BYOD is a way of working in which employees use their personal devices for their jobs within limits the company allows.
The name stands for Bring Your Own Device, meaning staff use their own smartphones or laptops for business. The company spends less on supplying devices, and employees work on equipment they already know. On the other hand, business data ends up on devices the company does not manage directly, so usage rules and a device management system are needed to guard against data leaks.
AnalogyThink of a chef who brings their own knives to the restaurant. Familiar tools make the work go faster, but the restaurant has to set rules first for how blades are handled and stored.
How to rememberSame idea as "BYO" (bring your own drinks) on a party invitation, except what you bring is a Device.
Exam points
ExamBYOD means employees use devices they own for business, with the company's permission.
Mix-upBYOD is about whose device you work on, while telework (テレワーク), which uses IT to make where and when people work more flexible, is about a different axis.
IoT (Internet of Things) is a system that gives all kinds of things sensors and communication functions, connects them to a network, and puts the collected data to use.
Measure with sensors
Send over the network
Collect and analyze on a server
Apply to control or services
The results feed back into controlling equipment or into new services.
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A sensor is a component that measures conditions such as temperature, vibration, or position and turns them into numbers. The connected things range widely, from home appliances and cars to factory equipment and farmland. For example, readings from a soil moisture sensor in a field can be used to adjust the amount of watering automatically.
AnalogyImagine attaching a tiny reporter to every tool in the house, each sending constant updates to headquarters. The more reports come in, the better headquarters can act ahead of time.
How to rememberThe Things in Internet of Things are objects. Read it as saying that not only people but objects become users of the internet.
M2M is a system in which machines send data to each other over a network and carry out monitoring and control without waiting for a person.
Device A measures its state
Data goes to device B
Device B acts without waiting for a person
Based on the values it receives, device B acts with no human operation.
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M2M stands for Machine to Machine: values or states measured by one device are received by another device or computer, which then acts on them automatically. For example, an elevator's controller keeps sending its operating records to the maintenance company's computer, and when signs of trouble appear, an inspection is arranged automatically.
AnalogyLike curtains that open on their own when the alarm clock rings, one machine signals another and sets it moving.
How to rememberThe 2 in the middle sounds like "to", the same shorthand as writing B2B for trade between businesses.
Exam points
ExamA system where a machine judges and acts on its own based on data received from another machine, with no human operation in between, is M2M.
Mix-upIoT is the broad idea of connecting things to the network and using their data, including cases where a person checks the status on a screen. M2M refers to machines communicating with each other and acting without human involvement.
Web conferencing (Web会議) is a meeting format in which video and audio are exchanged over the internet so that participants in different places can talk at the same time.
Anyone with an app or a browser on a PC or smartphone can join, and the group can talk while viewing the same screen or documents. Groupware is software that lets members of an organization share information and work together, and a web conferencing function is often built into it. Because it cuts travel time and costs, it is used for working from home and for meetings that span multiple sites.
AnalogyIt is as if everyone stays at their own desk yet sits around the same conference table.
Exam points
ExamWeb conferencing (Web会議) is one of the functions that groupware (グループウェア) provides as a shared workspace for an organization. The aim of introducing groupware is to raise the efficiency of the organization's work through that workspace.
Email (電子メール) is an asynchronous way of communicating in which you send text or files to someone's email address and the recipient reads it later.
Sender writes and sends
Mail server holds it
Recipient reads whenever they like
The recipient downloads it from the server and reads it at a convenient time.
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Documents and data can be sent along with the message as attachments. When one message goes to several people, you choose among TO for the main recipients, CC for those receiving a copy, and BCC for those whose addresses are hidden from the other recipients.
AnalogyLike dropping a letter in someone's mailbox. They open and read it when they get home.
How to rememberThe E in e-mail stands for electronic, so the name means postal mail made electronic.
Exam points
Mix-upCC and BCC both send copies, but the addresses in BCC cannot be seen by the other recipients.
An electronic bulletin board (電子掲示板) is a system where participants post messages in a shared space on a network and everyone reads them to share information.
For each topic, a unit called a thread is started, and questions, opinions, and replies to them pile up in it. Because the posts remain, people who join later can follow how the discussion developed.
AnalogyLike the notice board at the entrance of a community center. Anyone can pin up a note, and everyone who passes by can read it.
How to rememberIn English it is called a BBS (Bulletin Board System), and a bulletin is a notice.
Exam points
ExamAn electronic bulletin board (電子掲示板) is a typical function of groupware (グループウェア), which provides an all-in-one environment for teamwork in an organization.
A blog (ブログ) is a way of publishing on the web in which the author keeps adding posts, shown in date order with the newest first.
Many blogs let readers add comments to posts, so exchanges between author and readers stay below the post. Trackback is a function that notifies another blog when you have linked to one of its posts.
AnalogyLike a diary left unlocked for anyone to read. The author keeps adding pages, and readers can open it at the latest one.
How to rememberWeb plus log (a record, like a ship's log) made weblog, which was later shortened to blog.
Exam points
ExamWith trackback (トラックバック), the linked side receives a notification, and a link back to the linking post is automatically added to its post.
Chat (チャット) is a way of communicating by exchanging short messages on the spot, at the pace of a conversation.
Many chat tools support group conversations and file sharing as well as one-to-one talks. Business chat suits situations where you want to settle a quick check or question right away.
AnalogyLike calling back and forth on walkie-talkies. Send a word, and a word comes straight back.
How to rememberIn English, chat means casual talk. Remember it as spoken-style exchanges rather than formal documents.
Exam points
Mix-upChat (チャット) assumes short exchanges the other person answers on the spot, while email (電子メール) assumes a fuller message they read later, so the two differ in how fast replies come.