JOURNEY INTO THE WORLD OF COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

JOURNEY INTO THE WORLD OF

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

SESSION OBJECTIVES

At the end of this session the student will be to

Ø    Explain What a computer is

Ø    List the application of computers

Ø    Explain the data processing cycle

Ø    Describe the concept of information

Ø    List and describe categories of software

Ø    Identify a PC

Ø    Identify peripherals of a PC

1.1        Introduction to computers 

Man is truly an amazing being. He is master of inventors. He is master of inventors. He is restless by nature; either his need to make things easier and sophisticated or his game loving nature drives his imagination to keep inventing.

Be it the wheel, the television or the vehicles we see on the roads, are some of the inventions that we cannot imagine our lives without today. One amongst this list is the computer which made its first appearance somewhere in the late 19^th century but started getting popular only in the 20^th century. Today it has become a part and parcel of almost everybody’s life. The reason for it’s popularity is that it’s users are varied, it can be modified to do anything that human imagination can make it do and hence its reach is expanding day by day.

These inventions have been in the direction of bringing about mechanization in various fields of human activities. Therefore all such inventions are generally termed as machines, which require either mechanical or electrical power to drive them.

A glance through this section will make the fact very clear that computers have made their presence felt in almost every speck of life today. Some of the areas where computers have become a common sight are:

ÿ    Commercial Applications:

      * Electricity bill generation.

* Railway and Airway ticket booking.

            * Generation of telephone bills.

            * 24 Hours customer telephone complaints registrations.

            * Wake up alarm call.

            * Banking sector.

            * Paperless money through credit cards.

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