Topic 112

Visualization of information by Sam

What is Visualization of Information?

The world we live in contains so much information that we just simply can’t keep up with everything. Information is represented in various ways. We can hear something from our friends, we can read the news, search the internet, etc… To us humans, it is normal that there is various ways to represent the information. In computers, the same thing can be said. Information that goes in as inputs to the computer can have many forms it can take as an output. First of all, we have to understand that most of the modern computers are using graphical interface, therefore visualizing information even at the operating system level. So since from the operating system we are seeing visualized form of information, it is not surprising that most of the data in modern home computers are visualized in some way.

Advantages of Visualization of Information

Probably the biggest advantage of visualization of information is the fact that it makes everything simple. Do you remember the days of DOS? When operating systems did not have graphical interface, it was often too difficult for the average Joe to use it. Without graphical interface, many people would not be able to enjoy the use of computers as it would just be too difficult. Another example is graphs and tables generated in computers using different software. By just displaying data, it isn’t organized and probably hard to read. By making it in the form of graph or table, it allows viewers to easily understand the data.

Another advantage of visualization of information that it allows unified form to be used across the globe. Just the raw data will not always be understood anywhere, but by visualizing it, most of the people across the world can see what it is.

Disadvantages of Visualization of Information

When you visualize data on your computer, you are creating a visual representation of the data presented. Even though most of the time these representations are precise and exact, that is not always the case. When representations are made, for example graphs, sometimes there are small glitches between the data and the graph due to technical difficulties on the part of the software. Sometimes the data are too precise for the software to perfectly represent.

Another disadvantage of visualizing information is that let’s say in case of an operating system, many advanced computer users would rather prefer to use the commands and get to their work quickly rather than waste time on an operating system with graphical interface. With visualization of information, sometimes things get more complicated than they need to be.

Therefore sometimes using visualization of information can be inefficient.