Advantages and Disadvantages of the Internet

Technology plays a vital role in people's everyday life. The internet is one such example – its humble beginnings as a platform for exchange of important documents has transformed into a multi-mass media capable of initiating interactive communications among a large group of people, literally from every part of the world. As its benefits become more apparent, many firms have come up with innovative solutions to work from home and people are increasingly pursuing work that can be done in the comfort of their dwellings.

Instead of having to conduct meetings to instruct employees, managers can now disseminate the same information through electronic mail; it is no longer necessary for project mates to come together to discuss but harness the power of instant messaging and online FOREX values and stock market readings allow traders to carry out trading almost anywhere. The list is certainly non-exhaustive.

While the possibility of exploring more far-reaching benefits heralds an exciting future and promises numerous benefits as shown below, there are certain shortcomings that have been identified such as the lack of supervision eventually leading to slack in work and performance. In managing such a dilemma, it is more appropriate to create a culture where there is a balance of having the privilege to work from home and attend compulsory meetings, rather than brushing off the potential to utilise sophisticated gadgets to our advantage.

When people work from home, they effectively eliminate travel time. This increases productivity and reduces the loss precious of man-hours in having to put up with congestion. Exponential rise in global population as well as an increased rate of migration to cities has resulted in overcrowding in many metropolitan cities such as Hong Kong and New York, leading to high traffic congestion during peak hours. Statistics tell us that the annual delay per peak period traveller has grown from 16 hours to 47 hours since 1982. Working