Friday, 28 June 2013
Tech Saying
"Many people see technology as the problem behind the so-called digital divide. Others see it as the solution. Technology is neither. It must operate in conjunction with business, economic, political and social system."
--Carly Fiorina
We live in a society dependent on technology. The following quote gives you a broad perspective on our use of technology. Feel free to use this quote for an essay, a research paper, an email signature line or a personal motto. If you have an inspirational quote you would like to share feel free to add it by leaving a comment.
The Personal Computer.
THE PERSONAL COMPUTER.
A personal computer (PC) is a general-purpose computer, whose size, capabilities, and original sale price makes it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator. This contrasted with the batch processing or time-sharing models which allowed larger, more expensive minicomputer and mainframe systems to be used by many people, usually at the same time. Large data processing systems require a full-time staff to operate efficiently.
Software applications for most personal computers include, but are not limited to, word processing, spreadsheets, databases, Web browsers ande-mail clients, digital media playback, games, and myriad personal productivity and special-purpose software applications. Modern personal computers often have connections to the Internet, allowing access to the World Wide Web and a wide range of other resources. Personal computers may be connected to a local area network (LAN), either by a cable or a wireless connection. A personal computer may be a desktop computer or a laptop, tablet, or a handheld PC.
Early PC owners usually had to write their own programs to do anything useful with the machines, even lacking an operating system. The very earliest microcomputers, equipped with a front panel, required hand-loading of a bootstrap program to load programs from external storage (paper tape, cassettes, or eventually diskettes). Before very long, automatic booting from permanent read-only memory became universal.
Today's users have access to a wide range of commercial software and freeware, which is provided in ready-to-run or ready-to-compile form. Since the early 1990s, Microsoft operating systems and Intel hardware have dominated much of the personal computer market, first with MS-DOS and then with the "Wintel" (Windows + Intel) combination. Popular alternatives to Microsoft's Windows operating systems include Apple's OS X and the free open-source Linux and BSD operating systems. AMD provides the major alternative to Intel's central processing units. Applications and games for PCs are typically developed and distributed independently from the hardware or OS manufacturers, whereas software for many mobile phones and other portable systems is approved and distributed through a centralized online store.
Personal computers are now a very common item in many houses yet in 1955, there were only 250 computers in use throughout the world. In 1980, more than one million personal computers had been sold and by the mid-1980’s, this figure had risen to 30 million. How did this come about?
A computer in 1955 was very large and could not have fitted into a normal room in a normal sized house. They frequently burned out and had a tendency to attract moths into the system which short-circuited them. (Getting a computer ‘bug’ now refers back to the time when moths were a problem to the early computers).
In the late 1950’s, computers got smaller because one of its main components - the valve - was replaced by the much smaller transistor. These made computers far more reliable and therefore businesses took a much greater interest in them. Firms such as IBM could sell a mainframe computer for just under £½ million pounds in today’s money.
By the mid-1960’s, the microchip was replacing the transistor. A microchip could have several transistors on it. But being smaller, it lead again to a decrease in the size of computers. By 1965, there were 20,000 computers in the world. The most famous was the IBM System/360.
The microchip also lead to computers being made that were small enough to get into the average sized room in a house. By 1970, one microchip could contain 1000 transistors on it. In 1970, a home personal computer would have cost nearly £70,000 in today’s money.
In 1971, the microprocessor went on sale. Developed by Ted Hoff of Intel, the Intel 4004 was to revolutionize home computing. The 4004 cost just over £3000 in today’s money but by 1972, Intel had produced the 8008 which was far more powerful that the 4004 but cost a tenth of the price of the 4004. Microprocessors had a multitude of uses but they could be used at the heart of true personal computers.
In the early 1970’s personal computers were used only by hobbyists. The first ‘hobby’ personal computer was the Altair 8800 which cost just under £900 in today’s money. It had the same power as a computer of the 1950’s that cost $1 million.
In 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen developed a program for the Altair that allowed people to write their own programs in BASIC program language. Their newly formed company was called Micro-Soft which was later changed to Microsoft.
Thursday, 27 June 2013
Tech Saying
Bill Gates"Never before in history has innovation offered promise of so much to so many in so short a time."
--Bill Gates
We live in a society dependent on technology. The following quote gives you a broad perspective on our use of technology. Feel free to use these quotes for an essay, a research paper, an email signature line or a personal motto. If you have an inspirational quote you would like to share feel free to add it by leaving a comment.
Technological Saying
Max Frisch"Technology... the knack of so arranging the world that we don't have to experience it."
--Max Frisch
We live in a society dependent on technology. The following quote gives you a broad perspective on our use of technology. Feel free to use this quote for an essay, a research paper, an email signature line or a personal motto. If you have an inspirational quote you would like to share feel free to add it by leaving a comment.
Areas Of Computer Usage
SECTORS OF COMPUTER USAGE
The computer plays an essential role people's day to day life especially at work place, schools and even in home. Twenty first century has been the age of so many technological advancements aimed for making the lives of people better. Computer helps them become more efficient in their work.
like antivirus software made easy to overcome these problems.
The computer plays an essential role people's day to day life especially at work place, schools and even in home. Twenty first century has been the age of so many technological advancements aimed for making the lives of people better. Computer helps them become more efficient in their work.
Computer technology in banking:
Technology has made our living easy and comfortable, for instance our banking needs. Previously people need to maintain the important data of their customers manually. But right now, in just one click, they would be able to find all the customers' data instantly. The customers are able to know about the transactions of their account by logging in to the bank website. Moreover, it is possible to apply for loans through online.Improvements of computer technology:
Computer technology has improved our life style far better than before. Due to the emergence of internet and technology, the world has shrunk to a global village. Even though the advancement in internet creates new challenges like computer problems and virus threats, the computer technologylike antivirus software made easy to overcome these problems.
Computer in food industry:
The automation and computerization in food processing units is facing lots of challenges if they are used nearby water catastrophic effects on any computer system. Most food processing units prefer waterproof computers to protect their computer systems from drenching in the production area.Computer in medical field:
Hospital is an important organization and computers are used for the management of a hospital. The accounting, payroll and stock system of the hospital have been computerized in recent days. We can maintain the record of different medicines, their distribution and use in different wards etc. using computer. Even the disease can be diagnosed by entering the symptoms of a patient. Moreover, various computerized devices are used in laboratories for different tests of blood etc.Computer in agriculture:
Nowadays agricultural industry is also making use of the computers. The analysis that was taken some few years before shows that 44% of the farmers in Ohio are using computers for various purposes. In 1991, only 32% of the farmers were making use of it. This shows that there is considerable increase in the farmers who are using computers. As internet becomes the means of communication, most farmers use this technological advancement for transaction processing or for retrieving information. The analysis shows that out of the total farmers who were surveyed, 80% of them are making use of the internet.Computer in education:
Due to the globalization of education, so many challenges are posed by the new trends. In order to face all these challenges, information technology in the education sector is very important. It is essential that the students become familiar with the concept and use of information technology in order to equip them for future job market. Similarly, the faculty can achieve better quality in teaching methodology. The computer technology has developed in many fields. Its drastic development has created an immense impact in almost all the fields and thus leading to a new era.Wednesday, 26 June 2013
History behind the making of the present Computer
The History of Computers
"Who invented the computer?" is not a question with a simple answer. The real answer is that many inventors contributed to the history of computers and that a computer is a complex piece of machinery made up of many parts, each of which can be considered a separate invention.
This series covers many of the major milestones in computer history (but not all of them) with a concentration on the history of personal home computers.
Computing hardware evolved from machines that needed separate manual action to perform each arithmetic operation, to punched card machines, and then to stored-program computers. The history of stored-program computers relates first to computer architecture, that is, the organization of the units to perform input and output, to store data and to operate as an integrated mechanism.
The Z3 by inventor Konrad Zuse from 1941 is regarded as the first working programmable, fully automatic modern computing machine. Thus, Zuse is often regarded as the inventor of the computer.[1][2][3][4]
Before the development of the general-purpose computer, most calculations were done by humans. Mechanical tools to help humans with digital calculations were then called "calculating machines", by proprietary names, or even as they are now, calculators. It was those humans who used the machines who were then called computers. Aside from written numerals, the first aids to computation were purely mechanical devices which required the operator to set up the initial values of an elementary arithmetic operation, then manipulate the device to obtain the result. A sophisticated (and comparatively recent) example is the slide rule in which numbers are represented as lengths on a logarithmic scale and computation is performed by setting a cursor and aligning sliding scales, thus adding those lengths. Numbers could be represented in a continuous "analog" form, for instance a voltage or some other physical property was set to be proportional to the number. Analog computers, like those designed and built by Vannevar Bush before World War II were of this type. Numbers could be represented in the form of digits, automatically manipulated by a mechanical mechanism. Although this last approach required more complex mechanisms in many cases, it made for greater precision of results.
In the United States, the development of the computer was underpinned by massive government investment in the technology for military applications during WWII and then the Cold War. The latter superpower confrontation made it possible for local manufacturers to transform their machines into commercially viable products.[5] It was the same story in Europe, where adoption of computers began largely through proactive steps taken by national governments to stimulate development and deployment of the technology.[6]
The invention of electronic amplifiers made calculating machines much faster than their mechanical or electromechanical predecessors. Vacuum tube (thermionic valve) amplifiers gave way to solid state transistors, and then rapidly to integrated circuits which continue to improve, placing millions of electrical switches (typically transistors) on a single elaborately manufactured piece of semi-conductor the size of a fingernail. By defeating the tyranny of numbers, integrated circuits made high-speed and low-cost digital computers a widespread commodity. There is an ongoing effort to make computer hardware faster, cheaper, and capable of storing more data. Computing hardware has become a platform for uses other than mere computation, such as process automation, electronic communications, equipment control, entertainment, education, etc. Each field in turn has imposed its own requirements on the hardware, which has evolved in response to those requirements, such as the role of the touch screen to create a more intuitive and natural user interface. As all computers rely on digital storage, and tend to be limited by the size and speed of memory, the history of computer data storage is tied to the development of computers.
This series covers many of the major milestones in computer history (but not all of them) with a concentration on the history of personal home computers.
Computing hardware evolved from machines that needed separate manual action to perform each arithmetic operation, to punched card machines, and then to stored-program computers. The history of stored-program computers relates first to computer architecture, that is, the organization of the units to perform input and output, to store data and to operate as an integrated mechanism.
The Z3 by inventor Konrad Zuse from 1941 is regarded as the first working programmable, fully automatic modern computing machine. Thus, Zuse is often regarded as the inventor of the computer.[1][2][3][4]
Before the development of the general-purpose computer, most calculations were done by humans. Mechanical tools to help humans with digital calculations were then called "calculating machines", by proprietary names, or even as they are now, calculators. It was those humans who used the machines who were then called computers. Aside from written numerals, the first aids to computation were purely mechanical devices which required the operator to set up the initial values of an elementary arithmetic operation, then manipulate the device to obtain the result. A sophisticated (and comparatively recent) example is the slide rule in which numbers are represented as lengths on a logarithmic scale and computation is performed by setting a cursor and aligning sliding scales, thus adding those lengths. Numbers could be represented in a continuous "analog" form, for instance a voltage or some other physical property was set to be proportional to the number. Analog computers, like those designed and built by Vannevar Bush before World War II were of this type. Numbers could be represented in the form of digits, automatically manipulated by a mechanical mechanism. Although this last approach required more complex mechanisms in many cases, it made for greater precision of results.
In the United States, the development of the computer was underpinned by massive government investment in the technology for military applications during WWII and then the Cold War. The latter superpower confrontation made it possible for local manufacturers to transform their machines into commercially viable products.[5] It was the same story in Europe, where adoption of computers began largely through proactive steps taken by national governments to stimulate development and deployment of the technology.[6]
The invention of electronic amplifiers made calculating machines much faster than their mechanical or electromechanical predecessors. Vacuum tube (thermionic valve) amplifiers gave way to solid state transistors, and then rapidly to integrated circuits which continue to improve, placing millions of electrical switches (typically transistors) on a single elaborately manufactured piece of semi-conductor the size of a fingernail. By defeating the tyranny of numbers, integrated circuits made high-speed and low-cost digital computers a widespread commodity. There is an ongoing effort to make computer hardware faster, cheaper, and capable of storing more data. Computing hardware has become a platform for uses other than mere computation, such as process automation, electronic communications, equipment control, entertainment, education, etc. Each field in turn has imposed its own requirements on the hardware, which has evolved in response to those requirements, such as the role of the touch screen to create a more intuitive and natural user interface. As all computers rely on digital storage, and tend to be limited by the size and speed of memory, the history of computer data storage is tied to the development of computers.
Tuesday, 25 June 2013
Introduction to Information Technology
Information technology (IT) is the application of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data,[1] often in the context of a business or other enterprise.[2] The term is commonly used as a synonym for computers and computer networks, but it also encompasses other information distribution technologies such as television and telephones.
Several industries are associated with information technology, such as computer hardware, software, electronics, semiconductors, internet, telecom equipment, e-commerce and computer services.[3][4]
In a business context, the Information Technology Association of America has defined information technology as "the study, design, development, application, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems".[5] The responsibilities of those working in the field include network administration, software development and installation, and the planning and management of an organisation's technology life cycle, by which hardware and software is maintained, upgraded, and replaced.
Humans have been storing, retrieving, manipulating and communicating information since the Sumerians in Mesopotamia developed writing in about 3000 BC,[6] but the term "information technology" in its modern sense first appeared in a 1958 article published in the Harvard Business Review; authors Harold J. Leavitt and Thomas L. Whisler commented that "the new technology does not yet have a single established name. We shall call it information technology (IT)."[7] Based on the storage and processing technologies employed, it is possible to distinguish four distinct phases of IT development: pre-mechanical (3000 BC – 1450 AD), mechanical (1450–1840), electromechanical (1840–1940) and electronic (1940–present).[6] This article focuses on the most recent period (electronic), which began in about 1940.
That's all for now.
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