Which of the following is improved by the use of smart devices?

The primary and most universally recognized improvement offered by smart devices is their portability. By design, devices like smartphones and tablets are compact, lightweight, and battery-operated, enabling users to perform computing tasks, communicate, and access information from virtually any location. This mobility untethers users from fixed workstations, which is a fundamental shift from traditional computing and a core value proposition of these devices in both personal and enterprise environments.

A. Version control: Version control is a system for managing changes to files or code. Smart devices are consumption endpoints, not development platforms; their use does not inherently improve this process.

B. Privacy: Privacy is generally considered to be weakened, not improved, by smart devices due to their constant connectivity, location tracking capabilities, and the vast amount of personal data they collect and transmit.

D. Secure authentication: While smart devices introduce convenient authentication methods like biometrics, they also create new security risks (e.g., theft, malware, shoulder surfing), making the overall security posture more complex rather than unequivocally improved.

1. Turban

E.

Pollard

C.

& Wood

G. (2018). Information Technology for Management: On-Demand

Global

and Mobile (11th ed.). Wiley. Chapter 5

"Mobile Computing and the Internet of Things

" discusses the key characteristics of mobile computing

identifying "mobility" and "broad reach" as primary drivers

which are direct components of portability.

2. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). (2021). Special Publication (SP) 800-124 Rev. 2

Guidelines for Managing the Security of Mobile Devices in the Enterprise. Section 2.2

"Mobile Device Security Concerns

" details numerous threats and vulnerabilities that challenge privacy and secure authentication

such as location privacy

targeted advertising

and susceptibility to malware

contradicting the notion that these areas are improved.

3. Blaha

M. (2012). Software Engineering Lecture Notes. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Lecture 20

"Configuration Management." This university courseware defines version control as a mechanism for managing multiple versions of source code

a function independent of the hardware (like a smart device) used to access it.