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 Cycle—four
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
 RAM—also called Random Access Memory
Processors & Memory
Data Representation
 Byte—one character of data
 Kilobyte—one thousand bytes of data
 Megabyte—one million bytes
 Gigabyte—one billion bytes
 Terabyte—one trillion bytes
 Petabyte—one quadrillion bytes
 Exabyte—one quintillion bytes
 Zettabyte—one sextillion bytes
 Yottabyte—one septillion bytes

http://www.jimloy.com/math/billion.htm
Output Devices
 Printers
 Impact printers
 Dot matrix printers
 Nonimpact printers
 Ink jet
 Laser
 Color
 B&W
 Monitors
 CRT’S
 LCD’S
STORAGE DEVICES
 Floppy Disks
 3.5-inch disks store 1.44M of data
 Must be formatted
 Tracks
 sectors
 Hard Disks
 Spins at 5,400 – 7,200 rpm (revolutions per minute)
 Can store anywhere between 10G – 250G+ of data
 CD’s—Compact Discs
 Available in a variety of formats—CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW
 A typical CD holds about 650 MB of data
 DVD’s
 Available as DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW
 Can hold 4.7 GB of data
 Zip Drives—high capacity floppy disk drive; has lost popularity
 Zip disks can hold from 100 MB – 250 MB of data
 USB Flash Drive
 Storage capacity between 32 MB – 4 GB
STORAGE DEVICES
Software—Can 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
 Most OS’s use a Graphical User Interface (GUI)
 Provides visual cues such as icons
 Each icon represents an application
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