Chapter 1 Review Questions

1.1.

1.2.

What is the post-PC era?

An era characterized by the proliferation of a new device form
factors, such as tablets or smartphones, which complement or
even replace PCs and laptops.
Define the term knowledge worker. Who coined the term?
Refers to professionals, who are relatively well educated and who
create, modify, and/or synthesize knowledge as a fundamental
part of their jobs.
Peter Drucker

1.3.
Name your two favorite mobile devices. For each device, discuss how it
has influenced your work or personal life.

1.4.

Smartphone (iPhone) and Tablet (iPad)

As far as personal life goes, the smartphone has revolutionized
the way we as people live. Everyone has a smartphone nowadays
and it has made our lives much easier. If I need to check my email
or send an email, I dont have to wait until I get home (which
could be hours), I can simply pull out my iPhone and do it in real
time. Same thing with social media. I can keep up-to-date with all
of the happening going on in the world in real time. We have the
world at our fingertips.
Tablets are becoming a big thing as well. At sporting events they
are used to check individuals in and scan tickets. On the go
professionals are also taking advantage of them and hooking up
mobile credit card processing devices so that they can receive
payment at that moment. It has made it really simple for small
business individuals to keep relevant. I know when I was doing
mobile auto detailing this was a heaven sent as some people do
not carry cash and if that was the case I could pull out my tablet
and take payment on the spot.

Describe how cloud computing can improve your personal productivity.

In a nutshell, cloud computing is a computing model enabling
ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared
pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks,
servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly
provisioned and released with minimal management effort or

service provider information. The Cloud provides so much more

space.

1.5.
List and describe several reasons why companies are choosing to
outsource business activities.
Some of the major reasons why more and more companies are
deciding to outsource more business activities are listed below:

1.7.

To
To
To
To
To
To
To
To

reduce or control costs

free up internal resources
gain access to world-class capabilities
increase the revenue potential of the organization
reduce time to market
increase process efficiencies
be able to focus on core activities
compensate for a lack of specific capabilities or skills
Define and contrast data, information, and knowledge.

Data: Raw symbols, such as words and numbers, that have no

meaning in and of themselves, and are of little value until
processed.
Information: Data that have been formed and/or organized in
some way as to be useful to people.
Knowledge: A body of governing procedures such as guidelines or
rules that are used to organize or manipulate data to make the
data suitable for a given task.

1.11. Discuss the issues surrounding information privacy, and how you can
protect yourself.
Some issues surrounding information privacy are protecting data.
This is a huge concern but what can one do to protect this
information and yourself? Privacy is necessary to prevent us from
living in digital glass houses. We did not accept the unsafe
factories built during the Industrial Revolution, so the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was
created.
he United States has enforced some sector-based laws, but
largely has followed self-regulatory models, while the European
Union, Canada and several other countries have enacted widesweeping legislative models. So, in the United States, users need

to be savvy and make smart choices about their behavior on the

Internet and protect themselves. Here are some things you can
do to protect yourself:

Notice/Awareness
Choice/Consent: THINK before you share your information with
any site or person.
Do your homework and read privacy policies!
Access/Participation
Integrity/Security: Never log in to your financial assets, such
as online banking sites, from a public network (at hotels,
coffee shops, airports, etc.).
Use different passwords for your finances than for your social
networks and games.
Protect your home computers by making sure your home
network is closed. Otherwise, neighbors, their visitors or even
someone sitting in a car outside your home may access your
network.
Be very careful about giving your Social Security number out
and only do so on a secured network (Look for https, not
http in the website.).
On social networking sites, such as Facebook, make all of your
privacy settings friends only.
Enforcement/Redress
Choose websites that are monitored by independent
organizations.
Avoid leaving cookies on your machine.
Beware of what you post or say online.
Use caution when requesting confirmation e-mail.

1.12. How are the digital divide and computer literacy related?

The digital divide is the gap between those individuals in our

society who are computer literate and have access to information
resources such as the Internet and those who do not.
Computer literacy is the knowledge of how to operate a computer.
These are related because closing the gap between those with
access to computers and the Internet, and the skills to use those
tools to best advantage is important for promoting economic
opportunity: as more and more jobs rely on computer skills, the
computer illiterate are closed out of more and more economic
opportunities.