Computer Literacy

Essential Understanding of
Computers and Computer
Operations
 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS
 CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS
Topics
 The term “computer” 
 Four basic computer operations 

 Data and information 

 Principal components of computer 

 Data storage devices and usage 

 Software 
A World of Computers

 What is computer literacy?

 Knowledge and understanding of computers and
their uses

 There is a widespread of computers in all walks of our lives today

 Computers are everywhere

What is a Computer?
 A computer is an electronic device that processes the input
data according to the instructions given by the programmer/user
and provides the desired information as an output.
 an electronic device that is programmed to accept data (input),
process it into useful information (output), and store it for future
use (storage).
 Composed of hardware and software
 Can exist in a variety of sizes and configurations
Examples
What Do Computers Do?
 Input, Process, Output, & Store data

Input Process Output

Store Data
The computer
 first, Accepts data such as raw facts, figures, and
symbol
 then, Processes data into information (Data that is
organized, meaningful, and useful )
 finally, Produces and stores results
Categories of computers
 The classification of computers is based on
the following three criteria:

(a) According to Purpose

(b) According to Technology used

(c) According to size and Capacity

According to Purpose
 According to the utilization of computer for different uses,
computers are of following two types:

1. General Purpose Computers: Computers that follow

instructions for general requirements such as sales analysis,
financial accounting, invoicing, inventory, management
information etc. are called General Purpose Computers.
 Almost all computers used in offices for commercial,
educational and other applications are general purpose
computers.
2. Special Purpose Computers: Computers
designed from scratch to perform special
tasks like scientific applications and research,
weather forecasting, space applications,
medical diagnostics etc. are called Special
Purpose Computers.
According to Technology Used
According to the technology used,
computers are of following three types:
Analog

Digital

Hybrid
Analog Computers:
1. Analog computers are special purpose computers that represent and store
data in continuously varying physical quantities such as current, voltage or
frequency. These computers are programmed for measuring physical quantities
like pressure, temperature, speed etc. and to perform computations on these
measurements.

Analog computers are mainly used for scientific and engineering applications.
Some of the examples of analog computers are given below:

(i) Thermometer: It is a simple analog computer used to measure temperature.

In thermometer, the mercury moves up or down as the temperature varies.

(ii) Speedometer: Car's speedometer is another example of analog computer

where the position of the needle on the dial represents the speed of the car.
 Digital Computers: Digital computers are mainly general purpose
computers that represent and store data in discrete quantities or
numbers. In these computers, all processing is done in terms of
numeric representation (Binary Digits) of data and information.
Although the user enter data in decimal or character form, it is
converted into binary digits (0's and l's).
 Almost all the computers used nowadays are digital computers and
we will discuss the detailed working and components of these
computers in subsequent sections of this unit.
 Hybrid Computers: Hybrid computers incorporate the
technology of both analog and digital computers. These
computers store and process analog signals which have been
converted into discrete numbers using analog-to-digital
converters.
 They can also convert the digital numbers into analog signals or
physical properties using digital-to-analog converters.
 Hybrid computers are mainly used in artificial intelligence
(robotics) and computer aided manufacturing (e.g. process
control).
According to Size & Capacity
Super Computers
Main Frame

Mini Computers

Micro Computers
 Supercomputers
 Supercomputer is the biggest and fastest computer, which is
mainly designed for complex scientific applications. It has many
CPUs (Central Processing Units - main part of computer) which
operate in parallel to make it as a fastest computer.
 It is typically used for the following applications:
 Weather Forecasting
 Petroleum Exploration and Production
 Nuclear Energy Research
 Electronic Design
 Real-time Animation
 Medicine
 MAINFRAME
 Mainframe computers are very large and fast computers but smaller
and slower than supercomputers.
 These are used in a centralized location where many terminals
(input/output devices) are connected with one CPU and thus, allow
different users to share the single CPU.
 They have a very high memory (several hundred Megabytes) and can
support thousands of users.
 They are mainly used for following applications:
 Railway and Airline Reservations
 Banking Applications
 Commercial Applications of Large Industries/Companies
MAINFRAME
 Mainframe computers usually have many terminals connected to
them.
 These terminals look like small computers but they are only devices
used to send and receive information from the actual computer using
wires.
 Terminals can be located in the same room with the mainframe
computer, but they can also be in different rooms, buildings, or cities.
 Large businesses, government agencies, and universities usually use
this type of computer.
Minicomputer
 Minicomputers are medium-scale, smaller and generally
slower than mainframe computers. Like mainframes,
they have many terminals which are connected with one
CPU and can support many users.
 The cost of minicomputer is very less as compared to
mainframe. Therefore, it is mainly used in applications
where processing can be distributed among several
minicomputers rather than using a mainframe computer.
 MICROCOMPUTER
 A microcomputer is the smallest digital computer, which uses a
microprocessor as its CPU. Microprocessor is a single chip (Integrated
Circuit) CPU.
 Microcomputer is popularly called as Personal Computer (PC). It can
be used both as a stand-alone machine and a terminal in a multi-user
environment.
 Microcomputers are becoming very popular nowadays due to very
high processing power and memory. Today, a powerful microcomputer
may be used as a substitute for mini or mainframe computer.
 Microcomputer can be classified into 2 types :

1. Workstations

2. Personal Computers
 The different portable computers are: -

1) Laptop

2) Notebooks

3) Palmtop (hand held)

4) Wearable computers
MICRO
The Computer System

 The main computer system is made up of the

hardware, software and user.
 The hardware consists of the physical components
that can be seen and touched
 The software which lies in the middle, consist of the
unseen aspects of the computer that acts as a link
between the hardware and the user.
 Components of a Computer

The four primary components of the computer system are ;

1.Input Devices (Keyboard, Mouse, etc.)

2.Output Devices (Monitor, Speakers, etc.)

3.Processing Devices (CPU, e.t.c.)

4.Storage Devices (memory, e.t.c.)

The Components of a Computer
 What is an input device?
 Input is the process of sending data and instruction into the
central processing unit.
Hardware used to enter data and instructions is termed Input
Device
Input devices accept instructions and data from you the user.
Most commonly used ones include keyboard and mouse. Others
include Touch sensitive screen, (Microphone) Voice input
device, Optical mark recognition (OMR) for the reading of bar
codes, Image processors –scanner, Magnetic card readers
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The Components of a Computer
 What is an input device?

32
The Components of a Computer
 What is an output device?
 Output is the process of getting information out of
the computer.
Hardware that conveys information to a user is
called Output device.
The most common output devices are monitors
and printers.

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 There are basically two forms of monitors;
 cathode ray tube (CRT) and
 liquid crystal display (LCD)
 A CRT-based screen, or monitor, looks similar to a television set.
 An LCD-based screen displays visual information on a flatter and
smaller screen than a CRT-based video monitor. LCDs are frequently
used in laptop computers.
 Monitor’s output is called softcopy.
 The printer displays output in a permanent media, mostly on paper; it
is called hardcopy.
 Other types of output devices include voice output and music output
devices (multimedia speaker). Plotter is also an example of output
device.
The Components of a Computer
 What is an output device?

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The Components of a Computer
 What is the Processing Devices?
Processing is simply the act of converting the data into information.
Operations performed on data to provide useful information to users is
termed as Data processing.
The input device feeds data, raw or unprocessed facts, to the
processing unit.
The role of the processing unit or central processing unit is to use a
stored program to manipulate the input data into the information required.
In looking at the computer system, the Central Processing Unit, (CPU) is
not exactly visible.
The CPU is found inside the system unit. 37
 The Components of a Computer
 What is the system unit?
 Box-like case
containing
electronic
components
used to process
data

38
 What is the magical inside the black box?
S
torage U
nits

Memory
Video
card Card

Power

Supply
P U
 C

Sound

Card

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 Inside The System Unit

Power Supply Optical Drive

Floppy Disk Drive

Expansion Slot Mother Board Hard Disk Drive

 Components in the System Unit

Power Supply Data Cable

Hard Disk Drive

Mother Board Optical Drive Floppy Disk Drive

Video/Graphics card Memory CPU CPU fan

Processing Device (CPU)
The CPU is the brain of the computer. The CPU
consists of electronic circuits that interpret and
execute instructions; it communicates with the
input, output, and storage devices.
The CPU, with the help of memory, executes
instructions in the repetition of machine cycles.
 A machine cycle consists of four steps:
1. The control unit fetches an instruction and data associated
with it from memory.

2. The control unit decodes the instruction.

3. The arithmetic/logic unit executes the instruction.

4. The arithmetic/logic unit stores the result in memory.

 The first two instructions are called instruction time, I-time.
 Steps 3 and 4 are called execution time, E-time.

 The speed of computer is measured in hertz, Hz

What are two main components on the
motherboard?
 Central Processing Unit (CPU)
Also called a processor
 A device that interprets and runs the

commands that you give to the computer.

Carries out instructions that tell computer

what to do

Two major brands are Intel and AMD.

Examples: Intel Core 2 Duo, AMD Turion X2

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Memory

 Also known as Primary storage

 Temporary holding place for data and instructions
 works with the CPU to hold instructions and data in order to be
processed.
 Memory is the first place data and instructions are placed after being
input; processed information is placed in memory to be returned to an
output device.
 It is very important to know that memory can hold data only temporarily
because it requires a continuous flow of electrical current. If current is
interrupted or light goes off, data in the memory is lost. Memory is in
the form of a semiconductor or silicon chip and is contained inside the
computer.
Memory (Cont’d)
 Two types:
 ROM and RAM

 ROM is Read Only Memory.

 It contains programs and data that are permanently
hardwired into the computer, when the computer is
manufactured.
 It is read and used by the processor, but cannot be
altered or edited by the user
 RAM is Random Access Memory.
 The user can access data in RAM memory
randomly.
 RAM can be erased or written over at will by
the computer program or the computer user.
 The amount of RAM has increased
dramatically in recent years.
 Memory is measured in bytes.
 A byte is usually made up of 8 bits and represents one
character—a letter, digit, or symbol.
 Bytes are usually measured in groups of kilobytes,
megabytes, gigabytes, and terabytes.
 The RAM is also a regarded as primary storage device.
It stores data temporally when processing is taking
place.
 The data it holds is lost when power is gone.
The following chart defines each term.

Kilobyte KB Roughly 1,000 bytes

Megabyte MB Roughly 1,000,000 bytes

Gigabyte GB Roughly 1,000,000,000 bytes

Terabyte TB Roughly 1,000,000,000,000 bytes

 Storage Devices(Secondary Storage)
 Since we have said that memory is in the form of chips and
must maintain a constant flow of electricity, there must be a
more permanent form of storage that does not depend on a
constant flow of electricity.
 That form of storage is called secondary or auxiliary storage.
 The benefits of secondary storage are
 large space capacity
 Reliability
 convenience
 economy
Floppy disk (Diskette)

 Magnetic disk storage is a very popular type of secondary

storage—the floppy disk drive is an external disk drive.
 The floppy disk drive is usually a 3 ½" drive and uses a
diskette made of flexible Mylar and coated with iron oxide,
a substance that can be magnetized.
 A diskette records data as magnetized spots on the tracks
of its surface.
 A floppy disk can hold 1.44 MBs, or a ‘Zip’ drive can hold
100 MBs.
 Hard disk
A hard disk, an internal disk, is a metal
platter coated with magnetic oxide that can
be magnetized to represent data.
 Hard disks come in a variety of sizes and can

be assembled into a disk pack.

 A hard disk is capable of holding a great deal

more than floppy disks.

 Hard disks for personal computers are

measured in gigabytes. (Remember, a

gigabyte is roughly a thousand megabytes or
a thousand floppy disks.)
 While the size or data capacity of a hard drive is
very important, the speed of accessing that data is
equally as important.
 Files on hard drives can be accessed significantly
faster and more conveniently than floppy drives.
 Included in the list are the other types of storage devices
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.
 The CD-ROM, (compact disk read-only) memory can hold
up to 700
 The DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) has a 4.7 GB capacity,
which is about seven times that of the CD-ROM
 The flash drive is also one of the secondary storage
devices.
 In order to protect the data on your hard drive, you should have a
backup system.
 A backup system is way of storing data in more than one location.
 Magnetic tape is usually used for this purpose. Magnetic tape is an
inexpensive type of storage; it looks like the tape used in
audiocassettes.
 In order to function properly, a computer system must have all
four types of hardware: input, processing, output, and storage.
Questions
Questions
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