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THE COMPUTER

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Input Processing Output Storage 

4 basic functions

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Hardware

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The computer

An integrated unit Most basic collection includes a

CPU (Central Processing Unit) Monitor (Output device) Keyboard (Input device) Mouse  (Input device)

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The CPU

May be housed in a rectangular box: "Desktop Case" a long upright box: "Tower Case“

Term is often used to refer to the

whole collection of electronics

inside the box

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The monitor

The window that lets the user see what the computer is doing - it provides the interface between user and computer

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The keyboard

Primary device used to communicate with the

computer Closely resembles a conventional typewriter

keyboard, but has additional keys that are used specifically for computing functions

Besides keys to input number characters or letters of the alphabet - function keys at the top, or certain combinations of keys, that allow us to perform particular functions quickly 

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The mouse

Term given to device that resembles the animal: it has a wire coming out of it like a mouse's tail

Also available: cordless mouse that runs on battery; touch pads; ‘ball’ mouse

Introduced to computing in the early 1980's when Macintosh created its graphical user interface (GUI)

Mouse and keyboard in combination allows user flexibility in accomplishing wide variety of tasks

 

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Auxiliary storage drives

Floppy diskette drive CD-ROM drive DVD ROM drive Zip drive

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Computer peripherals

Electronic devices that can be hooked up to a computer other than the standard input-output devices. Some common devices:

Speakers Microphones Printers Scanners Digital cameras Modems 

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CD-ROM:  Compact Disk – Read-Only Memory. Storage device for data, and for delivering programs from the software developer to the computer user 

Data: Computer food - numbers, letters, symbols, mathematical expressions, mouse clicks, or button presses. The CPU translates all this activity to series of zeroes and ones and then computes the data to produce information.

 

Useful computer terms (1)

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Drivers:  Software packages needed to run certain peripheral devices.  Printers, monitors, scanners, and network cards all require software drivers so that the computer knows how to communicate and control the device. 

Hard Disk Drive (HDD):  The internal magnetic storage device housed inside the computer case.  These come in a variety of sizes, measured in how many bits of information they can contain. 

 

Useful computer terms (2)

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Modem:  A telecommunications peripheral device that allows computers to communicate with one another via conventional telephone lines.  Rated by their speed in moving data from the computer to the telephone line - speed measured in bits per second (bps).  Standard modern modems are rated at 28,800 bps, 33,600 bps and 56,400 bps. 

 

Useful computer terms (3)

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Motherboard:  The circuit board on which most of the major electronic components are situated.  Most manufacturers integrate cable attachment ports on the back-end of the motherboard.  They also include slots so that owners can add their own cable attachment ports. 

 

Useful computer terms (4)

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Network Card:  A card that can be installed in one of the motherboard slots to give the computer the ability to talk to other computers with similar cards.  A collection of similarly equipped computers connected by specially designed cables is known as a network.  The mechanism (including languages and protocols) used to communicate on a network are varied.

 

Useful computer terms (5)

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Pentiums: Faster, larger CPU devices that are designed to allow more computing instructions to occur per second.  Most computers manufactured in the past 10 years contain this device.  

Useful computer terms (6)

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RAM: This acronym stands for Random Access Memory.  RAM is commonly called "memory".  Memory is measured in megabytes (MB) and usually comes in multiples of 2 or 4, e.g., 32 MB, 64MB, 128MB, 512 MB of RAM.   

Useful computer terms (7)

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Software(Programmes)

System programmesApplication programmes

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System programmes (1)

Programmes that start up the computer and perform utility functions, e.g., Booting/starting the computerLoading and executing other programmesStore and retrieve files

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System programme:

Operating Systems (OS) (1)

Instructions that allow the computer to start working and permit it to run other programmes. 

Major OS software types: MS-DOS, Windows, Macintosh, UNIX, and LINUX.  

Most popular OS in use at present is Windows.  Most computers come with one of these pre-installed.

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System programme:

Operating Systems (OS) (2)

Boot the computer Provide interface with users Coordinate system devices

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Application programmes

Software that allows us to perform application-related functions, e.g.,Word-processing SpreadsheetsDatabasesSPSS (statistical packages)Data analysis