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'

INTRODUCTORY

ALAN EVANS
KENDALL MARTIN
MARY ANNE POATSY
Power Management and Ergonomics ................................................................................................................ 70
Power Controls and Power Management. ............................................................................................................ 70
Objective 2.13 Describe how to manage power consumption on computing devices.
BITS&BYTES: Sleep Better and Avoid Eyestrain: Use Less Blue Light ................... ............................................. 72
Setting It All Up: Ergonomics ................................. .............................................................................................. 73
Objective 2.14 Define ergonomics, and discuss the ideal physical setup for using computing devices.
SOLVE THIS: Technology Wish List .................................................................................................................... 83

Chapter 3
Using the Internet: Making the Most of the Web's Resources .................................... 84
Part 1: Collaborating and Working on the Web ................................................................................................................. 86
Leaming Outcome 3.1 You will be able to explain how the Internet works and how it is used for collaboration,
communication, commerce, and entertainment purposes.
The Internet and How It Works............................................................................................................................ 86
The Origin of the Internet ..................................................................................................................................... 86
Objective 3.1 Describe how the Internet got its start.
How the Internet Works ....................................................................................................................................... 88
Objective 3.2 Explain how data travels on the Internet.
Collaborating and Communicating on the Web................................................................................................. 89
Collaborating with Web Technologies .................................................................................................................. 89
Objective 3.3 Evaluate the tools and technologies used to collaborate on the web.
BITS&BYTES: Secure Messaging Apps ................................................... ........................................................... 9 1
SOUND BYTE: Slogging ........................................................................................................................................................ 9 1
Communicating over the Web ............................................................................................................................. 94
Objective 3.4 Summarize the technologies used to communicate over the web.
Conducting Business on the Web ....................................................................................................................... 97
Conducting Business Online ................................................................................................................................ 97
Objective 3.5 Describe how business is conducted using the Internet.
DIG DEEPER: How Cloud Computing Works .......... ........ ................ ................... ................ ...... ............. ............. 98
BITS&BYTES: Looking for Extra Money? Try a Side Hustle ................................. ...................... ................ .......... 99
E-commerce Safeguards .................................................................................................................................... 99
Objective 3.6 Summarize precautions you should take when doing business online.
HELPDESK: Doing Business Online ..................................................................................................................................... 100
BITS&BYTES: Bitcoin: A Form of Virtual Currency ........... ...................................... ........................................... 10 1
T RY TH IS: Use OneDrive to Store and Share Your Files in the Cloud .. ................... ................... ............. ........... 103
MAKE THIS: MAKE: A Web-Capable App ............... ........ ................ ................... ................ ...... ............. ........... 104
Part 2: Using tile Web Effectively ...................................................................................................................................... 105
Leaming Outcome 3.2 You will be able to describe the tools and techniques required to navigate and search the web.
Accessing and M oving Around the Web .......................................................................................................... 10·5
Web Browsers ................................................................................................................................................... 105
Objective 3.7 Explain what web browsers are, and describe their common features.
URLs, Protocols, and Domain Names................................................................................................................ 107
Objective 3.8 Explain what a URL is, and discuss its mcnn parts.
Navigating the Web ........................................................................................................................................... 108
Objective 3.9 Describe tools used to navigate the web.
BITS&BYTES: Maintain Your Privacy While Searching the Web ........ ...................... ................ ........................... 109
Searching the Web Effectively ........................................................................................................................... 11O
Using Search Engines ....................................................................................................................................... 11 0
Objective 3.10 Describe the types of tools used to search the web, and summarize strategies used to refine search results.

vi Contents
BITS&BYTES: Digital Assistants and Predictive Search ..................................................................................... 11 1
Evaluating Websites ........................................................................................................................................... 113
Objective 3.11 Describe how to evaluate a website to ensure it is appropriate to use for research purposes.
SOUND BYTE: Finding Information on the Web .................................................................................................................... 113
HELPDESK: Evaluating Websites ......................................................................................................................................... 113
TRENDS IN IT: Linked Data and the Semantic Web ......................................................................................... 114
BITS&BYTES: Why Isn't Wikipedia Good to Use as a Source for a Research Paper? ....................................... 11 5
Using the Web Ethically ..................................................................................................................................... 115
Digital Activism .................................................................................................................................................. 115
Objective 3.12 Demonstrate an understanding of the ethical issues regarding digital activism.
Geolocation ....................................................................................................................................................... 11 6
Objective 3.13 Demonstrate an understanding of the ethical issues regarding location tracking applications and devices.
BITS&BYTES: Human-Implanted Data Chips: Protection or Invasive Nightmare? ................................................ 117
ETHICS IN IT: Cyber Harassment ..................................................................................................................... 118
SOLVE THI S: Create a Report: Conducting Research on the Web .................................................................... 125

Chapter 4
Application Software: Programs That Let You Work an d Play ............................. 126
Part 1: Accessing, Using, and Managing Software .......................................................................................................... 128
Leaming Outcome 4.1 You will be able to explain the ways to access and use software and describe how to best manage
your software.
~e>ft\\l'are 13asics .................................................................................................................................................. 12fl
Application vs. System Software ........................................................................................................................ 128
Objective 4.1 Compare application software and system software.
Distributing Software ......................................................................................................................................... 128
Objective 4.2 Explain the differences between commercial software and open source software, and describe models for
software distribution.
BITS&BYTES: Finding Alternative Software ....................................................................................................... 129
M anaging Your Software .................................................................................................................................... 129
Purchasing Software ......................................................................................................................................... 129
Objective 4.3 Explain the different options for purchasing software.
TRENDS IN IT: Mobile Payment Apps: The Power of M-Commerce ................................................................. 130
HELPDESK: Buying and Installing Software .......................................................................................................................... 131
Installing and Uninstalling Software .................................................................................................................... 131
Objective 4.4 Describe how to install and uninstall software.
BITS&BYTES: Ridding Your Computer of "Bloat" .............................................................................................. 131
Upgrading Software........................................................................................................................................... 132
Objective 4.5 Explain the considerations around the decision to upgrade your software.
DIG DEEPER: How Number Systems Work ...................................................................................................... 132
SOUND BYTE: Where Does Binary Show Up? ..................................................................................................................... 133
Software Licenses ............................................................................................................................................. 134
Objective 4.6 Explain how software licenses function.
ETHICS IN IT: Can I Borrow Software That I Don't Own? ................................................................................. 135
TRY THIS: Citing Website Sources ................................................................................................................... 137
MAKE THIS: MAKE: A More Powerful App ....................................................................................................... 138
Part 2: Application Software ............................................................................................................................................. 139
Leaming Outcome 4.2 Describe the different types of application software used for productivity and multimedia.
Productivity and Busines.s Software ................................................................................................................. 139
Productivity Software ......................................................................................................................................... 139
Objective 4.7 Categorize the types of application software used to enhance productivity, and describe their uses and features.

Contents vii
BITS&BYTES: Productivity Software Tips and Tricks ......................................................................................... 139
BITS&BYTES: How to Open Unknown File Types ............................................................................................. 140
BITS&BYTES: Going Beyond PowerPoint ......................................................................................................... 144
SOUND BYTE: Programming for End Users ......................................................................................................................... 146
Business Software ............................................................................................................................................. 148
Objective 4.8 Summarize the types of software that large and small businesses use.
BITS&BYTES: Need to Work as a Team? Try These Collaboration Tools ........................................................... 150
Multimedia and Educational S.o ftware.............................................................................................................. 150
Digital Multimedia Software ............................................................................................................................... 150
Objective 4.9 Describe the uses and features of digital multimedia software.
Digital Audio Software ....................................................................................................................................... 152
Objective 4.10 Describe the uses and features of digital audio software.
HELPDESK: Choosing Software ........................................................................................................................................... 153
App Creation Software ...................................................................................................................................... 154
Objective 4.11 Describe the features of app creation software.
BITS&BYTES: Mirror, Mirror . .. .......................................................................................................................... 155
Educational and Reference Software ................................................................................................................. 155
Objective 4.12 Categorize educational and reference software, and explain their features.
SOLVE THIS: Analyzing Benchmark Data ......................................................................................................... 163

Chapter 5
System Software: The Operatin g System, Utility Programs, and
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Part 1: Understanding System Software .......................................................................................................................... 166
Leaming Outcome 5.1 You will be able to explain the types and functions of operating systems and exp lain the
steps in the boot process.
Operating System Fundamentals ...................................................................................................................... 166
Operating System Basics .................................................................................................................................. 166
Objective 5.1 Discuss the functions of the operating system.
Operating Systems for Personal Use.................................................................................................................. 167
Objective 5.2 Explain the most common operating systems for personal use.
BITS&BYTES: Why Isn't Everyone Using Linux? ............................................................................................... 168
BITS&BYTES: Operating Systems for the Home ............................................................................................... 169
Operating Systems for Machinery, Networks, and Business .............................................................................. 169
Objective 5.3 Explain the different kinds of operating systems for machines, networks, and business.
ETHICS IN IT: The Great Debate: Is macOS Safer Than Windows? .................................................................. 171
What the Operating System Does ..................................................................................................................... 172
The User Interface ............................................................................................................................................. 172
Objective 5.4 Explain how the operating system provides a means for users to interact with the computer.
Hardware Coordination...................................................................................................................................... 173
Objective 5.5 Explain how the operating system helps manage hardware such as the processor, memory, storage,
and peripheral devices.
SOUND BYTE: Using Windows Task Manager to Evaluate System Performance .................................................................. 173
Software Application Coord ination ..................................................................................................................... 175
Objective 5.6 Explain how the operating system interacts with application software.
TRENDS IN IT: Are Personal Computers Becoming More Human? .................................................................. 176
Starting Your Computer ..................................................................................................................................... 177
The Boot Process .............................................................................................................................................. 177
Objective 5.7 Discuss the process the operating system uses to start up the computer and how errors in the boot
process are handled.

viii Contents
HELPDESK: Starting the Computer: The Boot Process ........................................................................................................ 179
TRY THIS: Using Virtual Desktops in Windows 10............................................................................................. 182
MAKE THIS: MAKE: A Notification Alert ............................................................................................................ 183
Part 2: Using System Softwa.re ......................................................................................................................................... 184-
Leaming Outcome 5.2 You will be able to describe how to use system software, including the user interlace, file
management capabilitie.s, and utility programs.
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Using Windows 10 ............................................................................................................................................ 184
Objective 5.8 Describe the main features of the Windows interface.
BITS&BYTES: The Snipping Tool ...................................................................................................................... 185
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Organizing Your Files ......................................................................................................................................... 187
Objective 5.9 Summarize how the operating system helps keep your computer organized and manages files and folders.
BITS&BYTES: Save Files in the Cloud .............................................................................................................. 189
BITS&BYTES: Tips for Organizing Your Files ..................................................................................................... 190
HELPDESK: Organizing Your Computer: File Management. .................................................................................................. 19 1
lJt ilit}' f>rogrart1s .................................................................................................................................................. 1!1:3
Windows Administrative Utilities......................................................................................................................... 194
Objective 5.10 Outline the tools used to enhance system productivity, back up files, and provide accessibility.
DIG DEEPER: How Disk Defragmenting Utilities Work ...................................................................................... 196
SOUND BYTE: Hard Disk Anatomy ...................................................................................................................................... 196
SOLVE THIS: Mobile Operating Systems: Changing Market Share .................................................................... 205

Chapter 6
Understanding and Assessing Hardware: Evaluating Your System .................... 206
Part 1: Evaluating Key Subsystems .................................................................................................................................. 208
Leaming Outcome 6.1 You will be able to evaluate your computer syst em 's hardware funct i oning, including the
CPU and memory subsystems.
Your Ideal Cort1put ing Device ............................................................................................................................ 208
Moore's Law ..................................................................................................................................................... 208
Objective 6.1 Describe the changes in CPU performance over the past several decades.
Selecting a Computing Device ........................................................................................................................... 209
Objective 6.2 Compare and contrast a variety of computing devices.
Evaluating t he Cf>U Subsystert1 ......................................................................................................................... 211
How the CPU Works ......................................................................................................................................... 21 1
Objective 6.3 Describe how a CPU is designed and how it operates.
BITS&BYTES: Liquid Cooling ........................................................................................................................... 21 5
Measuring CPU Performance ............................................................................................................................ 21 5
Object ive 6.4 Describe tools used to measure and evaluate CPU performance.
DIG DEEPER: The Machine Cycle .................................................................................................................... 21 7
Evaluating the Memory Subsystem .................................................................................................................. 218
Random Access Memory .................................................................................................................................. 218
Object ive 6.5 Discuss how RAM is used in a computer system.
Adding RAM ...................................................................................................................................................... 220
Object ive 6.6 Evaluate whether adding RAM to a system is desirable.
HELPDESK: Evaluating Your CPU and RAM ......................................................................................................................... 220
SOUND BYTE: Installing RAM .............................................................................................................................................. 221

Contents ix
TRY THIS: Measure Your System Performance ................................................................................................. 223
MAKE THIS: MAKE: A Location-Aware App ..................................................................................................... 224
Part 2: Evaluating Other Subsystems and Making a Decision ....................................................................................... 225
Leaming Outcome 6.2 You will be able to evaluate your computer system's st orage subsystem, media subsyst em,
and reliability and decide whether to purchase a new system or upgrade an existing one.
Evaluating the Storage Subsystem ................................................................................................................... 225
Types of Storage Drives ..................................................................................................................................... 225
Objective 6.7 Classify and describe the major types of nonvolatile storage drives.
SOUND BYTE: Installing an SSD Drive ................................................................................................................................. 226
DIG DEEPER: How Storage Devices Work ....................................................................................................... 227
Storage Needs .................................................................................................................................................. 228
Objective 6.8 Evaluate the amount and type of storage needed for a system.
BITS&BYTES: How Much Storage to Buy? ....................................................................................................... 230
Evaluating the M edia Subsystems .................................................................................................................... 231
Video Cards ...................................................................................................................................................... 231
Objective 6.9 Describe the features of video cards.
BITS&BYTES: Graphics Cards with SSD on Board ........................................................................................... 233
TRENDS IN IT: USS 3 .1 and USB-C ................................................................................................................ 234
Sound Cards ..................................................................................................................................................... 235
Objective 6.10 Describe the features of sound cards.
HELPDESK: Evaluating Computer System Components ...................................................................................................... 235

Evaluating System Reliability and Moving On.................................................................................................. 237


Maintaining System Reliability ............................................................................................................................ 237
Objective 6.11 Describe steps you can take to optimize your system's reliability.
Getting Rid of Your Old Computer ..................................................................................................................... 239
Objective 6.12 Discuss how to recycle, donate, or dispose of an older computer.
ETHICS IN IT: Free Hardware for All ................................................................................................................. 240
SOLVE THIS: Laptop Alternatives ..................................................................................................................... 247

Chapter 7
Networking: Connecting Computin g Devices ....................................................... 248
li<>iAT 1'l~t"'1<>rlt£S ~11c:ti<>J1 ........................................................................................................................................ :Z~C>
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Leaming Outcome 7.1 You will be able to explain the basics of networking, including the components needed to
create a network, and describe the different ways a network can connect to the Internet.
Networking Fundamentals ................................................................................................................................. 250
Understanding Networks ................................................................................................................................... 250
Objective 7.1 Describe computer networks and their pros and cons.
H ELPDESK: Understanding Networking ............................................................................................................................... 251

Network Architectures ....................................................................................................................................... 252


Network Designs ............................................................................................................................................... 252
Objective 7 .2 Explain the different ways networks are defined.
BITS&BYTES: The Rise of Wearable Technology .............................................................................................. 254
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Transmission Media ........................................................................................................................................... 255
Objective 7 .3 Describe the types of transmission media used in networks.
SOUND BYTE: Installing a Home Computer Network ........................................................................................................... 255
Basic Network Hardware ................................................................................................................................... 258
Objective 7.4 Describe the basic hardware devices necessary for networks.
Network Software .............................................................................................................................................. 259
Objective 7.5 Describe the type of software necessary for networks.

x Contents
TRENDS IN IT: How Smart Is Your Home? .................................................................................................... ... 260
Connecting to the Internet................................................................................................................................. 260
Broadband Internet Connections ....................................................................................................................... 260
Objective 7.6 Summarize the broadband options available to access the Internet.
Wireless Internet Access.................................................................................................................................... 262
Objective 7.7 Summarize how to access the Internet wirelessly.
BITS&BYTES: Net Neutrality ............................................................................................................................. 262
BITS&BYTES: 5G Is Coming- ls It Worth the Wait? ......................................................................................... 263
BITS&BYTES: Is Dial-Up Still an Option? .......................................................................................................... 264
ETHICS IN IT: Ethical Challenges of the Internet of Things ................................................................................ 264
TRY THIS: Testing Your Internet Connection Speed .......................................................................................... 266
MAKE THIS: MAKE: Networked Devices .......................................................................................................... 267
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Leaming Outcome 7 .2 You will be able to describe what is necessary to install and configure a home network and
how to manage and secure a w ireless netw ork.
In.s talling and Configuring Home Networks ..................................................................................................... 268
Planning Your Home Network ............................................................................................................................ 268
Objective 7.8 Explain what should be considered before creating a home network.
Connecting Devices to a Network ...................................................................................................................... 269
Objective 7.9 Describe how to set up a home network.
BITS&BYTES: Mesh Networks: An Emerging Alternative .................................................................................. 270
BITS&BYTES: Analyzing Network Problems ..................................................................................................... 273
Configuring Software for Your Home Network ................................................................................................... 273
Objective 7.10 Summarize how to configure home network software.
DIG DEEPER: P2P File Sharing ........................................................................................................................ 275
Managing and Securing Wi reles.s Networks .................................................................................................... 275
Troubleshooting Wireless Network Problems ..................................................................................................... 275
Objective 7.11 Describe the potential problems with wireless networks and means to avoid them.
Securing Wireless Networks .............................................................................................................................. 276
Objective 7.12 Describe how to secure wireless home networks.
SOUND BYTE: Securing Wireless Networks ......................................................................................................................... 278
HELPDESK: Managing and Securing Your Wireless Network ..................................................................................... 278
SOLVE THI S: Home Networking Guide ............................................................................................................. 285

Chapter 8
Man aging a Digital Lifestyle: Media an d Ethics ................................................... 286
Part 1: The Impact of Digital Information ........................................................................................................................ 288
Leaming Outcome 8.1 You will be able to describe the nature of digital signals and how digit al technology is used to
produce and dist ribute digit al texts, music, and video.
C>igital Elasics ...................................................................................................................................................... 288
Digital Convergence .......................................................................................................................................... 288
Objective 8.1 Describe how digital convergence has evolved.
Digital vs. Analog ............................................................................................................................................... 289
Objective 8.2 Explain the differences between digital and analog signals.
C>igitc1I f>ulJlistiin g ................................................................................................................................................ 2!11
E-Readers ......................................................................................................................................................... 29 1
Objective 8.3 Describe the different types of e-readers.
Using e-Texts ..................................................................................................................................................... 292
Objective 8.4 Explain how to purchase, borrow, and publish e-texts.
HELPDESK: Managing Digital Media .................................................................................................................................... 292

Contents xi
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Creating and Storing Digital Music ..................................................................................................................... 293
Objective 8.5 Describe how digital music is created and stored.
BITS&BYTES: Digital Music Creation ................................................................................................................ 295
Distributing Digital Music ................................................................................................................................... 295
Object ive 8.6 Summarize how to listen to and publish digital music.
BITS&BYTES: Need Money for Your Band? Try Crowdfunding ......................................................................... 296
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Digital Photography ........................................................................................................................................... 296
Object ive 8.7 Explain how best to create, print, and share digital photos.
BITS&BYTES: Photo Edit on Your Phone .......................................................................................................... 298
SOUND BYTE: Enhancing Photos with Image-Editing Software ........................................................................................... 298
Digital Video ...................................................................................................................................................... 299
Object ive 8.8 Describe how to create, edit, and distribute digital video.
BITS&BYTES: Fly-By Drone Video .................................................................................................................... 300
TRENDS IN IT: Digital Asset Managers Needed! .............................................................................................. 302
TRY TH IS: Creating and Publishing a Movie ........................................................................ ...... ............. ........... 304
MAKE THIS: MAKE: A Video-Playing App ....... ......................................................................... ................ ........ 305
Part 2: Ethical Issues of Living in the Digital Age ........................................................................................................... 306
Leaming Outcome 8.2 You will be able to describe how to respect digital property and use it in w ays that maintain your
digital reputation.
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Intellectual Property ........................................................................................................................................... 306
Objective 8.9 Describe the various types of intellectual property.
Copyright Basics ............................................................................................................................................... 307
Objective 8.10 Explain how copyright is obtained and the rights granted to the owners.
HELPDESK: Understanding Intellectual Property and Copyright ........................................................................................... 309
Copyright Infringement ...................................................................................................................................... 310
Objective 8.11 Explain copyright infringement, summarize the potential consequences, and describe situations in which you
can legally use copyrighted material.
BITS&BYTES: Software Piracy: It's More Than Just Downloading and Copying .. ................ ...... ............. ... ........ 3 12
BITS&BYTES: Your Tax Dollars at Work: Free Media without Permission! ............ ...................... ................ ........ 3 14
Living Ethic::c1lly in the Dig itc1:I E.rc1 ....................................................................................................................... :315
Plagiarism .......................................................................................................................................................... 3 15
Objective 8.12 Explain plagiarism and strategies for avoiding it.
Hoaxes and Digital Manipulation ........................................................................................................................ 317
Objective 8.13 Describe hoaxes and digital manipulation.
SOUND BYTE: Plagiarism and Intellectual Property .............................................................................................................. 317
Protecting Your Online Reputation ..................................................................................................................... 320
Objective 8.14 Describe what comprises your onli ne reputation and how to protect it.
BITS&BYTES: Celebrity Photographic Rights .................................................................................................... 322
ETHICS IN IT: Acceptable Use Policies: What You Can and Can 't Do................. ................ ...... ............. ........... 323
SOLVE THIS: Intellectual Property and Copyright Basics ... ..................... ................................. ........................ 331

Chapter 9
Securing Your System: Protectin g Your Digita l Data an d Devices ....................... 332
Part 1: Th.reats to Your Digital Assets ............................................................................................................................... 334
Leaming Outcome 9.1 You will be able to describe hackers, viruses, and other online annoyances and the threats
they pose to your digital security.
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xii Contents
Identity Theft ..................................................................................................................................................... 335
Objective 9.1 Describe how identity theft is committed and the types of scams identity thieves perpetrate.
Hacking ............................................................................................................................................................. 335
Objective 9.2 Describe the different types of hackers and the tools they use.
BITS&BYTES: Hacking for Security .................................................................................................................. 336
C::e>rtlJJlJtE!r "irlJses .••.•.••.••.•.••.••.•.••.••.••••.••.••.•.••.••.•.••.••.••••.••.••.•.••.••.•.••.••.••••.••.••.•.••.••.•.••.••.•.••.••.••••.••.••.•.••.••.•.••.•• 33!:t
Virus Basics ....................................................................................................................................................... 339
Objective 9.3 Explain what a computer virus is, why it is a threat to your security, how a computing device catches a virus,
and the symptoms it may display.
SOUND BYTE: Protecting Your Computer ............................................................................................................................ 340
Types of Viruses ................................................................................................................................................ 341
Objective 9.4 Ust the different categories of computer viruses, and describe their behaviors.
O nline Annoyances and Social Engineering .................................................................................................... 343
Online Annoyances ............................................................................................................................................ 343
Objective 9.5 Explain what ma/ware, spam, and cookies are and how they impact your security.
Social Engineering ............................................................................................................................................. 346
Objective 9.6 Describe social engineering techniques, and explain strategies to avoid falling prey to them.
BITS&BYTES: I Received a Data Breach Letter ... Now What? ............................................................... ........ 346
Scareware ......................................................................................................................................................... 34 7
ETHICS IN IT: You're Being Watched . . . But Are You Aware You're Being Watched? .............................................348
HELPDESK: Threats to Your Digital Life ...................... ........ ...................... ........ ........ ...................................... ........ 348
TRENDS IN IT: Spear Phishing: The Bane of Data Breaches .............................. ... ................................ ... ..... ... 349
TRY TH IS: Testing Your Network Security ............. ........ ...................... ................ ...................................... ........ 351
MAKE THIS: MAKE: A Password Generator ................. ................... ................... ................... ................... ........ 352
Part 2: Protecting Your Digital Property ............................................................................................................................ 353
Leaming Outcome 9.2 Describe various ways to protect your digital property and data from theft and corruption.
Restricting Acces.s to Your Digita l Assets........................................................................................................ 353
Firewalls ............................................................................................................................................................ 353
Objective 9.7 Explain what a firewall is and how a firewall protects your computer from hackers.
HELPDESK: Understanding Firewalls ................................................................................................................................... 355
Preventing Virus Infections ................................................................................................................................. 355
Objective 9.8 Explain how to protect your computer from virus infection.
Authentication: Passwords and Biometrics ........................................................................................................ 358
Objective 9.9 Describe how passwords and biometric characteristics can be used for user authentication.
BITS&BYTES: CAPTC HA: Keeping Websites Safe from Bots ............................. ...................................... ........ 359
Anonymous Web Surfing: Hiding from Prying Eyes .............................................. ...................................... ........ 361
Objective 9.10 Describe ways to surf the web anonymously.
BITS&BYTES: Multi-Factor Authentication: Don't Rely Solely on Passwords! ...... ................................... ... ..... ... 363
Keeping Your Data Safe ..................................................................................................................................... 363
Protecting Your Personal Information ................................................................................................................. 363
Objective 9.11 Describe the types of infonnation you should never share online.
SOUND BYTE: Managing Computer Security with Windows Tools ....................................................................................... 363
Backing Up Your Data ....................................................................................................................................... 364
Objective 9.12 Ust the various types of backups you can perfonn on your computing devices, and explain the various places
you can store backup files.
Protecting Your Physical Computing Assets ................................................................................................... 368
Environmental Factors and Power Surges .......................................................................................................... 368
Objective 9.13 Explain the negative effects environment and power surges can have on computing devices.
Preventing and Handling Theft ........................................................................................................................... 368
Objective 9.14 Describe the major concerns when a device is stolen and strategies for solving the problems.
DIG DEEPER: Computer Forensics: How It Works ............................................. ...................................... ........ 370
SOLVE THIS: Computer Security ...................................................................................................................... 379

Contents xiii
Chapter 10
Beh ind the Scenes: Software Programming .......................................................... 380
Part 1: Understanding Programming ............................................................................................................................... 382
Leaming Outcome 10.1 You w ill be able to describe the life cycle of a software project and identify the stages in the
program development life cycle.
Life Cycle of an Information System ................................................................................................................. 382
Importance of Programming .............................................................................................................................. 382
Objective 10.1 Describe the importance of programming to both software developers and users.
System Development Life Cycle ........................................................................................................................ 382
Objective 10.2 Summarize the stages of the system development life cycle (SDLC).
BITS&BYTES: Let Them See Your Work ........................................................................................................... 384
l..ife Cyc=le of a J>re>~ram...................................................................................................................................... ~4
The Program Development Life Cycle ................................................................................................................ 384
Objective 10.3 Define programming and list the steps in the program development life cycle (PDLC).
The Problem Statement ..................................................................................................................................... 385
Objective 10.4 Describe how programmers construct a complete problem statement from a description of a task.
SOUND BYTE: Using the Arduino Microcontroller................................................................................................................. 385
HELPDESK: Understanding Software Programming ............................................................................................................. 386
Algorithm Development ..................................................................................................................................... 387
Objective 10.5 Explain how programmers use flow control and design methodologies when developing alg orithms.
BITS&BYTES: Hackathons ............................................................................................................................... 390
DIG DEEPER: The Building Blocks of Programming Languages: Syntax, Keywords, Data Types, and
Operators ..................................................................................................................................................... 392
Coding .............................................................................................................................................................. 392
Objective 10.6 Discuss the categories of programming languages and the roles of the compiler and the integrated
development environment (/OE) in coding.
Debugging ........................................................................................................................................................ 399
Objective 10.7 Identify the role of debugging in program development.
BITS&BYTES: Many Languages on Display ...................................................................................................... 400
Testing and Documentation ............................................................................................................................... 400
Objective 10.8 Explain the importance of testing and documentation in program development.
TRY TH IS: Programming with Corona............................................................................................................... 402
MAKE THIS: MAKE: A Notepad ....................................................................................................................... 403
Part 2: Progra.m ming Languages ...................................................................................................................................... 404
Leaming Outcome 10.2 You will understand the factors programmers consider when selecting an appro priat e
programming language for a specific problem and w ill be familiar w ith some modem programming languages.
Many Programming Languages ........................................................................................................................ 404
Need for Diverse Languages ............................................................................................................................. 404
Objective 10.9 Discuss the driving factors behind the popularity of various programming languages.
SOUND BYTE: Programming with the Processing Language ................................................................................................ 404
Selecting the Right Language ............................................................................................................................ 405
Objective 10.10 Summarize the considerations in identifying an appropriate programming language for a specific setting.
BITS&BYTES: Coding for Zombies ................................................................................................................... 405
ETHICS IN IT: When Software Runs Awry ........................................................................................................ 406
Exploring Programming Languages ................................................................................................................. 407
Tour of Modern Languages ................................................................................................................................ 407
Objective 10.11 Compare and contrast modem programming languages.
BITS&BYTES: Your Software Portfolio .............................................................................................................. 41 1
TRENDS IN IT: Emerging Technologies: Unite All Your Video Game Design Tools ............................................. 41 5
Future of Programming Languages .................................................................................................................... 415
Objective 10.12 State key principles in the development of future programming languages.

xiv Contents
H ELPDESK: A Variety of Programming Languages ............................................................................................................... 4 16
SOLVE T HIS: Time Sheets ................................................................................................................................ 423

Chapter 11
Behind the Scenes: Databases and Information Systems ................................... 424
Part 1: Database Fundamentals ........................................................................................................................................ 426
Leaming Outcome 11.1 You w ill be able to explain the basics of databases, including the most common types of
databases and the functions and components of relational databases in particular.
Database Ad·v antages ........................................................................................................................................ 426
The Need for Databases.................................................................................................................................... 426
Objective 11 .1 Explain what a database is and why databases are useful.
HELPDESK: Using Databases .............................................................................................................................................. 428
Advantages of Using Databases ........................................................................................................................ 429
Objective 11.2 Discuss the benefits of using a database.
Datc1base -i-~IJeS .................................................................................................................................................. 4:3()
Relational Databases ......................................................................................................................................... 431
Objective 11.3 Describe features of relational databases.
Object-Oriented Databases ............................................................................................................................... 432
Objective 11 .4 Describe features of object-oriented databases.
Multidimensional Databases .............................................................................................................................. 432
Objective 11.5 Describe features of multidimensional databases.
TRENDS IN IT: Emerging Technologies: Can Your Business Partner Deliver the Goods? Enhanced
Databases Can Help You Decide! ................................................................................................................. 433
C>c1tc11Jc1se Bc1sic:s ................................................................................................................................................. 4:3:3
Database Components and Functions ............................................................................................................... 433
Objective 11 .6 Describe how relational databases organize and define data.
SOUND BYTE: Creating and Querying an Access Database ............................................................................... 437
BITS&BYTES: Music Streaming Services Use Databases ................................................................................. 437
Inputting and Managing Data ............................................................................................................................. 438
Objective 11 .7 Describe how data is inputted and managed in a database.
DIG DEEPER: Structured Query Language (SQL) ............................................................................................. 443
BITS&BYTES: Data Dashboards: Useful Visualization Tools .............................................................................. 445
TRY TH IS: Using Excel's Database Functions ................................................................................................... 447
MAKE THIS: MAKE: A Family Shopping List ..................................................................................................... 448
Part 2: How Businesses Use Databases ........................................................................................................................... 449
Leaming Outcome 11.2 You will be able to explain how businesses use data warehouses, data marts, and data
m ining to manage data and how business infonnation systems and business intelligence are used to make business
decisions.
C>c1tc1 Wc1rehousing c1nd Storage ........................................................................................................................ 449
Data Warehouses and Data Marts ..................................................................................................................... 449
Objective 11 .8 Explain what data warehouses and data marts are and how they are used.
HELPDESK: How Businesses Use Databases...................................................................................................................... 449
BITS&BYTES: Data Warehouses Are Going to the Cloud .................................................................................. 451
Data Mining ....................................................................................................................................................... 451
Objective 11 .9 Describe data mining and how it works.
BITS&BYTES: Hadoop: How Big Data Is Being Managed ................................................................................ 453
ETHICS IN IT: Data, Data Everywhere, but Is It Protected? ............................................................................... 454
Using Dc1tc11Jc1ses to Make Bu.siness Dec:isions ............................................................................................... 455
Business Information Systems ........................................................................................................................... 455
Objective 11.10 Describe the main types of business information systems and how they are used by business managers.

Contents xv
BITS&BYTES: Virtual Agents: Expert Systems Replace People on the Web ...................................................... 456
SOUND BYTE: Analyzing Data with Microsoft Power Bl Suite ............................................................................................... 460
TRENDS IN IT: Mobile Business Intelligence ..................................................................................................... 461
SOLVE THIS: College Database ........................................................................................................................ 469

Chapter 12
Behind the Scenes: Networking and Security in the Business World ........................ 470
Part 1: Client/Server Networks and Topologies ............................................................................................................... 472
Leaming Out come 12.1 You w ill be able to describe common types of client/s erver networks, servers found on
them, and network topologies used to construct them.
Client/Server Network Basics ........................................................................................................................... 472
Networking Advantages .................................................................................................................................... 472
Objective 12.1 Ust the advantages for businesses of installing a network.
Comparing ClienVServer and Peer-to-Peer Networks ........................................................................................ 473
Objective 12.2 Explain the differences between a client/server network and a peer-to-peer network.
Types of ClienVServer Networks ........................................................................................................................ 474
Objective 12.3 Describe the common types of client/server networks as well as other networks businesses use.
BITS&BYTES: Your Car Network Can Be Hacked ............................................................................................. 477
Servers and Network Topologies ...................................................................................................................... 478
Servers .............................................................................................................................................................. 478
Objective 12.4 Ust the common types of servers found on client/server networks.
HELPDESK: Using Servers ................................................................................................................................................... 479
TRENDS IN IT: Virtualization: Making Servers Work Harder .............................................................................. 480
Network Topologies ........................................................................................................................................... 481
Objective 12.5 Describe the common types of network topologies and the advantages and disadvantages of each one.
SOUND BYTE: Network Topology and Navigation Devices ................................................................................................... 483
TRY THIS: Sharing Folders on a Home Network Using Window s ...................................................................... 488
MAKE THIS: MAKE: An App That Shares ......................................................................................................... 489
Part 2: Setting Up Business Netw'Orks ............................................................................................................................. 490
Leaming Outcome 12.2 You will be able to describe transmission media, network operating syst em software, and
network navigation devices and exp lain maj or threats to network security and how to mitigate them.
Transmis.sion Media............................................................................................................................................ 490
Wired and Wireless Transmission Media ............................................................................................................ 490
Objective 12.6 Describe the types of wired and wireless transmission media used in networks.
BITS&BYTES: Go Green with Mobile Apps ....................................................................................................... 492
Network Adapters and Navigation Devices ..................................................................................................... 492
Network Adapters ............................................................................................................................................. 492
Objective 12.7 Describe how network adapters help data move around a network.
MAC Add resses ................................................................................................................................................ 494
Objective 12.8 Define MAC addresses, and explain how they are used to move data around a network.
Switches, Bridges, and Routers ......................................................................................................................... 495
Objective 12.9 Ust the various network navig ation devices, and explain how they help route data through networks.
HELPDESK: Transmission Media and Network Adapters ...................................................................................................... 496
Network Operating Systems and Network Security ....................................................................................... 496
Network Operating Systems .............................................................................................................................. 497
Objective 12.10 Explain why network operating systems are necessary for networks to function.
BITS&BYTES: Smart Lighting for Smart Homes ............................................................................................... 497
Client/Server Network Security .......................................................................................................................... 498
Objective 12.11 Ust major security threats to networks, and explain how network administrators mitigate these threats.
DIG DEEPER: The OSI Model: Defining Protocol Standards ............................................................................. 499
SOUND BYTE: A Day in the Life of a Network Technician ..................................................................................................... 500
xvi Contents
ETHICS IN IT: How Should Companies Handle Data Breaches? ................................................................... ... 502
BITS&BYTES: Are Your Photos Helping Criminals Target You? ......................................................................... 503
SOLVE THIS: Cyber Security Flyer and Mail Merge ........................................................................................... 5 11

Chapter 13
Behind the Scene s: How the Internet Works ........................................................ 512
Part 1: Inner Workings of the Internet ............................................................................................................................. 514
Leaming Outcome 13.1 You w ill be able to explain how the Internet is managed and the detail s of how data is
transmitted across the Internet.
Internet Management and Networking............................................................................................................. 514
Management ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 14
Objective 13.1 Describe the management of the Internet.
Networking Components ................................................................................................................................... 515
Objective 13.2 Explain how the Internet's networking components interact.
Data Transmission ............................................................................................................................................. 516
Objective 13.3 Ust and describe the Internet protocols used for data transmission.
BITS&BYTES: A Free Cloud-Based Server for You ........................................................................................... 5 16
Internet lcfe ntit}'................................................................................................................................................... 51!:t
IP Addresses ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 19
Objective 13.4 Explain how each device connected to the Internet is assigned a unique address.
HELPDESK: Understanding IP Addresses, Domain Names, and Protocols........................................................................... 519

BITS&BYTES: What's Your IP Address? ........................................................................................................... 520


BITS&BYTES: Internet of Things Goes Shopping .............................................................................................. 520
SOUND BYTE: Creating Web Pages with Squarespace........................................................................................................ 521
DIG DEEPER: Connection-Oriented Versus Connectionless Protocols .............................................................. 522
Domain Names ................................................................................................................................................. 523
Objective 13.5 Discuss how a numeric IP address is changed into a readable name.
BITS&BYTES: Server in the Cloud .................................................................................................................... 524
T RY THIS: Ping Me........................................................................................................................................... 527
MAKE THIS: Make: An Earthquake Detector .................................................................................................... 528

Part 2: Coding and Communicating on tile Internet ....................................................................................................... 529


Leaming Outcome 13.2 You will be able to describe the web technolog ies used to develop web applications.
\'\fell ~ec:tlri CJICJ~ies .............................................................................................................................................. 5~!:t
Web Development ............................................................................................................................................. 529
Objective 13.6 Compare and contrast a variety of web development languages.
BITS&BYTES: CodePen: An Editing Community for Web Designers ................................................................. 530
SOUND BYTE: Client-Side Web Page Development ............................................................................................................. 533
Application Architecture ..................................................................................................................................... 533
Objective 13.7 Compare and contrast server-side and client-side application software.
BITS&BYTES: Free Code Camp ....................................................................................................................... 535
CCJmmunic:atiCJns CJver tile lriternet ................................................................................................................... 535
Types of Internet Communication ...................................................................................................................... 535
Objective 13.8 Discuss the mechanisms for communicating via e-maH and instant messaging.
BITS&BYTES: Google lnbox ............................................................................................................................. 537
Encryption ......................................................................................................................................................... 538
Objective 13.9 Explain how data encryption improves security.
BITS&BYTES: Numbers: We Wouldn't Have Encryption Without Them! ........................................................... 539
ETHICS IN IT: Do We Really Want Strong Encryption? ..................................................................................... 540
HELPDESK: Keeping E-Mail Secure ..................................................................................................................................... 540

Contents xvii
TRENDS IN IT: Cognitive Computing ............................................................................................................... 541
SOLVE THIS: Creating an HTML Document. ..................................................................................................... 549

Appendix A
Th e History of the Person al Computer.................................................................. A-1

Appendix B
Careers in IT ............................................................................................................ B-1
Glossary ....................................................................................................................................................................... G-1

Index .............................................................................................................................................................................. 1-1

xviii Contents
Alan Evans, MS, CPA
aevans@mc3.edu

Alan is currently a faculty member at Moore College of Art and Design and
Montgomery County Community College, teaching a variety of computer science
and business courses. He holds a BS in accounting from Rider University and
an MS in infonnation systems from Drexel University, and he is a certified public
accountant. After a successful career in business, A lan finally realized that his
true calling is education. He has been teaching at the college level since 2000. Alan enjoys attending
technical conferences and exploring new methods of engaging students.

Kendall Martin, PhD


kmartin@mc3.edu

Kendall is a professor of Computer Science at Montgom ery County Community


College with teaching experience at both the undergraduate and graduate levels at
a number of institutions, including Villanova University, DeSales University, Ursinus
College, and Arcadia University.

Kendall's education includes a BS in electrical engineering from the University of


Rochester and an MS and a PhD in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. She has industrial
experience in research and development environments (AT&T Bell Laboratories) as well as experience
w ith several start -up technology firm s.

Mary Anne Poatsy, MBA


mpoatsy@mc3.edu

Mary Anne is a senior faculty member at Montgomery County Com munity


College, teaching various com puter application and concepts courses
in face-to -face and online environments. She enjoys speaking at various
professional conferences about innovative classroom strategies. She holds a
BA in psychology and education from Mount Holyoke College and an M BA in
finance from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Mary Anne has been in teaching since 1997, ranging from elementary and secondary education to
Montgomery County Com munity College, Gwynedd-Mercy College, Muhlenberg College, and Bucks
County Com munity College, as well as training in the professional environment. Before teaching,
she was a vice president at Shearson Lehman Hutton in the Municipal Bond Investment Banking
Departm ent.

About the Authors xix


For my wife, Patricia, whose patience, understanding, and support continue to make this work possible ...
especially when I stay up past midnight writing! And to my parents, Jackie and Dean, who taught me the
best way to achieve your goals is to constantly strive to improve yourself through education.
Alan Evans
For all the teachers, mentors, and gurus who have popped in and out of my life.
Kendall Martin
For my husband, Ted, who unselfishly continues to take on more than his fair share to support me
throughout this process, and for my children, Laura, Carolyn, and Teddy, whose encouragement and love
have been inspiring.
Mary Anne Poatsy

First, we would like to thank our students. We constantly learn from them while teaching, and they are a continu-
al source of inspiration and new ideas.
We could not have written this book wtthout the loving support of our families. Our spouses and children made
sacrifices (mostly in time not spent wtth us) to permit us to make this dream into a reality.
Although working wtth the entire team at Pearson has been a truly enjoyable experience, a few individuals
deserve special mention. The constant support and encouragement we receive from Jenifer Niles, Executive
Portfofio Product Manager, and Andrew Gilfillan, VP, Editorial Director, continually make this book grow and
change. Our heartfelt thanks go to Shannon LeMay-Finn, our Developmental Edttor. Her creativity, drive, and
management skills helped make this book a realtty. We also would like to extend our appreciation to Pearson
Content Producers, particularly Laura Burgess, and the vendor teams, who work tirelessly to ensure that our
book is published on time and looks fabulous. The timelines are always short, the art is complex, and there are
many people with whom they have to coordinate tasks. But they make tt look easy! We'd like to extend our
thanks to the media and Mylab IT team- Eric Hakanson, Becca Golden, Amanda Losonsky, and Heather
Darby for all of their hard work and dedication.
There are many people whom we do not meet at Pearson and elsewhere who make significant contributions
by designing the book, illustrating, composing the pages, producing the media, and securing permissions. We
thank them all.
And finally, we would like to thank the reviewers and the many others who contribute their time, ideas, and
talents to this project. We appreciate their time and energy, as their comments help us tum out a better product
each edition. A special thanks goes to Rick Wolff, a wonderfully talented infographic designer who helped by
creating the infographics for this text.

xx Acknowledgments
Our 15th Edition-A Letter from the Authors
Why We Wrote This Book
The pace of technological change is ever increasing.
In education, we have seen this impact us more than
ever recently- the Maker movement, MOOCs, touch-
screen mobile delivery, and Hangouts are now fixed
parts of our environment.
Even the most agile of learners and educators need
support in keeping up w ith this pace of change. We have
responded by integrating material to help students develop
skills for web application and mobile programming. We
see the incredible value of these skills and their popularity
with students, and have included Make This exercises for each chapter. These exerc ises gently bring
the ccncepts behind mobile app development to life. In addition, there is a Solve This exercise in each
chapter that reinforces chapter content while also applying Mic rosoft Office skills. These projects help to
promote students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills, which employers highly value.
We have introduced eight new Helpdesk training modules and two new IT Simulations to continue to
provide students with an active learning environment in which they can reinforce their learning of chapter
objectives. In addition, in this edition we have focused more on artificial intelligence and its impact on
how we will use technology ethically. We also continue to emphasize the many aspects of ethics in
technology debates. Some of the new Helpdesks and IT Simulations support instruction on how to
conduct thoughtful and respectful discussion on complex ethical issues.
Our combined 50 years of teaching ccmputer concepts have coincided with sweeping innovations
in ccmputing technology that have affected every facet of society. From iPads to Web 2.0, computers
are more than ever a fixture of our daily lives - and the lives of our students. But although today's stu -
dents have a much greater comfort level w ith their digital environment than previous generations, their
knowledge of the machines they use every day is still limited.
Part of the student-centered focus of our book has to do with making the material truly engaging to
students. From the beginning, we have written Technology in Action to focus on what matters most to
today's student. Instead of a history lesson on the microchip, we focus on tasks students can acccm-
plish with their computing devices and skills they can apply immediately in the workplace, the class-
room, and at home.
We strive to keep the text as current as publishing timelines allow, and we are constantly looking for
the next technology trend or gadget. We have augmented the text with weekly technology updates to
help you keep on top of the latest breaking developments and ccntinue to include a number of multi-
media components to enrich the classroom and student learning experience. The result is a learning
system that sparks student interest by focusing on the material they want to learn (such as how to
integrate ccmputing devices into a home network) while teaching the material they need to learn (such
as how networks work). The sequence of topics is carefully set up to mirror the typical student learning
experience.
As they read through this text, your students will progress through stages and learning outccmes of
increasing difficulty:
1. Thinking about how technology offers them the power to change their society and their
world and examining why it's important to be ccmputer fluent
2. Understanding the basic components of computing devices
3. Connecting to and explo ring the Internet
4. Exploring application software
5. Learning the operating system and personalizing their computer

Letter from the Authors xxi


6. Evaluating and upgrading computing devices
7. Understanding home networking options
8. Creating digital assets and understanding how to legally distribute them
9. Keeping computing devices safe from hackers
10. Going behind the scenes, looking at technology in greater detail

We strive to structure the book in a way that makes navigation easy and reinforces key concepts. We
continue to design the text around learning outcomes and objectives, making them a prominent part
of the chapter structure. Students will see the learning outcomes and objectives in the chapter opener,
throughout the text itself, as well as in the summary so they understand just what they are expected to
learn.
We continue to structure the book in a progressive manner, intentionally introducing on a basic level
in the earlier chapters concepts that students traditionally have trouble with and then later expanding
on those ccncepts in more detail when students have become more comfortable w ith them. Thus, the
focus of the early chapters is on practical uses for the computer, with real-world examples to help the
students place computing in a familiar ccntext.
For example, we introduce basic hardware ccmponents in Chapter 2, and then we go into increas-
ingly greater detail on some hardware components in Chapter 6. The Behind the Scenes chapters ven-
ture deeper into the realm of computing through in-depth explanations of how programming, networks,
the Internet, and databases work. They are specifically designed to keep more experienced students
engaged and to challenge them with interesting research assignments.
In addition to extensive review, practice, and assessment ccntent, each chapter ccntains several
problem-solving, hands-on activities that can be carried out in the classroom or as homework:
• The Try This exercises lead students to explore a particular computing feature related to
the chapter.
• The Make This exerc ises are hands-on activities that lead students to explore mobile app
development.
• The Solve This exercises integrate and reinforce chapter ccncepts w ith Mic rosoft Office skills.
Throughout the years we have also developed a ccmprehensive multimedia program to reinforce the
material taught in the text and to sup port both c lassroom lectures and distance learning:
• The Helpdesk training content, c reated specifically for Technology in Action, enables students
to take on the role of a helpdesk staffer fielding questions posed by computer users.
• Exciting Sound Byte multimedia - fully updated and integrated with the text - expand student
mastery of complex topics.
• IT Simulations are detailed, interactive scenarios covering the core c hapter topic. As
students work through the sim ulation , they apply what they have learned and d emonstrate
understanding in an active learning environm ent.
• The TechBytes Weekly blog delivers the latest technology news stories to you for use in your
classroom. Each is accompanied by specific d iscussion topics and activities to expand on what is
within the textbook materials.
This book is designed to reach the students of the twenty-first century and prepare them for the
role they can take in their own community and the world. It has been an honor to work with you over
the past 15 years to present and explain new technologies to students, and to show them the rapidly
growing importance of technology in our world.

xxii Letter from the Authors


Technology in Action, 15th Edition
Welcome to the Fifteenth Edition of Technology in Action!

The best-selling Technology in Action continues to deliver an engaging approach to teaching the topics and skills students need
to be digitally literate. Using practical content, hands-on projects, and interactive simulation lessons, students are engaged in
learning.
For Technology in Action 15th edition, we have added innovative and important content updates, including new coverage of emerg-
ing technologies and artificial intelligence, especially in Chapter 1. The technology used throughout the text has been updated and
expanded, including 8 new Helpdesk training modules and 2 new IT Simulations. Each chapter now has two Helpdesk trainings, two
Sound Byte lessons, and one IT Sim to provide students w ith a consistent learning experience from chapter to chapter.
Using these resources and the practical content, students will be prepared for academic , professional, and personal success. And,
if they are using Myl ab IT, they can earn the Digital Competency badge to easily demonstrate their skills to potential employers.

Highlights of What's New


• New and updated content throughout
• New Helpdesk modules in Chapters 1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 , and 12 ensure that each chapter offers two Helpdesks for a consistent
learning experience
• New IT Simulations for Chapter 1 and Chapter 12 to ensure all chapters have one
• Updated content with new artificial intelligence and emerging technologies coverage
• New images and updated quizzes throughout

Explore the Hallmarks and Features of Technology in Action, 15th Edition


INSTRUCTION: Engage all types of learners with a PRACTICE: Hands-on resources and simulations
variety of instructional resources allow students to demonstrate understanding
• Pearson Text 2.0 students interact with the learning • Try This Proj ects are hands-on projects students complete
resources directly and receive immediate feedback. to practice and demonstrate proficiency with important
• Chapter Overview Videos provide students with a quick topics. Each project is accompanied by a how-to video.
look at what they will learn in the chapter. • Solve This! Projects put the concepts students are
• PowerPoint and Audio Presentations can be used in learning into action through real-world problem solving
class for lecture or assigned to students, particularly online using Microsoft Word, Access, and Excel. Grader versions
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decadence of execution and little monumental construction, the
principles once gained were never lost.

120. Mediæval Cathedrals


With the emergence from the Dark to the Middle Ages,
architecture revived with an application to churches instead of
temples, circuses, and baths. In southern Europe adherence to the
old Roman model remained close, and the style is known as
Romanesque. In northern Europe the Roman principles found
themselves on newer soil, tradition bound less rigorously, and the
style underwent more modification. The arch became pointed at the
top. Vertical building lines were elongated at the expense of
horizontal ones, which in the lower and less brilliant sun of the north
are less effective in catching light and shade and giving plastic effect
than on the Mediterranean. The dominant effect became one of
aspiration toward height. This is the so-called Gothic architecture,
developed from the twelfth century on, most notably in northern
France, with much originality also in England, and undergoing
provincial modification in the various north European countries. In
fact, the style was finally carried back into Italy, to compete there
with the Romanesque order, as in the famous cathedral of Milan.
As an artistic design a Gothic cathedral is as different from an
imperial Roman building as the latter from a Greek temple. Yet it
represents nothing but a surface modification of Roman methods. Its
essential engineering problems had been solved more than a
thousand years earlier. The effect of a hemispherical arch associated
with low round columns, and of a high pointed one soaring from tall
clusters of buttresses, is as diverse as can be obtained in
architecture. But so far as plan or invention are concerned, there is
no decisive distinction between the two orders.

121. The Arabs: India: Modern Architecture


In the east, Roman architectural tradition was sustained without
rupture and even carried forward in the Byzantine empire. The great
church of St. Sophia at Constantinople is a sixth century example of
a splendid dome set on four great arches and intersecting with
smaller domes at its corners. From the Byzantine Greeks—or
Romans as they long continued to call themselves—and perhaps
from the neighboring Sassanian Persians, the principle of arch and
dome came to the Arabs when these underwent their sudden
expansion after the death of Mohammed. In nearly all the countries
overrun by the Arabs, Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, North Africa,
Sicily, and Spain, they encountered innumerable old public buildings
or ruins. It was not long before they were emulating these. During
the centuries superficial fashion does not stand still in architecture
any more than in dress. The trousers of 1850 would seem out of
place if worn in 1920, and yet the two garments are identical in basic
plan. So with Roman and Arab or Saracenic architecture. The Arab
sometimes twisted his columns and bulged his arch to horseshoe
shape. He added no essential element.
Among the countries in which the Arabs built is Spain. Hence their
architecture, in the form known as Moorish, influenced that of the
Spaniards. They in turn carried the style to Mexico; from there it was
transported to New Mexico and California, where converted Indians
made and laid the adobe bricks of their mission churches according
to the plans of the padres. Since the American occupation, the
buildings and ruins of the Spanish period have stood out as
landmarks, fired the imagination of visitors, and set the model for a
type of architecture. Railroad stations and the like are now done in
“Mission” style, which in essentials is nothing but Spanish Moorish
architecture, as this again is only the Arab modification of the Roman
original.
Along with Mohammedanism, the Roman-Saracenic architecture
spread eastward also to India. In the sixteenth century
Mohammedan conquerors of Mongol origin, known therefore as the
Moguls, carved out a great empire in northern India. Prosperity
resulted for several generations, and its memory was embellished by
the erection of notable buildings. Perhaps the most famous of these
is the tomb near Agra known as the Taj Mahal. Set in its sunlit
environment, built of white marble, and its surface a maze of inlay in
polished stone, this structure seems utterly unrelated to the grim,
narrow, upward-stretching cathedrals of northern Europe with
stained glass filling the spaces between their buttresses. Yet the
central feature of the Taj Mahal is a great dome done on the identical
plan as that of St. Sophia or the Pantheon and derived from them.
What then one is wont to regard as the triumph of Indian architecture
is not Indian at all; no more than Gothic architecture had any
connection with the Goths. The one is Mohammedan, the other
French. Both represent little else than the working out in new
countries and in later centuries of an invention which the Romans
had borrowed from the Etruscans and they from the Babylonians.
The device diffused from Asia into Europe and Africa and returned
after several thousand years, to flourish once more near its source of
origin, enormously modified æsthetically and enriched with infinite
refinement, but still without radical change.
It is an interesting commentary on the sluggishness of invention
that whereas we to-day build in concrete and steel as well as in
wood and brick and stone, and erect buildings of greater size as well
as for a larger variety of purposes than ever before in history, yet we
have so far been unable to add any new type of æsthetic design.
Our public buildings, those intended to serve as monuments and
therefore summoning the utmost abilities of the architect, still make
use of the arch, vault, and dome, or fall back frankly on modifications
of the Greek temple with its rows of columns. So far as the outside
appearance of modern buildings goes, all our fine architecture is
essentially a burrowing in the past to recombine in slightly new
proportions, and for new uses, elements taken from the most diverse
countries and ages, but forming part of only two lines of
development. It may be, when we have built much longer in steel
and concrete, and perhaps still newer materials, that the inherent
properties of these may gradually force on a future generation of
architects and engineers possibilities which indeed are now lying
before us, but to which the resistance of the human mind to novelty
blinds us.
122. The Week: Holy Numbers
The history of the week is also a meandering one. Its origins go
back to a number cult. Many nations have a habit of looking upon
some one number as specially lucky, desirable, holy, or perhaps
unfortunate; at any rate endowed with peculiar virtue or power. Three
and seven at once rise to mind, with thirteen as unfortunate. But the
particular numbers considered mystic are very diverse. Few
American Indian tribes, for instance, had any feeling about seven,[21]
and still fewer about three. The latter, in fact, would have seemed to
almost all of them imperfect and insignificant. Nearly all the
Americans who were conscious of any preferential custom exalted
four; and the remaining tribes, those of the North Pacific Coast, were
addicted to five. The Africans were without any feeling for seven,
except where they had come under Islamic or other foreign
influences. The Australians and Pacific islanders also have not
concerned themselves with seven, and the same seems to be true of
those remoter peoples of northern Asia which remained until recently
beyond the range of the irradiation of higher civilization.
This reduces the area in which seven is thought to have sacred
power to a single continuous tract comprising Europe, the culturally
advanced portions of Asia and the East Indies, and such parts of
Africa as have come under Eur-Asiatic influence. It is significant that
seven was devoid of special significance in ancient Egypt. This
circumscribed distribution suggests diffusion from a single originating
center. Where this may have been, there is no direct evidence to
show, but there are indications that it lay in Babylonia. Here
mathematics, astrology, and divination flourished at an early time.
Since the art of foretelling the issue of events from examination of a
victim’s liver spread from Babylonia to Italy on one side and to
Borneo on the other, it is the more likely that the equally ancient
attribution of mystic virtue to seven may have undergone the same
diffusion. In fact, the two practices may have traveled as part of a
“complex.” The Greeks and Hebrews are virtually out of question as
originators because they were already thinking in terms of seven at a
time when they were only receiving culture elements from Babylonia
without giving anything in return.

123. Babylonian Discovery of the Planets


The Babylonians, together with the Egyptians, were also the first
astronomers. The Egyptians turned their interest to the sun and the
year, and devised the earliest accurate solar calendar. The
Babylonians lagged behind in this respect, adhering to a
cumbersome lunar-solar calendar. But they acquired more
information as to other heavenly phenomena: the phases of the
moon, eclipses, the courses of the planets. They devised the zodiac
and learned to half predict eclipses. It is true that their interest in
these realms was not scientific in the modern sense, but sacerdotal
and magical. An eclipse was a misfortune, an expected eclipse that
did not “come off,” a cause for rejoicing. Yet this superstitious interest
did lead the Babylonians to genuine astronomical discoveries.
Among these was the observation that five luminaries besides the
sun and moon move regularly across the heavens, visible to the
naked eye and independent of the host of fixed stars: the planets
that we call Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. This
impressive fact must have significance, they felt, and from
anthropocentric reasons they found the significance in the influence
of these bodies on the fortunes of men. This was the beginning of
astrology, which charlatans and dupes still practise among
ourselves, but which in its youth represented one of the triumphs of
civilized knowledge. The planets were identified with gods by the
Babylonians, at any rate named after gods.
It is even probable that the ancient priest-astronomer-magicians
were driven to distinguish the full set of observable planets by their
desire to attain the full number seven. It is not an obvious thing by
any means that the all-illuminating sun should be set on a par with
moving stars that at times are no more conspicuous than some fixed
ones. No people unaffected by the Babylonian precedent has ever
hit upon the strange device of reckoning sun and moon as stars.
Then, too, Mercury is perceptible with difficulty, on account of its
proximity to the sun. It is said that great astronomers of a few
centuries ago sometimes never in their lives saw this innermost of
the planets with naked eye, at least in northern latitudes. It seems
possible therefore that its Babylonian discovery may have been
hastened by an eagerness to attain the perfect seven for the number
of the traveling bodies.

124. Greek and Egyptian Contributions: the


Astrological Combination
After the conquest of western Asia by Alexander, the Hellenistic
Greeks took over the undifferentiated Babylonian astrology-
astronomy and developed it into a science. They for the first time
determined the distance or order of the seven luminaries from the
earth, and determined it as correctly as was possible as long as it
was assumed that our earth formed the center of the universe.
Ptolemy—the astronomer, not the king—placed Saturn as the most
outward, next Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon.
This scientific advance, the west Asiatic astrologers again took
hold of and brought into connection with the hours of the day. For
this purpose they employed not the old Babylonian division of the
day and night into twelve hours—which had long since passed over
to the Greeks—but the Egyptian reckoning of twenty-four. This was
possible because the Greek discoveries were made in the Egyptian
city of Alexandria.
Each of the twenty-four hours in turn was assigned by the
astrologers to a planet in the Ptolemaic order, beginning with Saturn.
As there were only the seven, the cycle began over again on the
eighth hour, and in the same way the fifteenth and twenty-second
were “dominated” by Saturn. This gave the twenty-third to Jupiter,
the twenty-fourth to Mars, and the twenty-fifth—the first of the next
day, to the Sun. This second day was thought to be specially under
the influence of the planet of its initial hour, the Sun, as the first was
under the influence of its initial hour, that of Saturn. With the
continuance of the count, the Moon would become dominant of the
first hour of the third day, and so on through the repeated series, the
remaining planets emerging in the sequence Mars, Mercury, Jupiter,
Venus; whereupon, the cycle having been exhausted, it would begin
all over again with Saturn’s day—Saturday, as we still call it—and its
successors Sun’s day and Moon’s day.
This was the week as we know it, evolved perhaps somewhat
more than a century before Christ, soon carried back into Alexandria,
and there imparted to Greeks, Romans, and other nationalities. By
the time Jesus was preaching, knowledge of the planetary week had
reached Rome. Less than a century later, its days were being written
in Pompeii. In another hundred years it was spoken of by
contemporaries as internationally familiar.

125. The Names of the Days and the Sabbath


As yet, however, the week was more of a plaything of the
superstitious than a civil or religious institution; and it was pagan, not
Christian. The names of the days were those of the gods which the
Babylonians had assigned to the planets a thousand or more years
earlier, or, in the Western world, “translations” of the Babylonian god
names. The Greeks had long before, in naming the stars which we
know as Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, substituted their Hermes, Zeus,
Aphrodite for the Babylonian Nabu, Marduk, Ishtar, on the basis of
some resemblance of attributes. Thus, Nabu had to do with learning
or cunning like Hermes; Marduk, like Zeus, wielded thunder; Ishtar
and Aphrodite were both goddesses of love. The Romans, in turn,
“translated” the Greek names into those of their divinities Mercury,
Jupiter, Venus, which survive for instance in French Mercre-di, Jeu-
di, Vendre-di.
In the passing on of the week to the Germanic barbarians, still
another “translation” was made, to Woden, Thor, Frija, whence
English Wedn-es-day, Thur-s-day, Fri-day. It is true that these
northern gods were not equivalents of the Roman ones, but that
mattered little. The reckoning of the week was growing in frequency,
and some sort of familiar and pronounceable names for its days had
to be found for the new peoples to whom it spread. So a minimum of
resemblance between two deities answered for an identification.
Moreover, the ancients, because they believed in the reality of their
gods but not in the infinity of their number, were in the habit of
assuming that the deities of foreign nations must be at bottom the
same as their own. Therefore a considerable discrepancy of attribute
or worship troubled them no more than the difference in name.
For the days of the week, then, which the public came more and
more to deal with, these translations were made. Astronomy,
however, was in the hands of the learned, who knew Latin; and
hence scientists still denote the planets as Mercury, Venus, and so
on, instead of Woden and Frija.
Jesus observed the Sabbath, not Sunday, which he was either
ignorant of or would have denounced as polytheistic. The Sabbath
was an old Hebrew institution, a day of abstention and cessation
from labor, evidently connected with and perhaps derived from the
Babylonian Shabattum. These shabattum were the seventh,
fourteenth, twenty-first, twenty-eighth, and also nineteenth days of
the month, the first four probably having reference to the phases of
the moon, and all five being “days of rest of the heart,” inauspicious
for undertakings, and therefore unfavorable for work. They were thus
tabooed, supramundane days, and while their recurrence chiefly at
seven day intervals, like that of the Jewish Sabbath, provided a sort
of frame for a week, this week was never filled in. The influence of
the Babylonian-Hebrew Sabbath on the development of the week
was chiefly this: it provided the early Christians with a ready-made
habit of religiously observing one day in seven. This period
coinciding with the seven day scheme of the week that was coming
into use among pagans, ultimately reinforced the week with the
authority of the church.

126. The Week in Christianity, Islam, and


Eastern Asia
Christianity however felt and long resisted the essential paganism
of the week. The Roman Catholic church in its calendar recognizes
the Lord’s day, the second to sixth days, and the Sabbath, but none
named after a heathen god. In Greece the influence of the Orthodox
church has been strong enough to establish a similar numbering in
civil life; and the Slavic nations, also mostly Orthodox, follow the
same system except that our Monday is their “first” day and they
close the week with Sunday.
Sunday, instead of Sabbath-Saturday, became the religious day of
the week in Christianity because of the early tradition that it was on
this day that Jesus rose from the dead. An unconscious motive of
perhaps greater influence was the desire to differentiate the new
religion from its Sabbath-observing mother religion, both in the minds
of converts from Judaism and in the opinion of the pagans. The
Romans for about a century confused Jews and Christians, no doubt
to the irritation of both.
Meanwhile, the pagans themselves, perhaps under the influence
of the popular sun-worshiping Mithraic religion of the second and
third centuries, had come to look upon the Sun’s day instead of
Saturn’s as the first of the week. At any rate, in 321 A.D. Constantine
ordained “the venerable day of the Sun” as a legal holiday from
governmental, civic, and industrial activity. Constantine perhaps
issued this decree as high priest of the state religion of the Roman
empire, but he was also the first Christian emperor, and his action
must have been wholly acceptable to the church. Before long,
church and state were in accord to discountenance work on Sunday;
and thus Christianity had adopted the heathen planetary week in all
respects but the names of its days. Protestantism finally withdrew
even this barrier and accepted the planet-god names that had so
long been popularly and civilly established.
The Mohammedan week is that of Judaism and Eastern
Christianity, and was taken over bodily from one or the other of these
religions. Sunday is the “first” day, and so in order to Thursday.
Friday is “the meeting,” when one prays at the mosque, but labors
before and after, if one wishes. And Saturday is “the Sabbath,”
though of course without its Jewish prescriptions and restrictions.
The Arabs have spread this form of the week far into Africa.
But the planetary week of Babylonian-Greek-Egyptian-Syrian
origin spread east as well as west and north and south. It never
became so charged with religious meaning nor so definitely
established as a civil and economic institution in Asia as in Europe,
but it was used astronomically, calendrically, and in divination. By the
fifth century, it had been introduced into India. For a time after the
tenth century, it was more used in dating than among European
nations. Again “translations” of the god names of the planets were
made: Brihaspati was Jupiter, and Brihaspati-vara Thursday.
From India, the week spread north into Tibet, east to the Indo-
Chinese countries, and southeast to the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra,
and Java. In the former lands, it was employed calendrically; among
the Malaysians, rather astrologically, and has been largely
superseded by the Mohammedan form. Even China acquired some
slight acquaintance with the week as a period of seven days allotted
to the planetary bodies and initiated by the day of Mit, that is, Mithra,
the Persian sun god, although the average Chinaman knows nothing
of the days of the week nor any periodic rest from labor.

127. Summary of the Diffusion


This history of the week is one of the striking instances of
institutional diffusion. An ancient west Asiatic mystic valuation or
magical cult of the number seven led on the one hand to an
observance of taboo days, on the other to an association with the
earliest astronomical knowledge, polytheistic worship, and divination.
A European people learned the combination and built on it for further
scientific progress, only to have this gain utilized for new playing by
the astrologers. The planetary week, the creation of these
mathematical diviners, was reintroduced into Europe and became
connected with the calendar and civil life. Christianity recontributed
the old idea of regularly recurring holy or taboo days.
Mohammedanism took over this concept along with the period, but
without the polytheistic and astrological elements. Eastern Asia, on
the other hand, was chiefly interested in the latter. With us, the
significance is becoming increasingly economic. Names have
changed again and again, but their very variations evidence their
equivalence. In about three thousand years from its first beginnings
and half as many from its definitive establishment, the institution of
the week by 1492 had spread over all the earth except the peripheral
tracts of Asia and Africa and the peripheral continents of Oceania
and America.

128. Month-thirds and Market Weeks


Contrasting with this single diffusion of the seven-day week is the
independent development in several parts of the world of other
periods, marked either by sacred or secularly unlucky days or by
markets or by divisions of the lunar month.
For instance, a ten-day week, having reference to the beginning,
middle, and end of the lunation, was more or less reckoned with in
ancient Egypt; ancient Greece; parts of modern central Africa; China,
Japan, and Indo-China; and Polynesia. No historic connections are
known between the custom in these regions; its official and religious
associations are everywhere slender, and intervening nations either
employ other periods or none at all. It looks, therefore, as if these
might be cases of true parallelism, although in that event an
American occurrence might also be expected and its absence seems
in need of explanation. Moreover there is nothing very important
about this reckoning; it is essentially a description of a natural event,
and the only thing distinctive is its being threefold. If an institution as
precise and artificial as our planetary week had been independently
originated more than once, the fact would be more significant.
Regular market days among agricultural peoples have frequently
led to a reckoning of time superficially resembling the week. Thus, in
central Africa, south of the sphere of Islamic influences, markets are
observed by a considerable number of tribes. Most frequently these
come at four day intervals. Some tribes shorten the period to three
days or lengthen it to five. Six, eight, and ten day periods appear to
be merely doublings. The fairly compact distribution of this African
market week points to a single origin.
The early Romans observed a regular eighth day market and
semi-holiday. This might be connected with the African institution,
but as yet cannot be historically linked with it.
In the less advanced states of Indo-China and many of the East
Indian islands, even as far as New Guinea, five-day markets are the
rule. This entire tract has many internal culture connections, so that
within its limits diffusion has evidently again been active.
In ancient America, markets were customary every fifth day in
Mexico, third day in Colombia, tenth day in Peru. These were also
days of assembly and cessation from labor.
The American instances establish beyond cavil that some of these
market weeks are truly independent evolutions. Moreover, they
nearly all occur among peoples of about the same degree of
advancement, at any rate on the economic side of their cultures. But
it is only the idea, the outline of the institution, that is similar; its
concrete cultural execution, as expressed in the length of the period,
differs in Asia and Africa, and in the three American regions. That
the Mexican and Southeast Asiatic weeks were both of five days,
means nothing but the sort of coincidence to be expected when the
choice of duration is limited to a small range, such as between three
and ten days.

129. Leap Days as Parallels


Finally, there is a correspondence between the Egyptians and
Mexicans in recognizing the solar year as composed of 360 + 5
days. The Egyptians counted the 360 in twelve months of thirty days,
the Mayas and Aztecs in eighteen groups of twenty days; both
agreed in regarding the five leap days as supplementary and
unlucky. This last fact looks like a close correspondence, but
analysis dissolves much of the likeness. The solar year consists of
365 days and a fraction. There is nothing cultural about that
phenomenon except its recognition. Careful observation continued
for a long enough period inevitably yields the result. But 365 is
indivisible except by 5 and 73; 360 is much “rounder,” that is,
divisible by many numbers, and these “simple” like 6, 10, 12, 18, 20,
30, and therefore easier to operate with. This again is a
mathematical, not a cultural fact. The five supplementary days thus
scarcely represent any distinctive achievement. As to their being
considered unlucky and evil, that is unquestionably a true cultural
parallel.
At the same time, this parallel cannot be enacted into any
generally valid law. The ancient Hindu calendar, being directly lunar,
had about twelve days left over each solar year end at the winter
solstice. These twelve days were looked upon as prophetic and
portentous, but not as specifically evil. The Persian and Armenian
calendars, seemingly derived from the Egyptian, had the same five
supplementary days. But in the former the first of its five is reckoned
as lucky, only the third as unlucky; and in the latter, none of the five
has any special value or observance. Our own twenty-ninth of
February is supplementary and we hold a half serious belief or
superstition in regard to it and its year, but this has nothing to do with
luck.
In short, the human mind does tend to attach an unusual value to
any day in the calendar that is in any way outstanding. This
observation is a psychological one, and could be predicted from
what is known of the principle of association in individual psychology.
When it comes to the social expression of this tendency, regularity
ceases. Sometimes the value of the special day is virtually identical
among unconnected social groups, such as the Mayas and
Egyptians; sometimes it is diverse, as between them and ourselves;
and sometimes the value wholly disappears, as in Armenia.
Parallelism in any matter of civilization is never complete and
perfect, just as culture elements rarely spread far or long without
modification.
CHAPTER XI
THE SPREAD OF THE ALPHABET

130. Kinds of writing: pictographic and mixed phonetic.—131. Deficiencies


of transitional systems.—132. Abbreviation and conventionalization.—
133. Presumptive origins of transitional systems.—134. Phonetic
writing: the primitive Semitic alphabet.—135. The Greek alphabet:
invention of the vowels.—136. Slowness of the invention.—137. The
Roman alphabet.—138. Letters as numeral signs.—139. Reform in
institutions.—140. The sixth and seventh letters.—141. The tail of the
alphabet.—142. Capitals and minuscules.—143. Conservatism and
rationalization.—144. Gothic.—145. Hebrew and Arabic.—146. The
spread eastward: the writing of India.—147. Syllabic tendencies.—
148. The East Indies: Philippine alphabets.—149. Northern Asia: the
conflict of systems in Korea.

130. Kinds of Writing: Pictographic and Mixed


Phonetic
Three stages are logically distinguishable in the development of
writing. The first is the use of pictures of things and symbols of ideas:
the pictographic method. In the second stage the representation of
sounds begins, but is made through pictures or abbreviations of
pictures: and pictures or ideographs as such continue to be used
alongside the pictures whose value is phonetic. This may be called
the mixed or transitional or rebus stage. Third is the phonetic phase.
In this, the symbols used, whatever their origin may have been, no
longer denote objects or ideas but are merely signs for sounds—
words, syllables, or the elemental letter-sounds.
The first of these stages, the pictographic, and the degree to which
it flows, or rather fails to flow spontaneously out of the human mind,
have already been discussed (§ 105). The second or transitional
stage makes use of the principle that pictures may either be
interpreted directly as pictures or can be named. A picture or
suggestive sketch of the organ of sight may stand for the thing itself,
the eye. Or, the emphasis may be on the word eye, its sound; then
the picture can be made with the purpose of representing that sound
when it has a different meaning, as in the pronoun “I.” The method is
familiar to us in the form of the game which we call “rebus,” that is, a
method of writing “with things” or pictures of objects. The insect bee
stands for the abstract verb “be,” two strokes or the figure 2 for the
preposition “to,” a picture of a house with the sign of a tavern, that is
an inn, for the prefix “in-,” and so on. This charade-like method is
cumbersome and indirect enough to provide the difficulty of
interpretation that makes it fit for a game or puzzle. But what to us,
who have a system of writing, is a mere sport or occasional toy, is
also the method by which peoples without writing other than pure
pictography made their first steps toward the writing of words and
sounds. The principle of reading the name instead of the idea of the
thing pictured is therefore a most important invention. It made
possible the writing of pronouns, prepositions, prefixes and suffixes,
grammatical endings, articles, and the like, which are incapable of
representation by pictography alone. There is no difficulty drawing a
recognizable picture of a man, and two or three such pictures might
give the idea of men. But no picture system can express the
difference between “a man” and “the man.” Nor can relational or
abstract ideas like those of “here,” “that,” “by,” “of,” “you,” “why,” be
expressed by pictures.

131. Deficiencies of Transitional Systems


Important as the invention of the designation of words or sounds
therefore was, it was at first hesitant, cumbersome, and incomplete
as compared with modern alphabets. For one thing, many symbols
were required. They had to be pictured with some accuracy to be
recognizable. A picture of a bee must be made with some detail and
care to be distinguishable with certainty from that of a fly or wasp or
beetle. An inn must be drawn with its sign or shield or some clear
identifying mark, else it is likely to be read as house or barn or hut or
shop. The figure of the human eye is a more elaborate character
than the letter I. Then, too, the old pictures did not go out of use.
When the writing referred to bees and inns and eyes, pictures of
these things were written and read as pictures. The result was that a
picture of an eye would in one passage stand for the organ and in
another for the personal pronoun. Which its meaning was, had to be
guessed from the context. If the interpretation as pronoun fitted best
—for instance, if the next characters meant “tell you”—that
interpretation was chosen; but if the next word were recognized to be
“brow,” or “wink,” the character would be interpreted as denoting the
sense organ. That is, the same characters were sometimes read by
their sense and sometimes by their sound, once pictographically and
once phonetically. Hence the system was really transitional or mixed,
whereas a true alphabet, which represents sounds only, is unmixed
or pure in principle. Owing to the paucity of sound signs at first, the
object or idea signs had to be retained; after they were once well
established, they continued to be kept alongside the sound signs
even after these had grown numerous. The tenacity of most mixed
systems is remarkable. The Egyptians early added word signs and
then syllable and pure letter signs to their object signs. After they
had evolved a set of letter signs for the principal sounds of their
language, they might perfectly well have discarded all the rest of
their hundreds of characters. But for three thousand years they clung
to these, and wrote pictographic and phonetic characters jumbled
together. They would even duplicate to make sure: as if we should
write e-y-e and then follow with a picture of an eye, for fear, as it
were, that the spelling out was not sufficiently clear. From our
modern point of view it seems at first quite extraordinary that they
should have continued to follow this plan a thousand years after
nations with whom they were in contact, Phœnicians, Hebrews,
Greeks, Romans, were using simple, brief, accurate, pure alphabets.
Yet of course they were only following the grooves of crystallized
habit, as when we write “weight” or “piece” with unnecessary letters,
or employ a combination of two simple letters each having its own
value, like T and H, to represent a third simple sound, that of TH.
With us, as it was with the Egyptians, it would be more of a wrench
and effort for the adult generation to change to new and simpler
characters or methods than to continue in the old cumbersome
habits. So the advantage of the next generation is stifled and the
established awkward system goes on indefinitely.

132. Abbreviation and Conventionalization


This mixture of pictographic and ideographic with phonetic
characters, and its long retention, were substantially as characteristic
of Sumerian or Babylonian Cuneiform, of Chinese, and of Maya and
Aztec writing, as of Egyptian. In all of these systems there was more
or less tendency to abbreviate the pictures, to contract them to a few
strokes, to reduce the original representations to conventional
characters. Cuneiform and presumably Chinese underwent this
process early and profoundly. In Egyptian it also set in and led to
Hieratic and later to Demotic cursive script, which consist of signs
that are meaningless to the eye, although they resolve into
standardized reductions of the pictures which during the same period
continued to be made in the monumental and religious Hieroglyphic.
Such conventional abbreviations made possible a certain speed of
production, rendered writing of use in business and daily life, and
thereby contributed to the spread of literacy. In themselves, however,
they introduced no new principle.
In addition to this conventionality of form of characters, there is to
be distinguished also a conventionalization of meaning which is
inherent in the nature of writing. Conventionalization of form
accompanies frequency or rapidity of writing, conventionalization of
meaning must occur if there is to be any writing at all. It develops in
pure non-phonetic pictography if this is to be able to express any
considerable range of meaning. An outstretched hand may well be
used with the sense of “give.” But the beholder of the picture-writing
is likely to interpret it as “take.” Here is where conventionalization is
necessary: it must be understood by writers and readers alike that
such a hand means “give” and not “take,” or perhaps the reverse, or
perhaps that if the palm is up and the fingers flat the meaning is
“give” whereas the palm below or the fingers half closed means
“take.” Whatever the choice, it must be adhered to; the standardized,
conventional element has entered. That is why one customarily
speaks of “systems” of writing. Without the system, there can be not
even picture-writing, but only pictures, whose range of power of
communication is far more limited.
When the phonetic phase begins to be entered,
conventionalization of meaning is even more important. An inn must
be distinguished from a house by its shield, a house from a barn by
its chimney, and so on. The shield will perhaps have to be
exaggerated to be visible at all, be heart-shaped or circular to
distinguish it from windows; and so forth. So with the phonetic
values. A syllable like English “per” might be represented by one
scribe by means of a cat with a wavy line issuing from its mouth to
denote its purr; by another by a pear; by a third, by something that
habitually came as a pair, such as earrings. Any of these combined
with a “sieve” symbol would approximately render the work “per-
ceive.” But some one else might hit upon the combination of a purse
and the setting sun at eve. Obviously there has got to be a
concordance of method if any one but the writer is to read his
inscription readily. This correspondence of representation and
interpretation is precisely what constitutes a set of figures into a
system of writing instead of a puzzle.

133. Presumptive Origins of Mixed Systems


For such a set concordance to grow up among all the diverse
classes of one large nation would be very difficult. In fact, it seems
that transitional systems of writing have originated among small
groups with common business or purpose, whose members were in
touch with one another, and perhaps sufficiently provided with leisure
to experiment: colleges of priests, government archivists, possibly
merchants with accounts. It is also clear that any system must reflect
the culture of the people among whom it originates. The ancient
Egyptians had no inns nor purses, but did have horned serpents and
owls. Still more determining is the influence of the language itself, as
soon as writing attempts to be phonetic. The words expressing pair
and sieve are obviously something else in Egyptian than in English,
so that if these signs were used, their sound value would be quite
otherwise. Yet once a system has crystallized, there is nothing to
prevent a new nationality from taking it over bodily. The picture
values of the signs can be wholly disregarded and their sounds read
for words of a different meaning; or the sounds could be
disregarded, or the original proper forms of the characters be pretty
well obliterated, but their idea value carried over into the other
tongue. Thus the Semitic Babylonians took the Cuneiform writing
from the Sumerians, whose speech was distinct.
It is also well to distinguish between such cases of the whole or
most of a system being taken over bodily, and other instances in
which one people may have derived the generic idea of the method
of writing from another and then worked out a system of its own.
Thus it is hard not to believe in some sort of connection of stimulus
between Egyptian and Cuneiform writing because they originated in
the same part of the world almost simultaneously. Yet both the forms
of the characters and their meaning and sound values differ so
thoroughly in Egyptian and Cuneiform that no specific connection
between them has been demonstrated, and it seems unlikely that
one is a modified derivative form of the other. So with the
hieroglyphs of the Hittites and Cretans. They appeared in near-by
regions somewhat later. Consequently, although their forms are
distinctive and, so far as can be judged without our being able to
read these systems, their values also, it would be dogmatic to assert
that the development of these two writings took place without any
stimulation from Egyptian or Cuneiform. Something of a similar
argument would perhaps apply even to Chinese (§ 251), though on
this point extreme caution is necessary. Accordingly if one thinks of
the invention of the first idea of part-phonetic writing, it is conceivable
that all the ancient systems of the Old World derive from a single
such invention; although even in that event the Maya-Aztec system
would remain as a wholly separate growth. If on the other hand one
has in mind the content and specific manner of systems of the
transitional type, Egyptian, Cuneiform, and Chinese, perhaps also
Cretan and Hittite, are certainly distinct and constitute so many
instances of parallelism. Even greater is the number of independent
starts if one considers pure pictographic systems, since tolerable
beginnings of this type were made by the Indians of the United
States, who never even attempted sound representations.

134. Phonetic Writing: the Primitive Semitic


Alphabet
The last basic invention was that of purely phonetic writing—the
expressing only of sounds, without admixture of pictures or symbols.
Perhaps the most significant fact about this method as distinguished
from earlier forms of writing is that it was invented only once in
history. All the alphabetic systems which now prevail in nearly every
part of the earth—Roman, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Indian, as well as
many that have become extinct—can be traced back to a single
source. The story in this case is therefore one of diffusion and
modification instead of parallelism.
What circumstance it was that caused this all-important invention
to be made, is not known, unfortunately, though time may yet bring
knowledge. There is even division of opinion as to the particular
system of mixed writing that was drawn upon by the first devisers of
the alphabet, or that served as jumping off place for the invention.
Some have looked to the Egyptian system, others to a Cuneiform or
Cretan or Hittite source of inspiration. Nor is it wholly clear who were
the precise people responsible for the invention. It is only certain that
about 1,000 B.C., or a little earlier, some Semitic people of western
Asia, in the region of the Hebrews and Phœnicians, probably the
latter themselves, began to use a set of twenty-two non-pictorial
characters that stood for nothing but sounds. Moreover, they
represented the sounds of Semitic with sufficient accuracy for
anything in the language to be written and read without trouble.
These twenty-two letters look simple and insignificant alongside the
numerous, beautiful, and interesting Egyptian hieroglyphs. But on
them is based every form of alphabet ever used by humanity.
The earliest extant example of the primitive Semitic alphabet[22] is
on the famous Moabite Stone of King Mesha, who in the ninth
century before Christ erected and inscribed this monument to

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