LO1

Digital divide-1.1

Internet access over the world is not equal

This divide can be broken in as little as a couple of years

Gambia-old used mobile phones. Not much electricity so hard to charge. Use a gas power generator or solar panels and only one charging station. People don’t know how to use the phone. Lack the signal to use the phone.

Companies decide to have their worker in developing countries so they can pay less for the services that would cost much more in England or more developed countries.

The difference between developing countries and developed countries can be measured in infrastructure or the human development index; this includes life expectancy, education and income.

Information dispersal and gathering is harder for developing countries.

Digital divide = the difference in access to digital resources in different areas of the world.

Rural areas have poorer internet access than in urban areas even in more developed countries.

 Types of information storage media-1.2

Paper – forms, handwritten notes, maps, telephone directory. Paper is easily damaged and costs a lot to transport and it is hard to keep secure. But paper can’t be hacked or wiped when a computer crashes or accidentally be deleted. Paper is simple to understand.

Optical media-music or film storages e.g.: CD, DVD and Blu-ray. They are easily to lose or scratch them. Perfect until damaged.

Magnetic media-this uses magnetic patterns to store data e.g. Hard drive in most computers. The data can be stored on tapes and external hard drives. They can store lots of data. Only lasts a few years but is not reliable in the long term.

Solid state media- stores data in circuity rather than magnetised discs or tapes e.g. SSD Card. Quick to write data and can replace hard drive. It does not require air cooling as they lack the amount of parts. They can’t store as much data as magnetic hard drives.

Characteristics

• Mutability- the ability to change the content of a storage medium. CDs and DVDs are read only and can’t be edited. Hard drives are in read/write but certain programs will stop the ability to re write a file

•  Robustness- how likely something is to break. SSD are robust as they don’t have moving parts 

•  Access to data-how easy the data can be found or accessed. Paper you can’t be searched unlike a Hard drive or SSD

• Cost – how much it costs. Paper is cheap but expensive in large amounts Hard drives are cheaper bur slower than SSDs

• Storage capacity – how much they can store. Hard Drives and SSDs are the best.

Whats the difference between the internet and the world wide web?-1.4

The Internet is a large network of networks that connects all devices and computers together.

Whereas the World Wide Web is a large information space where documents and websites can be accessed and interlinked via hypertext.

Sir Tim Berners Lee is a computer scientist and the man who invented the World Wide Web. He had the idea to use hypertext and connect it with TCP and DNS and created the www.

Internet

Originally based on text and a few images, the internet now also conveys information via videos and sound and many other forms of information. The internet is a network of interconnected networks spanning the world. A network will access the internet through one single connection commonly through a modem.

Internet Connection

Copper cable is based on the electrical conductivity of copper and is still the cheapest form of connection.

Fibre optic is based on light through an optical fibre. It is faster but more expensive.

Dial-up

Broadband

Fixed broadband

Fixed Wireless

Speed

Range

Data Differences (Amount)

Advantages and disadvantages 1.7

Advantages

The internet has allowed someone to send an email rather than by mail, this has led a huge increase in the speed that information may be sent between individuals

Social media has led to an increase likelihood that friends sat in contact. Working relationships can be made more efficient, as social media lends itself to online conversations can be made more efficient.

The availability of data and information online has also had a huge impact on the knowledge available to us.

The convenience of the internet is very good

For organisations Data can be transferred much faster so it can be achieved at a very low cost

Disadvantages

There is a lot of personal information on the internet especially on social media which leads to identify theft is increasingly more popular

The internet can be distracting and it can be very stressful as there is an overload of information.

There is also the problem of cyber-bullying as it can be hard to escape.

For organisations it cost a lot of money and time to create and maintain a high-quality websites. Important information can also be deleted easily. Organisations also face increased threat of hackers which can steal and releases private data which can ruin an organisation reputation.