1.2 - Evaluate Your Communications - Activity 7

In my personal/social and working life i use communications in technology. In my life i use e-mail, mobile phone, instant messenger, web-cam and basic face-to-face communication. I seem to use communications in technology in my personal/social life on services such as Facebook and windows live messenger and occasionally hotmail more than in my working life, this technology is highly conviniant when i am not able to get out or i need to communicate someone who's location i do not know. Although i use communications technology more in my personal/social life i have found that recently (due to now being 6th form) i am using it a lot in my working life. For instance, in ICT classes i am using email to send documents to teachers and classmates and it sometimes is even part of tasks set in class or as homework. I find communications very helpful in all the aspects of my life as it makes life a lot easier and is a very efficient way to communicate.

1.2 - When Do You Use Mobile Phones - Activty 6

I use my mobile phone souly for personal/social use so my main purposes are just to text people to arrange meeting up, or calling someone to chat. I also use it for quickly taking photos/videos on-the-go and playing my little mobile tennis game. I usually use my mobile when I'm out because when I'm at home I just use the land line.
The main advantages of having a mobile is that you can contact anyone anywhere (if you have their information) for a cheap price. You can also play a game or run a fun application so if you're on the move then you wont get bored. The main disadvantage is that if you run out of credit or battery life then you can no longer use it.
My mobile fulfills my required purpose of it as i only really need it for texting and it achieves this very easily and well.

1.2 - When Do You Use email - Activity 5

I use email, mainly, at home and school. For home use i have two main email accounts. One for personal use and one for things such as eBay and Play.com, this way it is much easier to manage personal and business topics so i can reply/access them more quickly. For school use in ICT lessons it is required that i have an email account so teachers can contact me concerning ICT work. I access email (for home use) using WindowsLiveHotmail and school use via GoogleMail.
The benefits of using email for me is that it is an easy way to communicate and allows me to communicate with teaching staff at the school if i get stuck with something.The only disadvantage of my email is that it can often get cluttered with junk mail.
I feel that email makes me most productive when it is concerning work or business, however I'm least productive when it concerns just silly emails containing e.g. inside jokes between friends. The purpose behind email is to allow people to communicate in letter form but without having the effort of hand-writing one. With that said i think email achieves it's purpose and more because it can be used just sending anything including documents and images.

http://www.hotmail.co.uk


http://www.googlemail.co.uk

1.1 - Online Banking - Activity 13

I have investigated two online banks: http://www.barclays.co.uk http://www.natwest.com. The purpose of online banking is to allow users to do everything they would do at a bank, but online. It is more convinient if you cannot get out of the house and if you are disabled e.g. blind it has a web reading app to allow you to know what your doing.
It's target audiences are anyone that banks. If you are over 16 you can access online banking services on both sites. Although online banking also has a large target at disabled people who cannot get out to the bank.
Both websites achieve their purposes well as it is clear and well laid out so it is simple to use. However you do not get the same immediate help/interface you would with an actual person at the bank.
I can see know reason why it needs improving.

1.2 - Ambulance Services - Activity 2

Some ambulance workers have been forced to work in their ambulances throughout their shift. This idea was introduced so that paramedics could arrive at a scene faster than ever before. This idea was thought of off of the base that there were more crimes and injuries in certain areas so ambulance workers were positioned nearer to those areas rather than staying at the station until a call comes in. This means that on a slow day paramedics could be stuck in their ambulance all day without even going to a call. Although this is an efficient way to work it has caused problems within the workers and many complaints came in (basically as soon as it started in the 90's).
However, the new ICT is very effective. Even though the ambulance workers are having a hard time sitting in the ambulance all day; it is saving MORE lives, so think about which is more important? Furthermore, callers can be traced to their areas so if they are unable to continue speaking to a reciever, then paramedics can just go to the scene and find out the problem. Sat Nav's can get ambulances to the scene in the quickest possible way too.
I think that if the ambulance workers are more concerned about where they are stationed over saving more lives, they are obviously in the wrong proffession.

http://www.wmas.nhs.uk/
http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/A.Finkelstein/las/lascase0.9.pdf

1.2 - Tool Man - Activity 1

John is very clustered with items to help him with his job. He carries a large diary and an adress book, this can be simplified by using a small PDA which have built in planners to get him organised. This would allow him to store all of his contacts information in the adress folder and create a realtime diary which alerts you before and on the time of your appointments etc. He also carries a road atlas and various A-Z's. This can be simplified by using a Sat-Nav or a GPS enabled smart phone or PSP. These devices give you realtime directions to the exact destination you need to go, many of them also state various ways to get there, stating the quickest way. Furthermore, he carries many coins for pay-phones when he could be using a mobile phone, and because he uses phones often: he should be entitled to recieving a contract phone from the company he works for. He could (again) use a PDA for a calculator, or even just a modern mobile phone. Finally, instead of carrying around a bulky sales catalouge; if the company has an online catalouge and ordering system he can just use a laptop.
Although these various ICT appliancies will save him time and space, they may, however, cause a problem. It is possible that they can shut down on him or malfunction plus they need charging a lot, also if he isn't very ICT abled then he may get lost in it all. However, if he brings all of his old stuff with him too just to put under the seat, he can use it as a backup if the ICT fails.