Computer as our communication

In the past few years, computer was only used by people who can afford for communication in the business world. However, today, things have changed. Computer has become a necessity and owned by most people nowadays.

Computer has the function to connect to the internet which is like a global network. By connecting our computer to the Internet, we are able to stay connected with friends in another country and even maintain long distance relationships. For example, unlike using postal services which usually take a few days for the recipient to receive the message, today, messages can be received instantly by electronic mail, commonly known as E-mail. Another alternative way of doing it is that we can chat with our friends live by using the instant messenger such as 'Windows Live Messenger' and 'Skype'.

With the advance in technology, we can even send our message or post information to share with everyone without any cost(of course with the exception of the internet cost). For example, for a company, they can make use of the internet to advertise their product, event or their brand in the form of poster to disseminate their message to attract customers. We can also search for information conveniently by using metasearch engines such as 'Yahoo' and 'Google'.

Besides that, once when we are seperated with our families, we can't see them and talk to them face to face. However, this obstacles can be overcome. Now, we can use videoconferencing method to have a face to face conversation by using webcam.

All these functions that are provided by the computer and internet are a form of communication to us. It provide us with informations that we need and in the same time it also helps us to deliver our messages to others in a faster way.

However, there are negative effects in these communications as well. We can easily misundestand what is others trying to tell us through words. For example, we can't pronounce our words in tone and pronounce verbally such as hah can be means as ( what you mean by this ) or surprise expression). All these involve emotion tone and we can't spell it in words. Other than that, if we have a discussion by using instant messenger, we can't easily catch up what others are trying to say. It is because we have to focus on different aspects at the same time, such as typing, thinking and also reading. Basically, typing involves verbal communication only.

Of course, I can say that the best way to solve this problem is by using video conferencing. It is because it involves both verbal and non verbal communication. Well, these technologies are useful to us especially when we want to deliver our messages instantly to others. As long as this technology would not cause any miscommunication and misunderstanding, they are perfectly fine to use as a type of communication tool between human beings.

Written by,

Tan Hong Chun, Chrno