When ENIAC, the first computer, occupied lab as big as a lecture hall in Pennsylvania University, his creator could never perceive some of its descendants are as thin as 0.6 cm after 70 years. Comparing the human history, 70 years are just a blink. But during this time period, not only computers themselves have been upgraded to smaller and faster models, but also their derivatives and they changed our society patterns a lot. With the creation of computers, our world production travels in a light speed. Working efficiency accelerates; it increases the productivity, etc. Thus it’s not exaggerating to say that computers are the greatest creation in the 20th century.
Recently in an issue of “Nature” magazine published on 26 January, one of the articles embraces computer technology by talking about how helpful they are in scientific surveys and researches. Particularly, he refers to those derivatives-portable electronic devices, such as iPad and other e-books tablets. Under such strong overwhelming appreciation, he seems to forget the vulnerabilities of computer technology and those devices, which include fragility in both physical way and security way; moreover it might falsely recorded the data. These vulnerabilities do not limit themselves in computer technology only. In 1967 Soyuz 1, a Soviet spaceship, was launched into space. On its way home, it crashed and killed one astronaut due to technical issues. It follows that advanced technology often requires extreme concentration and care, even a tiny mistake can cause a fatal catastrophe.
As those portable devices play an increasingly important role in helping us organize and manage documents and files, it is a heavy strike to us if they are simply not functioning. Michelle James, an Alzheimer's disease researcher at Stanford University, is quoted in the article that she already shifts all her research results and lab notes from standard lab books to on her iPad. She sounds so happy that as if she just gets released from the yokes of writing everything down. But imagine her iPad drops on the ground, all her precious materials will be lost. Unless she could wrap up her iPad with shockproof materials, or lay a thick rug on the floor where she stands, her iPad could easily be broken just after a few hits. Although she might argue she’d be very careful to prevent those hits happening to her iPad, it still happens regardless of how careful she could be. Numerous videos could be found on Youtube about how their iPads are broken after hitting on the ground from above 1 meter. “While trying to remove the cable it slipped out of my hand at no more than two feet from the floor. It hit the floor at one of its edges and sadly it cracked the complete screen.”, says an iPad owner from a website.
In this case, the screen is broken, but it’s ok because it’s easily replaceable. However, there are more iPad owners reporting how their iPads got completely broken after hitting on the ground. IPads, as well as other alike portable electronic devices are made of many tiny and exact elements. These elements are very fragile, and if any little one of them breaks, the whole machine will not be able to function properly. Among all the possible ways that could break iPads, hitting and water are the most powerful ones. As the hitting can break the elements, water jams the circuit inside iPads, which means a fatal damage.
As considered a more progressive operating system, Apple also installs iOS in iPads. On top of all the benefits iOS holds, it claims it is immune to all viruses. Because every virus was created to attack Windows operating system, it might take a while for the hackers to react to iOS. Nonetheless, the legend is about to be smashed now. A piece of recent news shows that a first virus was found in one iPad. What makes it this case worse is that after a careful examine, this virus was actually an iPhone virus infecting iPad. Since iPhones, MacBooks and iPads all run the iOS. Thus this consistency gives a bigger and smoother platform for the virus writers. Moreover, “Goatse Security, the white-hat hackers (an Internet hacker) that exposed the iPad's problems keeping email addresses under wraps, is back with a warning about additional risks to owners of the tablet.” Also, in a letter from Goatse Security to AT&T, these hackers claimed that they’ve found a bug, which they can use to attack the devices and the devices won’t be able to detect it. In numerous movies and films, one can find case alike that a hacker uses a virus to steal money from a bank or distort some tiny digit number in a research. In this case, would Michelle James be able to memorize all her data correctly? She might be able to do so if there is only a survey, what if the number increases to 100, or even 1000? While the public embraces the security of these devices, they forget how vulnerable they could become.
The two weakness of portable electronic devices discussed above are visible. When they happen to one’s devices, computers or laptops, one can detect them right away, and then look for solutions. In this case, my third point might seem a bit vague and bizarre. Just imagine a electronic device are physically unbroken, and it is free of any viruses, what happens if it records data incorrectly? Or what if they disobey our orders and process the data in a wrong way while functioning correctly? In 2004’s hit sci-fi movie “I, Robot”, humans are living in a world where robots do every piece of work. While robots are taking over more and more work, humans are becoming more and more dependent on them, and finally they decide to take over the world.
As considered a more progressive operating system, Apple also installs iOS in iPads. On top of all the benefits iOS holds, it claims it is immune to all viruses. Because every virus was created to attack Windows operating system, it might take a while for the hackers to react to iOS. Nonetheless, the legend is about to be smashed now. A piece of recent news shows that a first virus was found in one iPad. What makes it this case worse is that after a careful examine, this virus was actually an iPhone virus infecting iPad. Since iPhones, MacBooks and iPads all run the iOS. Thus this consistency gives a bigger and smoother platform for the virus writers. Moreover, “Goatse Security, the white-hat hackers (an Internet hacker) that exposed the iPad's problems keeping email addresses under wraps, is back with a warning about additional risks to owners of the tablet.” Also, in a letter from Goatse Security to AT&T, these hackers claimed that they’ve found a bug, which they can use to attack the devices and the devices won’t be able to detect it. In numerous movies and films, one can find case alike that a hacker uses a virus to steal money from a bank or distort some tiny digit number in a research. In this case, would Michelle James be able to memorize all her data correctly? She might be able to do so if there is only a survey, what if the number increases to 100, or even 1000? While the public embraces the security of these devices, they forget how vulnerable they could become.
The two weakness of portable electronic devices discussed above are visible. When they happen to one’s devices, computers or laptops, one can detect them right away, and then look for solutions. In this case, my third point might seem a bit vague and bizarre. Just imagine a electronic device are physically unbroken, and it is free of any viruses, what happens if it records data incorrectly? Or what if they disobey our orders and process the data in a wrong way while functioning correctly? In 2004’s hit sci-fi movie “I, Robot”, humans are living in a world where robots do every piece of work. While robots are taking over more and more work, humans are becoming more and more dependent on them, and finally they decide to take over the world.
Well, robots may seem a bit unrealistic in this case since we can’t even make an artificial robot. However, the cases about computers gone wrong are not a rare case anymore. Recently, due to computers errors, a prison released 1000 high-risk prisoners. It is confirmed that the errors are leaks in prisons evaluation programs, which misleads the prisons guards to falsely evaluate the prisoners' levels of risk. In this case, Michelle James might argue that the program writers should be more careful to prevent alike events happening again. However, programs are man-made, computers are man-made. As long as they are man-made, they are not flawless. Apple claimed they are flawless, but under such examination, a flaw can still be found.
Conclusion: At some point, I strongly agree computers are beneficial, and I embrace them for doing a great job to improve our life. However, it does not mean they are thoroughly perfect in every way. It is important to see that they have weaknesses, too. Either they do not perform properly or they are dropped on the ground by careless hands. Hence, I oppose complete dependence on them, and meanwhile we should keep on doing old practices like using pens and papers, because we can hardly and completely get rid of them nowadays.
Works Cited
Colon Raul, Ipad 2 very fragile, 2011. Web. 27 Feb 2012.
Richardson, Heather. "First IPad Virus Spotted.". Apple Tablet IPad, 6 Apr. 2010. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.
Perton, Marc. "Security Experts Claim IPad Vulnerable To New Attacks" The Consumerist. 14 June 2010. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.
Choney, Suzanne. "Computer Errors Free 450 High-risk Prisoners." Technolog. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.
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