Wireless Technology - Research Paper Example

Wireless Technology Introduction and Background The aim of this project was to provide a network platform for interactive communication amongst students. Wireless technology which happens to be cost effective and easy to connect several devices across the web is in use. Wireless technology depicts devices that are linked and networked together to enable easy sending and receiving of large amounts of information via radio waves (Firestone, 2009). In this project, we purpose to bring out the impact that this technology will have to the students. In this case, we consider the concept of innovation theory. According to Sundbo (1998), the innovation theory state that innovation is driven by people’s desire to better their lives. Therefore, wireless internet being one of the latest innovations should assists students in bettering their lives. The emergence of the wireless technology can be rated more than a century ago when a young Italian inventor made the first wireless telephone that used a transmitter and a receiver (Firestone, 2008). Since then, this technology has experienced a tremendous growth from the platform it is used to the equipment it uses. In the current society, almost every electronic device applies wireless technology or an aspect of the technology in its functionality. According to Fette et al. (2007), today’s wireless technology offers an immense range of capabilities and has an ability to support a wide number of applications. This tremendous change in the evolution of this technology can be attached to the increase in demand of the services availability by it. One of such services is the wireless internet. However, we have people relying more on the cable internet. This cables move from the main server to the room where the user connects it to a computer device. The major advantage of cable internet is that it has a very fast connectivity (Morley & Parker, 2012). However, it has several disadvantages whenever it is applied. One of the disadvantages is that when using this kind of internet it is not feasible to connect more than one device. Another disadvantage is that it is not economically viable to install this device in a way that makes it accessible to everyone especially in learning institutions. Moreover, it is rather very difficult to install this kind of internet in the rural areas where the population density is low. The wireless internet connection provides a solution to all these problems and thus, students should use it to better their lives. Analysis In my research I found out that, the reason why this issue of wireless technology has unfolded is the new advancement that has been taking place. These advancements have resulted to new and more efficient innovations like the iPad and the iPhones. Devices such as these have high connectivity to the wireless network and they can be used to connect to the wireless internet faster than the previous devices. This has solved one of the major problems of wireless internet of being slower than cable internet. Moreover, such devices have the capability of connecting to the wireless internet everywhere and thus making this kind of internet more readily available. Since the demand for internet has greatly increased almost everywhere in the world, we had to bring up this issue once again. After undertaking this project, we were able to realize that students and other people can be able to use the wireless technology to better their social life. Through wireless technology, it has become much possible for people to connect with friends and family members around the globe (Firestone, 2009). The wireless technology has bought equipments that enable people to connect to the internet wherever they are and whenever they like to do that. Internet offers a place for people to connect and interact and thus through the wireless internet that is now readily available via wireless technology students and other people can connect and interact with others more easily. Various ways in which people can connect and interact through the internet are readily available. At this point, it is important to mention social media as one of ways that are most prevalent. People can either use this media to share their ideas with others or to pass information. The wireless technology has made this media to be available to a large group of people throughout the whole world. As a result, people now can share ideas and give information across the world much more conveniently. Moreover, this technology has also made it possible for people to share ideas and communicate to a larger group at once. This is believed to have played a very great part in influencing peoples’ social life and thus students too should tap in this resource to better their lives. Another finding I made from my research is that the wireless technology can be very useful in enhancing the students’ academic and research capabilities. From a research undertaken in the institutions of higher learning, not many students use the internet for academic purposes (Chib & Harris, 2012). This is because of the need to move to something like a cyber café in order to access the cable internet. The cable internet access at homes and students places of residence is very less and the previous wireless internet accessibility through phones was somehow limited. However, with advancement in the wireless technology, equipment have emerged which have no limitations when accessing the wireless internet. Using this equipment, students and other academicians can access any type of academic and research information they might be looking for from the internet. According to Jimoyiannis (2011), the internet contains much more information than any library anywhere in the world. Therefore, making it available to every student or academician gives them access to information that can be of a paramount help to their academic and research life. The wireless technology has actually done these and therefore very soon we will realize a very dramatic change to the academic and research fields. Our descriptions above explain how wireless technology has improved the lives of people by enhancing the accessibility to the internet. These are not the only ways that people can gain or have gained by use of the wireless technology. In addition, they are not the only ways that improved accessibility to the internet hence can improve the people’s ways of living. As it can be seen from our currents society, people have made the internet a multi-purpose tool. Companies have been using it to market their products, make orders for supplies, and enhance communication between its employs. Individuals on the other hand have been using the internet to place orders for products, searching for jobs and so on. Therefore, the impact that the wireless technology has brought through enhancing connectivity are wide and hence they cannot all be included in this paper. In my research I also found out that, there are other ways that the wireless technology could help individuals to better their lives. One of such ways is through helping people to look for the way to places they have never gone before. According to Firestone (2009), the wireless technology which has currently been availed can help people to connect to the Global Positioning System (GPS). GPS help people to know where they are on the earth, where they are going, and how to get there. This system can act as a guiding map especially when an individual is going to a place where he had never gone before and does not know the way to that place. Without the wireless technology, people can be forced to use paper maps that are both unavailable for all the places and very difficult to use. Moreover, from this research project I found out that the wireless technology has a very great application in the medical field. Apart from the devices connected to wireless technology being used in enhancing academic and research work, they are also used in medical field. One of such devices is the cardiac pace maker that is used to correct heart rhythms (Firestone, 2009). This device plays a very crucial part in treating and controlling heart diseases and other diseases related to the blood vessels. As various innovations in this wireless technology continue to take place, we expect that much advancement on equipments will come up. The improvements would improve the delivery of services within this field. Any kind of innovation and technological advancements require to be controlled or else it can be abused. Various measures have been put in place to control the wireless technology from being used to fulfill ill motives. One of the standardized measures put in place is that not all devices could be able to access this kind of technology. Like with the wireless internet connection only the devices with Wi-Fi are able to connect to the wireless internet. According to Firestone (2009, p. 16), “Wi-Fi stands for wireless fidelity.” Therefore, it was designed with an aim of controlling how the wireless internet is accessed. It is the nature of almost all the technological innovations not to lack one or two disadvantages. One of the disadvantages of the wireless technology is that it has some limitations in terms of security of the information that is transmitted through them. From my research I discovered that most public wireless hotspots are open networks which can be accessed by anyone (Firestone, 2009). This makes the information passed through them not to be secure regardless of how confidential it might be. Moreover, such spots can be used to pass harmful information and materials that can destroy your wireless device. Conclusion and Recommendations Wireless technology is not a completely new innovation since the first wireless device was made more than a century ago. However, with the advancement in the technology where new devices have developed and new platforms to use the technology have been created the issue has unfolded ones again. Currently the wireless technology has improved the accessibility of the internet, which has greatly influenced the social life as well as the academic, and research lives of people. Moreover, this technology has helped a lot in improving the medical services especially in the treatment of heart and blood vessels diseases. This technology can also assist a person in tracing a place where he had never gone before and hence it is a very important and paramount technology. However, it has limitation in terms of security of information that is passes through it and hence it requires improvements. The improvements should be directed towards making sure that nothing in a person’s profile gets accessed by authorized persons without the owner’s permission. There are various recommendations that I can make but I would like to emphasize on two major ones. One of these two recommendations is that certain policies and rules should be designed to guide the users of this technology on what is ethical and what is unethical. If this is done, it will help in controlling what people do with this technology and the effect that their action might have in other people. This would actually help in minimizing the effects of the negative limitation that this technology has. My second recommendation is that new and more advanced devices should be invented which have a higher capability than the ones available. This devices would improve what the wireless technology can offer and thus improve the advantages of this technology. It would also make this technology more useful and user friendly hence helping people to improve their different aspects of life. References Chib, A., & Harris, R. W. (2012). Linking research to practice: Strengthening ICT for development research capacity in Asia. Pasir Panjang: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Fette, B. A. et al. (2007). RF & wireless technologies. Burlington, MA: Elsevier. Firestone, M. (2009). Wireless technology. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publication Company. Jimoyiannis, A. (2011). Research on e-learning and ICT on education. Berlin: Springer Publisher. Morley, D., & Parker, C. S. (2012). Understanding computers: Today and tomorrow, comprehensive. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. Sundbo, J. (1998). The theory of innovation: Entrepreneurs, technology and strategy. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. Read More