UNDERSTANDING YOUR COMPUTER: How

Computers Work: Three Key Concepts

1. PURPOSE OF A COMPUTER: TURNING DATA INTO INFORMATION Very

simply, the purpose of a computer is to process data into information.

• Data: Data consists of the raw facts and figures that are processed into
information —for example, the votes for different candidates being elected to
student-government office.

• Information: Information is data that has been summarized or otherwise

manipulated for use in decision making —for example, the total votes for each
candidate, which are used to decide who won.
 UNDERSTANDING YOUR COMPUTER: How
Computers Work: Three Key Concepts

2. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HARDWARE & SOFTWARE You should know the

difference between hardware and software.

• Hardware: Hardware consists of all the machinery and equipment in a computer

system. The hardware includes, among other devices, the keyboard, the screen,
the printer, and the “box”—the computer or processing device itself. Hardware is
useless without software.

• Software: Software, or programs, consists of all the electronic instructions that

tell the computer how to perform a task. These instructions come from a software
developer in a form (such as a CD, or compact disk) that will be accepted by the
computer.
 UNDERSTANDING YOUR COMPUTER: How
Computers Work: Three Key Concepts
3. THE BASIC OPERATIONS OF A COMPUTER Regardless of type and size, all
computers use the same four basic operations: (1) input, (2) processing, (3) storage, and
(4) output. To this we add (5) communications.

• Input operation: Input is whatever is put in (“input”) to a computer system.

• Processing operation: Processing is the manipulation a computer does to transform data
into information.
• Storage operation: Storage is of two types—temporary storage and permanent storage, or
primary storage and secondary storage.
• Output operation: Output is whatever is output from (“put out of”) the computer system—
the results of processing, usually information.
• Communications operation: These days, most (though not all) computers have
communications ability, which offers an extension capability—in other words, it extends the
power of the computer.
 UNDERSTANDING YOUR COMPUTER: How
Computers Work: Three Key Concepts
3. THE BASIC OPERATIONS OF A COMPUTER Regardless of type and size, all
computers use the same four basic operations: (1) input, (2) processing, (3) storage, and
(4) output. To this we add (5) communications.

• Input operation: Input is whatever is put in (“input”) to a computer system.

• Processing operation: Processing is the manipulation a computer does to transform data
into information.
• Storage operation: Storage is of two types—temporary storage and permanent storage, or
primary storage and secondary storage.
• Output operation: Output is whatever is output from (“put out of”) the computer system—
the results of processing, usually information.
• Communications operation: These days, most (though not all) computers have
communications ability, which offers an extension capability—in other words, it extends the
power of the computer.
 Input Hardware: Keyboard & Mouse

Input hardware consists of devices that allow people to put data into the computer
in a form that the computer can use. At minimum, you will need two things: a
keyboard and a mouse.

A keyboard is an input device that converts letters,

numbers, and other characters into electrical signals
readable by the processor.

A mouse is a nonkeyboard input device (“pointing device”)

that is used to manipulate objects viewed on the
computer display screen
 Processing & Memory Hardware: Inside the
System Cabinet
CASE & POWER SUPPLY Also known as the system unit,
the case or system cabinet is the box that houses the processor chip (CPU),
the memory chips, and the motherboard with power supply,
as well as some secondary-storage devices

PROCESSOR CHIP. A processor chip (CPU, for central processing unit)

is a tiny piece of silicon that contains millions of miniature electronic circuit

MEMORY CHIPS. Memory chips, also known as

RAM (random access memory) chips,
represent primary storage, or temporary storage;

MOTHERBOARD. Also called the system board,

the motherboard is the main circuit board in the computer
 Storage Hardware: Hard Drive & CD/DVD Drive

A computer system’s data/information storage capacity is represented by bytes, kilobytes, megabytes,

gigabytes, terabytes, and petabytes, as follows:

1 byte - 1 character of data (A character can be alphabetic—A, B, or C—or numeric—1, 2, or 3—or

a special character—!, ?, *, $, %.)
1 kilobyte - 1,024 characters
1 megabyte- 1,048,576 characters
1 gigabyte - more than 1 billion characters
1 terabyte - more than 1 trillion characters
1 petabye - about 1 quadrillion character
 Storage Hardware: Hard Drive & CD/DVD Drive

FLOPPY-DISK DRIVE. A floppy-disk drive

is a storage device
that stores data on removable
3.5-inchdiameter diskettes.

HARD-DISK DRIVE. A hard-disk drive is a

storage device
that stores billions of characters of data on
a nonremovable disk platter.

CD/DVD DRIVE. A CD (compact-disk)

drive, or its more recent variant, a DVD
(digital video-disk) drive, is a storage device
that uses laser technology to read data from
optical disks. (Some companies call a DVD
a “digital versatile disk.”)
 Output Hardware: Video & Sound Cards, Monitor, Speakers, &
Printer
Output hardware consists of devices that translate information processed by the computer into a form
that humans can understand—print, sound, graphics, or video.

Peripheral device is any component or piece of equipment that expands a computer’s input, storage,
and output capabilities
PAIR OF SPEAKERS.
VIDEO CARD. A video card converts the Speakers are the
processor’s output information into a video devices that play sounds
signal that can be sent through a cable to transmitted as electrical
the monitor. signals from the sound
SOUND CARD. enhances the computer’s card.
sound generating capabilities by allowing
sound to be output through speakers. PRINTER, an output
device that produces text
MONITOR. The monitor is the display
and graphics on paper.
device that takes the electrical signals from
the video card and forms an image using
points of colored light on the screen.
 Communications Hardware: Modem

MODEM. A standard modem is a device that sends and

receives data over telephone lines to and from computers.
 Software In what order are the two kinds of software
installed?
Software. Also called programs; step-by-step electronically encoded instructions that tell the
computer hardware how to perform a task

System software helps the computer perform essential operating tasks and enables the
application software to run. System software consists of several electronically coded programs. The
most important is the operating system, the master control program that runs the computer.
Examples of operating system software for the PC are various Microsoft programs (such as
Windows 95, 98, XP, Vista, and 7), Unix, and Linux.

APPLICATION SOFTWARE. Application software enables you to perform specific tasks—solve

problems, perform work, or entertain yourself. For example, when you prepare a term paper on your
computer, you will use a word processing program. (Microsoft Word and Corel WordPerfect are two
brands.) Application software is specific to the system software you use. If you want to run Microsoft
Word, for instance, you’ll need to first have Microsoft Windows system software on your system, not
Unix or Linux.
 Where Is Information Technology Headed?

Three Directions of Computer Development: Miniaturization, Speed, & Affordability

MINIATURIZATION. Everything has become smaller.

- vacuum tubes
- Transistor
- integrated circuits.

SPEED. Thanks to miniaturization and new material used in making processors, computer makers
can cram more hardware components into their machines, providing faster processing speeds and
more data storage capacity.

AFFORDABILITY. Processor costs today are only a fraction of what they were 15 years ago. A state-
of-the-art processor costing less than $1,000 provides the same processing power as a huge 1980s
computer costing more than $1 million.
 Where Is Information Technology Headed?

Three Directions of Computer Development: Miniaturization, Speed, & Affordability

SPEED Thanks to miniaturization and new material used in making processors, computer makers can
cram more hardware components into their machines, providing faster processing speeds and more
data storage capacity.

AFFORDABILITY Processor costs today are only a fraction of what they were 15 years ago. A state-of-
the-art processor costing less than $1,000 provides the same processing power as a huge 1980s
computer costing more than $1 million.
 Where Is Information Technology Headed?

Three Directions of Communications Development: Connectivity,

Interactivity, & Multimedia
CONNECTIVITY. Connectivity refers to the connection of computers to one another by a communications
line in order to provide online information access and/or the sharing of peripheral devices.

INTERACTIVITY. Interactivity refers to two-way communication; the user can respond to information he
or she receives and modify what a computer is doing

MULTIMEDIA. Radio is a single-dimensional medium (sound), as is most email (mainly text). As

mentioned earlier in this chapter, multimedia refers to technology that presents information in more than
one medium—such as text, pictures, video, sound, and animation—in a single integrated communication
 When Computers & Communications Combine:
Convergence, Portability, Personalization, Collaboration, &
Cloud
What are five Computing
developments growing out of the fusion of computers and
communications?
CONVERGENCE. Convergence describes the combining of several industries through various devices
that exchange data in the format used by computers
PORTABILITY. In the 1980s, portability, or mobility, meant trading off computing power and
convenience in return for smaller size and weight
PERSONALIZATION. Personalization is the creation of information tailored to your preferences
COLLABORATION. A more recent trend is mass collaboration. Says New York Times technology
writer John Markoff, “A remarkable array of software systems makes it simple to share anything
instantly, and sometimes enhance it along the way.”
CLOUD COMPUTING: THE GLOBAL COMPUTER. Not everyone agrees on exactly what “cloud
computing” means. Previously called on-demand computing, grid computing, or software as a service,
cloud computing basically means that, instead of storing your software or data on your own PC or your own
company’s computers, you store it on servers on the internet.
 “E” Also Stands for Ethics

Ethics is defined as a set of moral values or principles that govern the conduct of an
individual or a group

SPEED & SCALE. Great amounts of information can be stored, retrieved, and transmitted at a
speed and on a scale not possible before. Despite the benefits, this has serious implications “for
data security and personal privacy

UNPREDICTABILITY. Computers and communications are pervasive, touching nearly every

aspect of our lives. However, at this point, compared to other pervasive technologies—such as
electricity, television, and automobiles— information technology seems a lot less predictable and
reliable.
COMPLEXITY. Computer systems are often incredibly complex—some so complex that they are not
always understood even by their creators. “This,” say Forester and Morrison, “often makes them
completely unmanageable,” producing massive foul-ups or spectacularly out-of-control costs