Page 116. Watch the Lecture. Part D. LISTEN FOR DETAILS

Unit 12

page 116

watch the lecture

part D: listen for details

information technology we often talk about data.

today let’s talk about big data.

as you know, data simply means informational facts about a person or a topic.

so then what is big data?

big data means groups of data that are the very large or very complex; today I’d like to focus on three aspects of this topic.

first the ways that big data is collected and stored, second, some everyday uses of big data, and third, some concerns about using big data, especially privacy concerns.

first the collection process:

all kinds of data collected all the time, but who’s collecting this data?

will banks collect information about the customer’s credit card purchases; insurance companies collect information about their patients visits to the doctor.

Internet providers collect information about what websites you visit; entertainment companies collect information about what music you listen to and what movies and TV programs watch; and the list goes on and on…

what you do, what you buy, what you like, even who you like; it’s all collected by someone.

information becomes data when we save it, when we store it for future use.

how do we store data? We store it through digitalization which means conversing or changing information including images and sounds into byte streams which are sequences of bytes.

once the data is stored in byte streams, we can then use special software programs to access and analyze it to find patterns and create models.

because of the power of computer technology, all of this data can be compared in many, many ways; and guess what, this creates new data.

More and more data every moment, in fact the amount of data in the world is increasing all of the time.

some say the amount of data doubles, increases two times every two years.

Now, let’s look at some uses of data; may be you’re thinking so there’s a lot of data in the world, so what?

well one way to look at big data is to consider the potential benefits for individuals.

you may not realize it but our lives are affected by big data every day; probably in some ways you don’t even think about.

for example, when I woke up this morning, I made coffee and then checked the weather; I wanted to know is it going to rain? should I take my umbrella? and thanks to big data I saw that yes, the forecast called for rain.

Forecast come from weather scientists who collect large amounts of weather data, like temperature changes and cloud movement; analyze it with computers and then look for weather patterns.

All so they can accurately predict the weather and yes, help us make decisions.

and then this morning I checked the news on my tablet, and guess what? my favorite news website had topics and stories that interest me, how?

because it analyzes the reading patterns of thousands of other people, using their website and find stories that interest people like me.

oh and it also tells me what my friends are reading, because it knows who my friends are.

that’s a little weird, right?

but yes, it’s also helpful for me; it helps me learn things.

another thing I want to do this morning, was plan a trip; so I visited my favorite travel website.

I enter the information about where and when I want to go.

And the website quickly found the best available flights and hotels with the lowest prices, with just a few clicks before i finished my morning coffee, my trip was planned; all using big data; another benefit for me. it saves time.

After I booked my trip, I checked the map app on my phone to plan my trip to the airport; I entered the day and time I plan to go.

then big data analyzed the traffic patterns until be the best route to the airport from my house and how much time should take me to get there.

so I won’t have to worry about being late, and that helps me too; less stress.

so those are some everyday uses of big data and some ways the big data helps us in our everyday lives.

and clearly, big data does have benefits but we also pay a price for these benefits; big data is following us and our right to privacy is in danger.

every time we use our phones, make a credit card purchase or surf the web, we leave a trail of evidence; same thing when you apply for credit card or insurance or loan, when you apply for Job or for school, you’re leaving a trail and data collectors are following it.

Our trail can be captured, stored and mined; data miners can look into our personal lives and they can also share this information.

but is this fair? who can collect this data? who can use this data? and is the information about you accurate?

these are some of the big concerns about big data.