Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chinese “gold farmers” who work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week can earn $3,000 a
year killing monsters, harvesting virtual gold coins and artifacts, creating powerful
avatars, and selling them over the Internet [25].
9.
We control the Internet of Things.
An increasing number of non-IT devices—thermostats, appliances, lights, motion
sensors, door locks, garage door openers, and baby monitors, to name just a few
examples—are being equipped with wireless connections to the Internet, forming
an
Internet of Things
. These devices can be controlled from a Web browser, allow-
ing people to control them even when they are not at home.
More significantly, some Internet-connected devices can be programmed to
interact with each other without human intervention. Imagine devices at home that
can monitor the GPS coordinates of your smartphone. You're driving home after
a long, hot day at work. When your car is 15 minutes away from home, the air
conditioning in your home turns on. You turn onto your street, and your porch
lights turn on. As you pull into your driveway, the garage door opens automatic-
ally [26].
10.
We pay our taxes.
About 100 million Americans now file their federal income tax returns online [27].
11.
We gamble.
Internet gambling is a $32-billion-a-year global business [28]. Running an Internet-
based casino is illegal in most states. As a result, many American emigres are oper-
ating gambling sites from the Caribbean or Central America [29].
12.
We take humanitarian action.
Kiva is a Web site supporting person-to-person microlending. Kiva works with
microfinance institutions to identify entrepreneurs from poor communities, and
it posts information about these entrepreneurs on its Web site. People who wish
to make an interest-free loan are able to identify the particular person to whom
they would like to lend money. Lenders have the ability to communicate with the
entrepreneurs and see the impact their loans are having on the recipients, their
families, and their communities [30].
Text messaging greatly increases the versatility of cell phones as information-sharing
platforms. Some of the most impressive uses of text messaging are in developing coun-
tries, where people do not have easy access to the Internet, banks, and other services
taken for granted by people in more developed countries.
Text-message-based services such as M-PESA in Kenya allow people in developing coun-
tries to save money and pay bills using their cell phones, bypassing traditional banks. To
