Impact of HCI on Culture

Laptops

Laptop is a portable computer that has become increasingly popular around the world because of its light weight that enabled us to take it anywhere. The reason that they are becoming very popular is not just because we can carry it with us anywhere but also because it makes working and communicating extremely easier. As long as there is internet access, people from different side of the world can easily communicate to each other and because there are a lot more translator websites (such as Google translator) there are no more barriers between people from different country to communicate.

Another positive impact of laptops on culture is that it brings different culture together. I have recently heard of ‘One Laptop per Child’ (OLPC) project that has been running by non-profit organisation in some developing countries. Their aim is to produce a low-cost computer for children in poorer countries. That is because they believe that access to laptops and internet could improve many children’s education as well as increasing their chance of living in a better, fuller life.

Mobile Phones

Mobile phones are a portable devices that can be used for a wide variety of task such as making a phone call, text/Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Message Service (MMS) as well as access to internet just like PC/laptops. However, in some poorer countries such as Africa still have very little access to mobile phone.

Does the difference in national culture impact on the buyer behaviour of consumers when purchasing a mobile phone?

In my opinion the differences between cultures does impact on the consumer’s behaviour when purchasing a mobile phone. According to research from the University of Surrey, United Kingdom, most of Thai consumers are emphasis on appearance/image and social acceptance while British consumers are emphasis on their own buying intention/self-direction. By looking at this result, it tells me the differences between these two cultures and how they might have been brought up.

Mobile entertainment

Mobile entertainment is any portable devices that we could use to entertain ourselves wherever we go. E.g. games on mobile phone, PSP, Nintendo DS, iPod and iPad which we often use for entertainment in such way such as watch movies, play games, go on internet, listening to music etc. We are now in a culture where most of people use these portable devices for entertaining purpose, the negative side of it is that people are now starting to become addicted to these devices which could become very distracting if they use it in a wrong place and at the wrong time.

Mobile computing

Mobile computing enabled us to use computer and stay connected when travelling. Laptops and Notebook are also classified as mobile computing because of its portability. Nowadays people in our culture are often travelling from one place to another all the time and there is no way that you will not see at least one person working on their laptop in the airport or a big train stations. Therefore, it is one of the things that made us more independent and productive than some of the other culture because we can now be working anywhere, anytime.

Domestic Appliances

The positive side Domestic appliances are that it made our life task much easier and save up a lot of our time. However, Domestic Appliances are often relying on technology. For example, electricity is needed for vacuum cleaner and microwave to function. Or even TV remote still need battery for it to work. This can be the down side of it because as people are become relying on these domestic appliances, it is not just the appliances that they will have to pay for, but also, their expensive electricity bill.

I also think that these Domestic Appliances nowadays made us people who live in a developing country (and have enough money to purchase different kinds of domestic appliances) becoming less productive and more dependable because it sometimes make things too easy for us that we are not bother to do or learn anything else. For example, we people from developing country are often amazed on how people from some poorer countries could live without some domestic appliances such as washing machine, oven, cooker, freezer, telephone. Some of us have no idea how we could cook food without the oven or the cooker when people from poorer country are attempting to find the way on how to do it. 
 

Games

Games have had both negative and positive impact on culture. The positive impact is that it could improve our computer literacy as well as allows us to express ourselves in the game. However, games with violent content could make people becoming more aggressive (especially teen and children). Although online games enabled people from one culture to communicate to people from another culture through tournaments but I believe it could reduce face to face communication with people in their real life (such as friends and family) as video games are known as a piece of technology that can be very addictive. Therefore, game players are more likely to spend time in front of video games instead of socialising with their friends/ family or do something that is more productive such as doing their homework or read the book.

Deskilling work (Psychological and sociological impact)

Deskilling work is when robots and machine are used (often in manufacturing) instead of people. It is true that deskilling work requires less specialised as well as reduce cost. However, the negative impact on culture that it has is that it could make the employees feels like they are being left out which could lead to them being less productive and less motivated. Therefore they would no longer go for a further education to improve their skills because they believe that their job will be replaced with machine/robots anyway.  

Developing nations

HCI have had a huge impact on a developing nations. Over recent years, it gives more jobs for people who live in a poor country. For example, the process of e-waste usually takes place in a developing country like India. E-waste is a process of recycle different kinds of electronic devices and what people in developing country usually do is burn it into valuable metal and sells it.

“More jobs available for people in developing country” might sounds like a positive impact, but in my opinion, it is not worth it because it is a dangerous job (By burning these electronic devices with a dangerous chemical could cause pollution and serious health problem) with the pay that is extremely poor.