Negative Effects of Computers on Society

This assignment focuses on examining the detrimental impacts of computers and their widespread use on both individuals and society at large. Students are tasked with researching and summarizing the negative effects of computer technology, including health issues, social isolation, security risks, and economic disparities.

COIT 20246 ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION
Due date: Thursday Week 11 (2PM AEST)
Part: Written Assessment
Weighting: 30% of total assessment.
Submission: Electronic (see course website for details)
Instructions
It will be necessary to use literature/online resources to complete this
assignment, please ensure you cite and reference any such materials using
the Harvard format.
DO NOT copy content directly from either the text or Internet resources: this
assignment is to be in your own words. You will lose marks if you do not
use your own words!
Please complete your assignment using this submission template file,
inserting your responses where indicated.
DO NOT delete the marking criteria page – changes are permitted to the
formatting of other pages including the headers and footers.
Please fill in the following details:
Student Name
Student Number

Tasks
There are ten (10) tasks, one for each week: the tasks are detailed below. There is a
table to complete for each task. Please fill in the information required.
Note: Each resource summary should be around 200-300 words.
Week 1
The text discusses the elements of modern computing architecture however is largely silent
on the individuals who played a role in its development. Find and summarise a resource that
describes ONE such individual. The individual should have had a significant influence on the
development of computers and/or components of modern computing architecture.
Title and Reference:
Title: Artificial Intelligence
Reference: Childs, M. (2017). John McCarthy: Computer scientist known as the
father of AI. [online] The Independent. Available at
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/john-mccarthy-computer-scientist-
known-as-the-father-of-ai-6255307.html [Accessed 25 Sep. 2017].
Summary:
This article describes about one particular individual, who played an important role in
the development of modern computing architecture, artificial intelligence. I chose this
article as it states about the father of artificial intelligence, John McCarthy. He was
the person behind the development of Artificial Intelligence.
In this article, the author describes about the role of John McCarthy in the field of
Artificial Intelligence. The field of computer science that deals with intelligence of
machines is known as artificial intelligence. John McCarthy was responsible for
introduction of this tremendous powerful development of computer science. He was a
computer scientist inventor and pioneer. He fist coined the term of artificial
intelligence in the year 1956. His main objective was to make such a device that
would be the substitute of the intelligence of several human beings. He was a bright
child and was a graduate in Mathematics in California Institute of Technology. He did
his PhD in Mathematics from Princeton in the year 1951. He attended a symposium
on Cerebral Mechanisms in Behaviour in 1948 and got the idea from there.
I found this article useful because it not only highlighted the concept of artificial
intelligence but also focused on the founder of artificial intelligence, John McCarthy.
Week 2
The text discusses the components and activities of operating systems however is largely
silent on the individuals who played a role in their development. Find and summarise a
resource that describes ONEsuch individual. The individual should have had a significant
influence on the writing or development of operating systems.
Title and Reference:
Title: Linus Torvalds
Reference: Venezia, P. (2017). Linux at 25: Linus Torvalds on the evolution and
future of Linux. [online] InfoWorld. Available at:
https://www.infoworld.com/article/3109150/linux/linux-at-25-linus-torvalds-on-the-

evolution-and-future-of-linux.html [Accessed 27 Sep. 2017].
Summary:
This article describes about one particular individual, who played an important role in
the development of the famous Linux operating system. The person who created the
Linux operating system is Linus Torvalds. I chose this article as it states about the
creator of Linux operating system, Linus Torvalds. He was the person behind the
development of this popular and protected operating system.
In this article, the author describes about the role of Linus Torvalds in the field of
operating system. Linux is the first completely free Unix operating system. In the year
1991, during his graduation from the University of Helsinki in Finland, he began to
write his own kernel. Previously, he used to use the expensive Unix like system.
Linux's origins were definitely not low-resource. Torvalds allowed large scale
integration applications in his operating system. This is one of the major advantages
of Linux.
I found this article useful because it not only highlighted the important points of Linux
operating system but also focused on the creator of Linux, Linus Torvalds with proper
details.

Week 3
The Internet didn’t just appear – it was an evolution from earlier networks. Find and
summarise a resource that describes ONEof the networks that led to the development of the
modern Internet.
Title and Reference:
Title: ARPANET
Reference: The Conversation. (2017). How the Internet was born: from the
ARPANET to the Internet. [online] Available at: http://theconversation.com/how-the-
internet-was-born-from-the-arpanet-to-the-internet-68072 [Accessed 27 Sep. 2017].
Summary
This article describes about one of the networks that led to the development of the
modern Internet. ARPANET is one of them. I chose this article as it states about the
detailed discussion on ARPANET. The full form of ARPANET is The Advanced
Research Projects Agency Network.
In this article, the author describes about the evolution of Internet from several earlier
networks. ARPANET was the first ever network that was implemented for the TCP/IP
protocol suite. It was developed by the ARPA or Advanced Research Projects
Agency in the year 1967. In the year 1971, the name of ARPA was modified to
Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA. However, again in 1993, it
was changed to ARPA. The main advantage of ARPANET was that it was the
innovative approach of sending data in packet switching. Every file of computer are
segregated into smaller segments, which are known as packets in packet switching.
This segregation is done by the host computers. These packets can be reconstructed
at the required destination and can be directed on several ways. During its early
stages, between the 60s and 70s, the communication galaxy spawned by the
ARPANET was not only mostly uncharted space, but, compared to today’ standards,
also mainly empty. It continued as such well into the 90s, before the technology
pioneered with the ARPANET project became the backbone of the Internet.
I found this article useful because it not only highlighted the first network evolution for
the development of Internet, but also about the advantages and functions of
ARPANET in the Internet.
Week 4
Ethernet is an example of a Layer Two (L2) data link protocol that is discussed in the text.
Find and summarise a resource that describes the features and uses of ONE other L2
protocol that is not discussed in the text (i.e. NOT Ethernet).
Title and Reference:
Title: ARP or Address Resolution Protocol
Reference: Lifewire. (2017). What Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) does for your
computer network. [online] Available at: https://www.lifewire.com/address-resolution-
protocol-817941 [Accessed 27 Sep. 2017].
Summary:
This article describes about one particular Layer Two L2 data link protocol, the ARP
or Address Resolution Protocol. It is the protocol that maps the IP address or Internet
Protocol address with a recognized physical machine address within a local network.
I chose this article as it states about the extremely advantageous layer two data link

protocol, the ARP. It states about the functions and advantages of this particular
protocol.
In this article, the author describes about the ARP protocol and how it works in the
data link layer of OSI model. It maps the IP address with the address of physical
machine. This address of physical machine is well recognized and identified in the
local network. This particular protocol gives the rules for correlating the MAC and IP
addresses. It further converses the address bidirectional. The moment a packet
comes at the gateway, the program of ARP is asked to search for a MAC address or
rather a physical host, which matches that particular IP address. If it is successful in
finding the address, the packet is converted into the format and the length of the
correct packet and is finally sent to the perfect machine. If the protocol is
unsuccessful in searching for the address, it broadcasts the packet to all the LAN
connected machines in a specific format. It checks if any machine has the address
connected with it. When any device wishes to send data to another target device, it
must first determine the MAC address of that target given its IP address These IP-to-
MAC address mappings are derived from an ARP cache maintained on each device.
I found this article useful because it not only highlighted the working procedure of
ARP but also about the advantages and functions of this protocol.
Week 5
The text mentions the role of hackers in attacks on networked infrastructure. Find and
summarise a resource that describes ONE famous or well-known hacker.
Title and Reference:
Title: Adrian Lamo
Reference: WIRED, T. (2017). The Homeless Hacker v. The New York Times.
[online] WIRED. Available at: https://www.wired.com/2004/04/hacker-5/ [Accessed
27 Sep. 2017].
Summary:
This article describes about the role of hackers in attacks on networked
infrastructure. I chose this article as it states about the infamous hacker, Adrian
Lamo. He was accused for breaking into the computer system of The New York
Times in the year 2002. In this article, the author describes about the concept of
hacking and the specific role of an hacker in the attacks on the infrastructure of a
network.
Adrian Lamo was one of the infamous network hackers. He is famous for hacking the
computer system of the recognized newspaper The New York Times. He broke into
the system of The New York Times in the year 2002 and run up a bill of nearly
300,000 dollars on the pay per use search tool Lexis Nexis. He got a prison sentence
of fifteen years, however he was not afraid of it. He is one of the best-known hackers
in the country, and was out being filmed for a documentary when the cops came
looking for him at his parents' house in Sacramento. In an interview, he said that he
had intruded in the systems of AOL, Microsoft and Excite@Home.
I found this article useful because it not only highlighted the concept of hacking, but
also provided the example of the infamous hacker, Adrian Lamo.

Week 6
Society is increasingly reliant on networks and network technologies but they are evolving at
a rapid pace. Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE example of a future
networking technology or trend that will impact society.
Title and Reference:
Title: Light Fidelity or Li-Fi
Reference: Wipro.com. (2017). Light Fidelity (Li-Fi) - The bright future of 5G visible
light communication systems. [online] Available at: http://www.wipro.com/blogs/light-
fidelity-the-bright-future-of-5g-visible-light-communication-systems/ [Accessed 27
Sep. 2017].
Summary:
This article describes about one example of a future networking technology or trend
that will impact society. It describes about Light Fidelity or Li-Fi in modern networking
technological world. I chose this article as it states about the upcoming Visible Light
Communications System or VLC. Light Fidelity runs the wireless communications at
extremely higher speeds.
In this article, the author describes about how the Light Fidelity or Li-Fi wireless
networking technology will have an impact on the society in the near future. The
author also describes the working procedure and functions of this innovative wireless
technology. This particular technology utilizes the common light bulbs with light
emitting diodes or LED for allowing transfer of data. The main advantage of this
wireless technology is that it cannot be hacked for its better data defence and light
waves cannot surpass them. The idea was first evolved in the year 2011 by
Professor Harald Haas of Edinburgh University. Wi-Fi and Li-Fi are both almost
similar as the function of transmitting data is same in both. Li-Fi does this by running
on the visible lights, while Wi-Fi utilizes the radio waves. This will have an extreme
positive impact on the society in the future. Data is at first fed into the light bulb and
then is finally sent at extreme speed to the photodiode
I found this article very useful as it describes the upcoming wireless networking
technology, Li-Fi. This will rule the entire wireless technological background.
Week 7
The text mentions social business and the impact of the use of social networking platforms.
Find and summarise a resource that describes the history of the development of ONE such
social media platform.
Title and Reference:
Title: Facebook
Reference: Phillips, S. (2017). A brief history of Facebook. [online] the Guardian.
Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/jul/25/media.newmedia
[Accessed 26 Sep. 2017].
Summary:
This article describes about one of the most popular social medias Facebook. It was
developed in the year 2004 by the popular entrepreneur, Mark Zuckerberg. I chose
this article as it states about the social business and the impact of the use of social
networking platforms.
In this article, the author describes about the impact of Facebook in modern world
and it also states about the history of the development of Facebook. In the month of

February in 2004, Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook for his fellow students. It got
a huge response and within only 24 hours, a huge number of students enrolled
themselves in the social media platform. It reached the popularity after it became
Facebook.com in the month of August in 2005. The network was spread in other
universities of Boston and the address was bought with 200,000 dollars. The
students from high schools and colleges signed up from the month of September in
2005 and were further spread worldwide. The main advantage of this social media
platform is that the signing up is extremely free of cost and the profit mainly comes
from advertising. In July 2017, the number of users reached around 30 million that
made it the largest social networking site.
I found this article useful as it not only highlights the impact of social media but also
the history of Facebook with proper details.
Week 8
With the advent of mass data collection and storage has come data mining. Find and
summarise a resource that describes ONE example where data mining has been used
successfully by a business. You should not use any examples covered in the textbook.
Title and Reference:
Title: Netflix
Reference: Medium. (2017). Originals Born of Data Mining: Netflix’s Well-known
Secret?. [online] Available at: https://medium.com/nimbly-aware/originals-born-of-
data-mining-netflixs-well-known-secret-6f4f33c011c2 [Accessed 27 Sep. 2017].
Summary:
This article describes about the successful running of a popular business with the
help of data mining. Data mining is the procedure of evaluating and analysing bulk
amount of data to obtain relevant information. I chose this article as it states about
the utilization of data mining procedure in any type of popular business. Netflix tracks
the audience to some extent and this is done by the procedure of data mining.
In this article, the author describes how Netflix utilizes data mining in their business.
Data mining helps to analyse the bulk amount of data that is stored in Netflix. It takes
up the data that are received from the viewers and utilize for making informed
decisions about the contents released by them. The collected data from the users
are analysed by the help of data mining process. Netflix calculates the data. For
example, the completion rate of a particular series is calculated by data mining. They
can find out those users, who have completed the entire series. Similarly, they can
find out who have not watched it completely.
I found this article helpful as it not only states about the advantages and procedure of
data mining but also about the impact of data mining in a successful business,
Netflix.

Week 9
One of the greatest success stories in application development in recent times has been the
popularity of mobile apps. Find and summarise a resource that describes the story of ONE
successful mobile app developer.
Title and Reference:
Title: Hike Messenger
Reference: Face, R. (2017). Success Story of Founder Of Hike Messenger - Kavin
Bharti Mittal (Billionaire's Son) - Shoutarticle. [online] Shoutarticle. Available at:
https://shoutarticle.com/success-story-of-founder-of-hike/ [Accessed 26 Sep. 2017].
Summary:
This article describes about the success story of the application development of Hike
Messenger. I chose this article as it states about the founder of Hike Messenger,
Kavin Bharti Mittal. He was the person behind the development of this popular and
protected mobile application.
In this article, the author describes about the success story of Kavin Bharti Mittal, the
famous entrepreneur who developed the mobile social media application, Hike
Messenger. He is considered as one of the youngest entrepreneurs in the world. He
is the son of the famous entrepreneur of India, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, who is the
chairman of Bharti Enterprise, commonly known as Airtel. The first project of Kavin
Bharti Mittal was for the iPhone in the partnership with the movietickets.com. It was
names as Appspark and it enabled the users to purchase the movie tickets on the
go. Hike Messenger was launched on December 12 in the year 2012. The first round
of funding raised for this application was from Bharti SoftBank in the year 2013. The
funding was around seven million dollars. In the year 2016, Hike raised around 175
million dollars.
I found this article helpful as it only highlighted about the success story of a mobile
application, Hike Messenger but also about the entire success story of the developer
of this application, Kavin Bharti Mittal.
Week 10
While information systems and technology deliver many benefits to society, they can also
result in (sometimes inadvertent) negative effects and outcomes. Find and summarise a
resource that describes ONE example of where the use of an information system or
technology has led to negative consequences for humans.
Title and Reference:
Title: The Negative Effects of Computers on Society
Reference: Sites.google.com. (2017). Negative effects of computer and computer use -
Computers and Society 3. [online] Available at:
https://sites.google.com/a/danteacademy.ca/computers-and-society-3/home/negative-effects-
of-computer-and-computer-use [Accessed 29 Sep. 2017].
Summary:
This article describes about the use of computer and computer systems has led to
negative consequences for humans. I chose this article as it states about The
negative impacts of the utilization of computers on the society and human beings.
In this article, the author describes about the negative impact computer is providing
to the society. Information Technology has provided many remarkable advantages to
the society in various ways. The main advantage provided by information technology

is the computer. This is the most important resource in modern world. However,
every coin has an opposite side. Computer does have some of the major
disadvantages and negative impacts on the society. The fast advancement of
information technology has a strong impact on our society in all over the world.
Excessive utilization of computer systems is affecting in the health of human beings.
It is said that if we all shut down our computers at night the energy savings could
light the Eiffel Tower 24 hours a day for 720 years. Constant usage of computer is
leading to obesity, pains in wrist, necks and arms, fatigue, headache, eye sight
problems, exposure to radiation and other significant health issues.
I found this article helpful as it not only highlighted the negative impacts of an
example of information technology that is computer on human beings but also
described about the problems a human being can face due to this impact.

MARKING SHEET - DO NOT DELETE
Criteria
0 No Response
<=1 Poor resource selection; resource is too broad or lacks relevance to the
task; summary fails to explain what the resource was about; the relevance
and/or usefulness of the resource has not been explained.
<=2 Good resource selection; resource is relevant to the task; summary is
adequate but may require either more detail or is too long; the relevance
and/or usefulness of the resource has been explained to some extent, but
needs additional information.
<=3 Excellent resource selection; resource is highly relevant to the task (the
resource is probably highly specialised); summary is detailed yet concise;
the relevance and usefulness of the resource selection has been clearly
explained.
Key
Deductions
-3
-2
-1
Reference/URL provided does not link to resource (and resource cannot
be located or determined from details provided) OR
Reference/URL provided does not relate to the summary (i.e. summary is
not of resource content / contains content not contained in the resource)
Resource is generic AND/OR covers multiple technologies/examples
rather than focuses on a single technology/example
Resource not referenced correctly/not in Harvard format
Week Marks Awarded
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
TOTAL
Comments: