Introduction to Computers

What is a computer?

An electronic device, operating under the control of instructions stored in its own memory unit, that can accept data, manipulate the data according to specified rules, produce information from the processing, and store the results for future use.

Devices that comprise a personal computer.

Inside a computer

Information Processing Cyclefour general operations

Input Processing Output Storage

What are the components of the computer?

Input devices Central processing unit (CPU) Output devices Memory Storage devices

Input Devices
Keyboard Mouse Digital camera Scanner Microphone

Keyboards

Mouse Devices

Digital Cameras

Scanners

Microphones

Central Processing Unit

Made up of the control unit and arithmetic/logic unit The brains of the CPU is the processor. There are different brands and speeds

Pentium made by Intel Celeron made by Intel Athlon made by AMD

Memory

RAMalso called Random Access Memory

Processors & Memory

Data Representation
Byteone character of data Kilobyteone thousand bytes of data Megabyteone million bytes Gigabyteone billion bytes Terabyteone trillion bytes Petabyteone quadrillion bytes Exabyteone quintillion bytes Zettabyteone sextillion bytes Yottabyteone septillion bytes http://www.jimloy.com/math/billion.htm

Output Devices

Printers

Impact printers
Dot Ink

matrix printers

Nonimpact printers
jet Laser
Color B&W

Monitors
CRTS LCDS

STORAGE DEVICES

Floppy Disks

3.5-inch disks store 1.44M of data

Must be formatted
Tracks sectors

Hard Disks

CDsCompact Discs

Spins at 5,400 7,200 rpm (revolutions per minute) Can store anywhere between 10G 250G+ of data Available in a variety of formatsCD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW A typical CD holds about 650 MB of data Available as DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW Can hold 4.7 GB of data

DVDs

Zip Driveshigh capacity floppy disk drive; has lost popularity

USB Flash Drive

Zip disks can hold from 100 MB 250 MB of data Storage capacity between 32 MB 4 GB

STORAGE DEVICES

SoftwareCan be categorized into four types

System software Application software Educational software Entertainment software

System Software

Controls the operations of computer equipment Operating System software tells the computer how to:

Load Store Execute

OS is loaded into memory when the computer is turned on

This process is called booting Provides visual cues such as icons Each icon represents an application

Most OSs use a Graphical User Interface (GUI)

Application Software
Programs that tell a computer how to produce information Commonly used applications

Word processing Spreadsheet Database Presentation Financial Email Taxing

Educational Software
Software that can be used for learning purposes Examples include:

Jump Start Series Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Reader Rabbit Encarta or World Book Math Blaster Rosetta Stone Spanish

Entertainment Software

Sports games

Madden NFL MLB

The Sims World of Warcraft Rollercoaster Tycoon Final Fantasy Halo Myst Half Life Barbie Fashion Show