context in the global forefront have been a major issue in debates. Various advantages of these devices in different segments have been witnessed during those studies. For instance, Kratzke & Cox (2012) stated that the usage of smart phones imposes a vital impact on healthcare activities. Contextually, it can be stated that the technological features provided on smartphones have an influence on performance of physicians along with facilitating the users to ensure improvements in terms of provided care to patients. The uses of mobiles further depict that through the mobile devices it is possible for the professionals in healthcare to receive information from patients enabling them to make necessary changes in their behavioral attitudes and thereby render quality assured services (Kratzke & Cox, 2012). From the above viewpoints of the authors, it can be evaluated that smartphones are important in conveying messages to the patients. It is fundamentally with the virtues of such communication that it is possible for the doctors or physicians to monitor them properly and provide better treatment facilities accordingly. In the similar context, the strengths of smart phones can be identified as its ease to access (Gill, Kamath & Gill, 2012). On the contrary, certain drawbacks in the healthcare sector in relation to the uses of smart phones can be evaluated in this context. Focusing on the US context, Ozdalga, Ozdalga, & Ahuja (2012) revealed that the patients as well as doctors are unable to take the complete benefits from the technology provided through smartphones, such as sending pictures, teleconferencing and emailing among others. This is fundamentally because reimbursement system in the healthcare sector of the US does only recognize face-to-face communication among the patients and the doctors which again limits the usage of smart phones within the industry. Nevertheless, despite the presence of such limitations of smart phones, on the whole, it is observed to be facilitating in enhancing doctor-patient communication (Ozdalga, Ozdalga, & Ahuja, 2012). Another drawback that can be identified in this context specifies instances where an individual using various mobile devices tends to generate risks for intimidating valuable data infringing the privacy of patients and security information. Additionally, excessive use of smart phone in a healthcare unit may also cause distractions in the healthcare units affecting the service quality (Gill, Kamath & Gill, 2012). Thus, it can be comprehended that smart phones in healthcare sector can create an adverse influence the service quality by a significant extent by affecting the communication process between the professionals as well as within the patients and the professionals. The benefits of smart phone in education purposes can be considered as an important aspect. As stated by Csete, Wong & Vogel (2004), mobile devices can be used in educational context in order to obtain required information from a broader perspective accessing unlimited data irrespective of geographical limitations. The mobile devices providing appropriate data online can assist the students to gather necessary information which they are unable to find through traditional methods from books and other study materials. The mobile devices further provides better and accurate information allowing internet access at any time and thereby contribute to the development of the inner knowledge of students with the availability of updated information. Through the application of smartphones in educational sectors, improvement in learning perspectives owing to the global exposure benefits rendered by smart phones can be achieved as students can also search for different educational sites where vivid description of a particular topic is available. Through application of Android analyzer constituted in smart phones, the students can obtain in-depth knowledge about various topics which can further have an influence on the overall performance of students. Contextually, through different channels accessible with the use of smart phones, it becomes possible to gather information about various incidents around the world (Gozen & Caicedo, 2012). Contradictorily, the drawbacks of smartphones in educational aspects can be identified fundamentally by making the society dependent on internet vigorously. Statistical report presented by The University of Melbourne (2010), revealed that chatting in the social networking sites has increased drastically since past few years. Different sites on internet have assisted people to communicate among one another irrespective of their socio-economic and cultural divergences. In this similar context, individuals, while communicating through chat-room applications available through smart phones, tend to write short words in the sentences which again hamper their knowledge in terms of the appropriate use of terms. Additionally, it was also observed that the extensive inclusion of smart phones is basically having greater impact on students as it has been observed that while completing a research paper or assignment, most of the students tend to rely on the sources provided by internet for obtaining the accurate information with minimum effort which is needed for them and thus distracting them to render labor in their study process (The University of Melbourne, 2010). According to Gill, Kamath & Gill (2012), it has often been observed that using smart phones and other mobile devices while travelling, i.e. either when driving or walking can cause accidents by acting as a means of distraction to the user. According to the recent statistics, people often attempt to communicate through mobile devices such as smart phones and also try to access internet facilities which further results in committing accidents which can be regarded as a serious disadvantage of such devices upon the society. The rate of crime in terms of privacy policy infringements and unethical usage of the data obtainable through the internet and also from the surrounding environment, owing to the benefits of photography and videography facilitated by smart phones, have also impose serious damages to the society (Gill, Kamath & Gill, 2012). Background Information Smart phone was initiated in 1984, as Psion Organizer II, which comprised of certain features including a processor of 8 bit, 9V battery lasting for seven months, extensions in memory and plug-in modules among others. Later in 1994, IBM Simon was launched which obtained its real name as smart phone, constituted with touch screen features as well as data communication and various other advanced technology features. In 2001, a new smart phone was launched as Nokia 7650, with 2.5G features, along with General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and High –Speed Circuit –Switched Data (HSCSD). The smart phone was light shaped comprising a vicinity sensor enabled with Symbian Operating System. Nokia N95 was launched in 2007, which comprised certain features such as Quarter Video Graphics Array (QVGA) display, 5.0 Mega Pixel Camera, Integrated Global Positioning System (GPS), 3.5 mm audio connector facilities , radio display facilities and MicroSD back-up services among others. One of the features, present in almost every smart phone is a calculator, an address book, a world clock and a stylus. In its historic developments, the smart phone gained its popularity fundamentally during 1992. Initially, smart phones were used only for entertainment purposes which later expanded to communication and information sources. The recent development of market share of smart phones had placed the Simon phones to a lower position as compared to its position in the initial part of 90s. It has been observed that Nokia has been one of the leading companies in the initial phase of smart phones. However, it can also be mentioned that smart phones offered by Nokia was initiated in the middle of 90s and became one of the best-selling mobile phones in the global market (Jakl, 2007). Discussion Smart phone, as a technology device, has imposed significant effects on the civilization of mankind which can be identified in relation to various aspects including education, business activities, health care and the overall societal aspects on the whole. The description of the uses of smart phone in the modern day civilization thereby proves to be beneficial as well as detrimental in the international aspects of findings. For instance, the psychological effects of using mobile devices including smart phones have both its positives and negatives. In its positive effects, smart phones attempt to enhance the flexibility and mobility of its users to interact and obtain information with their surroundings. On the other hand, a negative impact caused by smart phones can be identified as the consequent disturbances imposed due to extensive use of smart phones which hampers the balance of work procedures in houses as well as at work (Newell & Bayrak, 2010). In relation to the socio-cultural aspects, it can be observed that smart phones provide with enhanced accessibility to various social sites to connect with their peers and family as well as friends through online sources such as Facebook, Twitter and Orkut among others. However, there persist certain drawbacks when communicating with various people in the society through smart phones with minimum knowledge of the cultural divergences, where unethical comments can prove to impact the cultural affinity of the user (Newell & Bayrak, 2010). Furthermore, through smart phones and technological advancements it can be used as credit cards and methods of payments for handling commercial transactions. Although this implies a positive impact of using smart phones, accessing such wide range of private information online can further be risky for preserving privacy interests and avoiding fraudulent activities (Newell & Bayrak, 2010). According to a report published by the London School of Economics and Political Science (2012), it can be observed that in Austria, an adequate number of children, which is around 53% as compared to the average of European population, which is around 34%, are using smart phones for surfing internet and taking the benefits of chat-room conversations. It has been also observed that 51% of the children in Austria use internet on a regular basis through smart phones which has been influencing their social involvement as well as communication skills and learning abilities by a significant extent. Moreover, it is also been observed that in Austria, young generation people from the age-group of 11to 16 years, use internet on an extreme basis, spending inadequate time with their friends and families as along with losing their concentration on the activities of school life. The disadvantages observable in this context depicts that Austrian children tend to view more unwanted images and unsocial contents as compared to German children where the use of smart phones are observed to be lower. It has also been observed that around 28% of the children in Austria, have been oppressed during offline as well as online which was recorded to be unpleasant as well as risk intimidating. Additionally, around 28% of the children in Austria have been affected by the unethical usage of smart phone facilities which resulted in pro-anorexia syndrome or suicides among these users which is significantly higher by 21% as compared to the European children. Furthermore, it is also been observed that around 9% of the children in Austria using smart phones have experienced mistreatment through internet which is also above the average of European children (The London School of Economics and Political Science, 2012). Certainly the above described disadvantages can have serious implications for the prosperity of societies where children are observed to use smart phones excessively in their regular lives. However, it can also have certain advantages owing to its users’ intentions. According to Livingstone, Haddon, Gorzig & Olafsson (2011), advantages of smartphones in the related context include children performing their school works through internet treating as a means of updated and critical information (The London School of Economics and Political Science, 2012). From the above description it can be stated that the advantages of smart phones assist students by providing adequate information regarding topics related in education and exchanging communications through messages among others. However, it is also to be mentioned that smart phones has been mostly used for unsocial and unethical conducts taking the virtues of the secrecy policies practiced by smart phones to secure the identity of its users. Through smart phones and with the available applications such as Android Operating System, it has become possible for students to gather extensive information that can be useful for the preparation of their assignments and project works. It is easy to communicate among one another through instant messaging taking the advantages of WLAN, Wi-Fi systems in the campus of the schools and colleges providing adequate facilities for collecting accurate data in different topics and thereby increasing scope of knowledge enhancement to the learners in the education sector through smart phones (Gozen & Caicedo, 2012). Contradictorily, the disadvantages of smart phones in the educational sector can be comprehended in the discussion based on the observation where it has been found that with an extensive use of smart phones students are becoming more vulnerable in their learning approach which tends to negatively impact their performances on the whole. This drastically puts an indirect effect on the development of students and affects the society as a whole in its long-run. In other words, the students, while using smart phones, are often observed to get distracted from the routine school and college works which negatively effects their proper development as an individual (The George Lucas Educational Foundation, 2012; The University of Melbourne, 2010). Furthermore, in relation to business sectors, use of smart phones has provided both advantages and disadvantages. Today, different business transactions can be easily handled through the usage of smart phones taking the facilities of internet and other regularly required operating systems. Different large-sized organizations nowadays can be identified to use smartphones with the purpose of keeping records of the scheduled meetings, discussing among various clients on a continuous basis and also for obtaining regular information related to the happenings all around the world. As smart phones allow greater opportunity for the business people to stay in touch with the customers, it also generates better customer relationship. Hence, in the long-run, through the usage of smart phones it is possible to increase sales revenue and gain profitability (The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. and Research in Motion, 2008). The disadvantages can be counted as important as compared to advantages which indicates the traders in an business organization gets irritated using smartphones while conducting a meeting as well as while paying payments to the employees. This provides a loss of business transaction among clients effectively and efficiently (Piasecki, Miao & Ariss, 2012). Conclusion From the above observation it can be comprehended that the usage of smartphones are one of the important aspects in today’s world. However, from a negative perspective it can be observed that with the advancement of technology, today, people have become very much dependent on mobile devices. The weakness of the smart phones lies especially for the young generation who tend to extensively use the mobile devices almost in every aspects of their life whether in education or in social communication purposes. For instance, in education, most of the students are affected due to the extensive use of these devices, being increasingly dependent on sources easily available from internet rather than on study materials which require greater manual efforts. In business contexts, the usage of smart phones during deals and meetings provides problems for the traders to concentrate effectively on the work process, even though it has been observed to render an advantage of enhanced customer relationship. Furthermore, in health care sector, extensive uses of smart phones tend to create disturbances in the regular service delivery process, creating higher risk of privacy infringements and miscommunication. However, despite of these weaknesses, there are certain advantages possessed by smart phones which cannot be ignored. For education perspectives, it is possible for students to gather extensive information from internet sources through smart phones in their school environments. Hence, the only possible and rational conclusion that can be derived from the above discussion is that, smart phones are not themselves advantageous or disadvantageous. It is fundamentally the intentions of its users which define the device as a beneficial or as a detrimental invention. In revealing this particular aspect, one of the major strengths of the essay has been the inclusion of empirical evidences in terms of statistical data and inclusion of various literatures as well as reports which provided a multidimensional perspective to the research issue in concern. However, obtainment of such variety of information may have also caused a weakness in the essay in terms of its structural progress, even though it was framed on the basis of a well-defined framework. In this regard, one gap that was identified when obtaining the data and presenting it in a comprehensive as well as structured manner, was the non-accessibility to abundance of data which precisely denoted the advantages and disadvantages of the smart phones. Data was available in relation to the uses of mobile devices on the whole which included smart phones. Emphasizing on this particular gap, it can be affirmed that further empirical research is required to identify the pros and cons of smart phones and thereby illustrate few measures which can ensure that these devices are used for the purpose of greater good rather than with the intention of creating negative effects. References Csete, J. Wong, Y. H., & Vogel, D. (2004). Mobile devices in and out of the classroom. World Conference on Educational Media, Hypermedia & Communications, pp. 1-13. Gill, P.S. Kamath, A. & Gill, T.S. (2012). Distraction: an assessment of smartphone usage in health care work settings. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3437811/ Guo, C., Wang, H.J. & Zhu, W. (2004). Smart-Phone attacks and defenses. Retrieved from http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/helenw/papers/smartphone.pdf Gozen, E.N. & Caicedo, C.E. (2012). Using smartphone applications to enhance the learning of telecommunication concepts. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/1319251/Using_Smartphone_Applications_to_Enhance_the_Learning_of_Telecommunication_Concepts Jakl, A. (2007). Smartphones. Retrieved from http://symbianresources.com/tutorials/general/smartphones/Smartphones.pdf Kratzke, C. & Cox, C. (2012). Smartphone technology and apps: rapidly changing health promotion. International Electronic Journal of Health Education 15, pp. 72-82. Newell, M. & Bayrak, E. (2010). The innovation of smartphones. Retrieved from http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~ebayrak/teaching/599F10/PR/mattsonp1.pdf Ozdalga, E., Ozdalga, A., & Ahuja, N. (2012). The Smartphone in Medicine: A Review of Current and Potential Use Among Physicians and Students. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 14 (5). Piasecki, L.K. Miao, C. & Ariss, S. (2012). Disadvantages of mobile devices in the workplace. Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness 6 (1), pp. 56-68. The George Lucas Educational Foundation. (2012). Going mobile in the classroom. Retrieved from http://edutech4teachers.edublogs.org/files/2012/09/Edutopia-Mobile-Learning-Guide-color-o6f2ux.pdf The University of Melbourne. (2010). Effects of technology in education. Retrieved from http://ww2.cs.mu.oz.au/343/a1/08_final.pdf The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. and Research in Motion, 2008. Small Business Research. Retrieved from http://www.blackberry.com/framed/sprint/assets/docs/BWRS_RIM_Article1_Smartphones_Payoff_V2_PDF.pdf The London School of Economics and Political Science. (2012). EU kids online: national perspectives. Retrieved from http://www2.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/research/EUKidsOnline/EU%20Kids%20III/Reports/PerspectivesReport.pdf Wei, M., Chandran, A., Chang, H. P., Chang, J. H., & Nichols, C. (2009). Comprehensive analysis of smartphone OS capabilities and performance. Retrieved from http://www-scf.usc.edu/~juihungc/project_page/doc/ee532_FinalReport.pdf Appendix A Member 1 My responsibility in the team effort was to collect the data for the preparation of the project. Initially, we had conducted a meeting involving all the team members in order to set the objectives of the research, decide upon the necessary steps required to be taken and thereby divide the responsibilities according to our competencies. Correspondingly, I received the responsibility to collect relevant data owing to which I had to initially understand the issue in concern and conduct a preliminary research based on the topic. I was thereby able to recognize that technology imposes various effects on the society which broadened my knowledge based on which I used to presume that technology gadgets are effectual only in relation to the business sector and the education sector. I also came to know that technology imposes significant limitations as well apart from its appreciated advantages. In order to perform my responsibilities adequately, I used various data sources which included personal interaction with the community members, my peers and my professors along with taking the assistance of online sources, especially the industry reports and the prior researches. Member 2 I was bestowed with the responsibility to select the relevant data which could effectively satisfy the determined objectives of the study. I initially decided to discuss with the other members regarding the criteria which I presumed to be worthy for the selection of appropriate data, justifying those selections by taking into account their viewpoints. When performing my responsibility to select the relevant data from the entire collection made by Member 1, I had to face certain challenges. For instance, almost all the data gathered were related with the topic, but a few of those included repeated facts owing to which I had to select only the reliable information sources. I also learnt that appropriateness of data is quite essential to ensure the quality of the entire research owing to which I felt nervous to a certain extent. However, continuous feedbacks from my peers assisted me significantly in performing my responsibilities. Member 3 Based on the data selected through online sources, my responsibility was to construct the structure of the available data in order to render precision and quality in the flow of the information presented throughout the essay. In my course of work, I learnt that presenting the information in a structured way is quite essential to ensure quality of the study with the efficient accomplishment of the desired objectives. Although the instructions of the coursework suggested a well-structured framework of the study, I had to decide upon the areas to be covered in each of the sections maintaining a flow of information throughout the paper. I also had to face a few challenges in performing the responsibilities such as avoiding repetitive facts and thereby ensuring that the reader enjoys the documented essay. Member 4 I was bestowed with the responsibility to document the entire study in a structured and informative way based upon the collected data and the structured prepared by the other members of the team. In complying with my responsibility, I had to witness some challenges which fundamentally included the ethical concerns related to plagiarism and data exaggeration. After composing the entire essay I had to take the assistance of the other members to edit the grammatical errors which I had overlooked and check the level of plagiarism in the paper, even though I had rendered due attention to the issues while constructing the discussion. Read More