There are more workers to work from home and more students to study from home This is because computer technology is more and more easily accessible and cheaper Do you think it is a positive or negative development v.2

It is true that technological breakthroughs in computer industry have radically changed people’s lives, allowing us to work and study at home on a regular basis. While I consent to its implication with social betterment, I opine that its negative ones are inevitable. To begin with, the trend towards working and learning at home is widely recognized as beneficial because of two major reasons. Firstly, it facilitate citizens make the most of their time. Indeed, the rising accessibility of computers and the Internet act as a catalyst for launching online learning programs, or convenient business applications, which offer unlimited services. Thanks to these innovations, residents can flexibly opt for times when they feel the most productive to work or study and, therefore, obtain the highest efficiency. Furthermore, regarding to urban development, these advances in technology also make commuting to work and schools unnecessary, or even redundant, which helps ease traffic flow, especially in peaked hours. As a result, if there is a decline in number of vehicles, a huge number of heated issues can be tackle, like traffic congestion, or sound and air pollution. However, the prevailing computer-based working and studying also leads to many challenges. From health perspective, no sooner will citizens apply a computer to their works and studies at home than they spend long hours sticking their eyes on its screen and accidentally acquire a sedentary lifestyle. Consequently, users are more likely to face a number of health problems, such as obesity, refractive errors or metabolism disorders. From educational perspective, it is also foreseen that self-study at home through the computer is detrimental to students’ comprehensive development, especially for ones who are in their formative years. Specifically, due to its lack of real interactions, an austerity in communicative skills may occur despite their sufficient provision of academic knowledge. Briefly, with its merit and demerit, I concur with the view that working and learning at home through computers will have double-edged impacts on residents.