Thursday, March 20, 2008 Ng: Downside of technology By Wilson Ng Wired Desktop
THE downside of technology is waste. According to a study by Fujitsu Siemens, there are 12.5 million personal computers (PCs) in United Kingdom that are not disposed of properly while 6.2 million people have unused computers lying around their home or garden and 5.1 million said they took their old computers to the local dump.
Electrical and electronic wastes are the fastest growing type of waste stream in the United Kingdom. Around 1.8 million tons are generated every year, 39 percent of which are IT equipment.
I was trying to compare the markets of various countries, and noted a huge discrepancy. According to most studies, small and medium businesses (SMBs) in the United States will spend $240 billion on IT infrastructure and applications, as well as telecom services. SMBs in Singapore are expected to invest $3 billion in 2008 for their IT, which is up six percent over 2007. By most accounts, SMBs in the Philippines, minus the telcos, big banks and multinationals, may be spending less than $200 million on IT.
You can look at it optimistically, and say there is a lot of growth potential; or call a spade a spade, which means our SMBs are simply not IT-ready.
Speaking of potentials, it is worthwhile to note that IT and IT-enabled services now employ more than four million people in India, and accounts for seven percent of their gross domestic product, as well as 33 percent of their foreign exchange inflows. We are still growing, and although we estimated that we now have half a million people in business process outsourcing (BPO) services, the sector accounts for less than five percent of our foreign exchange inflows.
The study also shows that predominantly, while there are lots of stories about using BPO or outsourcing to focus on operational efficiency or improve processes, most companies that outsource are still doing so with one consideration in mind—cutting costs.
Americans and cell phones. I found another interesting study on how Americans use their cell phones for uses other than taking or receiving calls.
According to ZDNet, 60 percent of Americans from 18 to 29 years of age are texting as 32 percent of those in the 30 to 49 age group.
The second most common use of cell phones by Americans is for taking pictures. This is done by 31 percent of the 18 to 29 age group, and 14 percent of the 30 to 49 age group.
Third and fourth most popular uses of cell phones among Americans are for games and listening to music for the 18 to 29 years (16 percent). Nine percent of those who are 30 to 49 years of age use the cell phone to send/receive e-mail, while eight percent admit having played games on their cell phones.
Fifth and sixth most popular for the 18- to 29-year-olds is to access the Web to get weather or news reports (14 percent) and to send receive e-mail (10 percent). For the 30 to 49 age group, it is to do instant messaging (seven percent) or access the Internet for news (seven percent).
Vista Service Pack. Microsoft has announced that Service Pack 1 of Windows Vista is now available for download. Microsoft said the new patches will improve security, reliability and speed.
