People can perform everyday tasks, such as shopping and banking as well as business transactions, without meeting other people face-to-face. What are the effects of this on an individual and the society as a whole?

It is irrefutable that modern devices and tools of communications like Fax machines, telephone, interactive TV and computer have revolutionised each and every aspect of life. Thanks to telecommunications, daily tasks and business transactions can be performed without meeting other people in person. This has both positive and negative effects on the individual and the society as a whole but the pros far outweigh the cons.

Undoubtedly, online shopping and net banking have made life more convenient than ever before. People can stay home comfortably, looking on the Internet where an ocean of information is available to find what they need. They can log on to the relevant websites and look for detailed information on the products and services that they are interested in. They read the descriptions, examine the pictures, and check the prices. Eventually, they make a decision and send an e-mail to order and pay for it by e-banking. All can be done at home, without scanning newspaper advertisements, reading reference print materials, going around downtown as they did before. As a result, they have more time to take part in social activities, pursue hobbies and interests and communicate with families, which are all indispensable parts of quality life.

The trend of doing business by telecommunications equally benefits the whole society because business can be done more efficiently and effectively at a much lower cost. An extra benefit is that more natural resources can be saved. Moreover, small businesses have almost the same opportunities to advertise and promote their products and services on line to compete with those large ones, which makes the whole society fairer.

As every rose is accompanied with thorns, similarly this situation has a downside. Face to face communication is coming down and people are being isolated from each other. Social life is coming down as people have become self dependent.

To sum up, performing everyday tasks and business transactions by means of telecommunications benefits the individual and the society enormously. There are some drawbacks but there is simply no going back.