What are the costs of computer literacy? Some people argue that there are no such costs, but I believe there are a few which may be relevant. Does computer literacy affect the way we communicate, and if so, is this necessarily a bad thing? What is our future, as computer literacy becomes a necessity? What are the personal, financial, and social costs, as computer literacy becomes a necessity?.
According to Webster's New World dictionary, literacy is defined as the ability to read and write. There is definitely more than one interpretation of the word "literacy" as we have seen in class discussions and from reading many essays on the subject. The world has grown beyond the understanding of literacy as the ability to read and write- we now have many diverse understandings of the word. But there is a new literacy emerging around the world that will soon demand the immediate attention of everyone.
I am referring to computer literacy. As our society becomes increasingly dependent on computers to take care of our daily needs, it creates a high demand for skilled professionals to maintain as well as take advantage of this technology. The computer job market is like a wave, a technology wave. I had the choice to ride the wave and possibly make a lot of money at the age of only 18. But if I had not decided to go to college now, instead of working full time, there is no guarantee that I would have a job when that technology wave breaks.
Last year, at the age of 18, I was working in a computer software company as a network administrator and making more than some people that have a college degree. Some may look at this as a tremendous opportunity, but I saw it as a possible pitfall. At first, I saw taking advantage of my high computer literacy as having no costs whatsoever, but what I was reluctant to see was that I was not taking any college classes to further my education. This would have proved to be a significant mistake if I had not seen the possible negative aspects of not having a college degree to fall back on.
