Extended Learning Module C
Computer Hardware and Software
Main Map
n
What is computer hardware
and software all about?
n
I would like to take a
quick tour of technology.
n
What are the categories of
computers by size?
n
Software: My Intellectual
Interface.
n
Hardware: My Physical
Interface.
n
I would like to see my
computer at work.
What is computer hardware and software all about?
(Introduction)
Introduction
n You need to have a good
understanding of the basics of computer hardware and software including
t
Terminology
t
Characteristics of various
devices and
t
How everything works
together to create a complete and usable computer system
Introduction
n
Information technology (IT) – computer-based tool that people use to work with
information and support the information and information-processing needs of an
organization.
n
Hardware – the physical devices
that make up a computer.
n
Software – the set of instructions
that your hardware executes to carry out a specific task for you.
I would like to take a quick tour of technology
A Quick Tour of Technology
n
Six categories of hardware
n
Input device - a tool
you use to capture information and commands.
t
Mouse, keyboard
n
Output device - a tool
you use to see, hear, or otherwise accept the results of information-processing
requests.
t
Monitor, printer
A Quick Tour of Technology
n
Storage device - a tool
you use to store information for use at a later time.
t
Primary storage
" RAM, or random access
memory, - temporary storage.
t
Secondary storage
" Floppy disks
A Quick Tour of Technology
n
Central processing unit (CPU) – the actual hardware that
interprets and executes software instructions and coordinates how all the other
hardware devices work together.
t Intel Pentium 4 chip
A Quick Tour of Technology
n
Telecommunications device – tool you
use to send information to and receive it from another person or location.
t
Modem
n
Connecting device –
includes such things as parallel ports into which you connect a printer and
connector cords to connect your printer to the parallel port.
t
Video card
A Quick Tour of Technology
Figure C.1
Six Categories of Computer Hardware
page 399
A Quick Tour of Technology
n
Software types include:
t
Application software - solves
specific problems or perform specific tasks.
t System software - handles tasks specific to technology management.
"
Operating system software - controls
application software and manages hardware devices.
"
Utility software - provides
additional functionality to the operating system.
A Quick Tour of Technology
Figure C.2
Quicken and Excel Are Application
Software Tools
page 400
What are the categories of computers by size?
Categories of
Computers By Size
Personal
Digital Assistants, Notebook Computers, and Desktop Computers
n
Personal digital assistant (PDA) – a small hand-held computer
that helps you surf the Web and perform simple tasks such as note taking,
calendaring, appointment scheduling, and maintaining an address book.
n
Notebook computer - a fully
functional computer designed to be carried around and run on battery
power.
n
Desktop computer - the most
popular choice for personal computing needs.
Categories of
Computers By Size
Personal
Digital Assistants, Notebook Computers, and Desktop Computers
Figure C.3
PDAs, Notebooks, and Desktops
page 401
Categories of
Computers By Size
Minicomputers,
Mainframe Computers, and Supercomputers
n
Minicomputer - designed
to meet the computing needs of several people simultaneously in a small to
medium-size business environment.
n
Mainframe computer - designed
to meet the computing needs of hundreds of people in a large business environment.
n
Supercomputers - the
fastest, most powerful, and most expensive type of computer.
Categories of
Computers By Size
Minicomputers,
Mainframe, and Supercomputers
Figure C.4
Minicomputers, Mainframes, and
Supercomputers
page 204
Software:
My intellectual interface.
Software: Your
Intellectual Interface
Application
Software
n
There are two categories of software
t Application
software and
t System
software
Software: Your
Intellectual Interface
Application
Software
n
Application software is used
to meet specific information-processing needs, including such things as:
t
Payroll
t
Customer relationship
management
t
Project management
t
Training
t
Word processing and many
others.
Software: Your
Intellectual Interface
Application
Software
n
Personal productivity software - performs personal tasks, including such things as
creating:
t
Memos
t
Graphs
t
Slide presentations
Software: Your
Intellectual Interface
Application
Software
n
Word processing – helps you
create papers, letters, memos, and other basic documents.
n
Spreadsheet – helps you
work primarily with numbers, including performing calculations and creating
graphs.
n
Presentation – helps you
create and edit information that will appear in electronic slides.
Software: Your
Intellectual Interface
Application
Software
n
Desktop publishing – extends
word processing software by including design and formatting techniques to
enhance the layout and appearance of a document.
n
Personal information management (PIM) – helps you create and maintain to-do lists, appointments,
calendars, and points of contact.
n
Personal finance – helps you
maintain your checkbook, prepare a budget, track investments, monitor your
credit card balances, and pay bills electronically.
Software: Your
Intellectual Interface
Application
Software
n
Web authoring – helps you
design and develop Web sites and pages that you publish on the Web.
n
Graphics – helps you create and
edit photos and art.
n
Communications – helps you
communicate with other people.
n
Database management system (DBMS) – helps you specify the logical organization for a database
and access and use the information within a database.
Software: Your
Intellectual Interface
Application
Software
n
Vertical market software - unique to
a particular industry. Examples
include:
t
Patient-scheduling software
t
Nursing allocation
software
n
Horizontal market software - general
enough to be suitable for use in a variety of industries. Examples include:
t
Inventory management
software
t
Payroll software
Software: Your
Intellectual Interface
System
Software
n
Operating system software - controls application software and manages how hardware
devices work together.
t
Multitasking - allows you
to work with more than one piece of software at a time.
n
Utility software - adds
additional functionality to the operating system.
n
Anti-virus software - utility
software that scans for and often eliminates viruses in RAM and storage
devices.
Software: Your
Intellectual Interface
System
Software
n
Crash-proof software – utility
software that saves information if your system crashes.
Software: Your
Intellectual Interface
System
Software
n
Uninstaller software – utility
software that removes software from your hard disk.
n
Disk optimization software – utility
software that organizes information on your hard disk.
Software: Your Intellectual
Interface
Personal
Operating Systems
n
Microsoft Windows 2000 Pro – for
personal computers connected to a network.
n
Microsoft Windows 2000 Me – for home
computer users.
n
Microsoft Windows XP Home – upgrade
to Windows 2000 Me.
Software: Your
Intellectual Interface
Personal Operating Systems
n
Microsoft Windows XP Pro – upgrade
to Windows 2000 Pro.
n
Mac OS – for today’s Apple
computers.
n
Linux – open-source operating
system for high-end workstations and network servers.
Hardware:
My physical interface.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
n From a hardware
perspective, computers work with bits and bytes
n Computers use electricity
to function
n
Computers use electrical pulses to have two states: on and
off.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
n
Binary digit (bit) - the smallest unit of
information.
t
Either a 1 or 0.
n
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information
Interchange) - the coding system that most personal computers use to
represent, process, and store information.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
n
Byte -
a group of eight bits represents one natural language character.
t C
– 01100011
t O
– 01001111
t O
– 01001111
t L
– 01001100
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Figure C.7
Representations of Information as it
Moves Through Your Computer
page 408
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Common
Input Devices
n
Input device - a tool
you use to capture information and commands. Examples include:
t Keyboard – today’s most popular input technology.
t Trackball – an upside-down, stationary mouse in which you move the ball
instead of the device (mainly for notebooks).
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Common
Input Devices
t
Point-of-sale (POS) - for capturing information at the point of a transaction,
typically in a retail environment.
t Pointing stick - small rubber-like pointing device that causes the pointer
to move on the screen as you apply directional pressure (popular on notebooks).
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Common
Input Devices
t Microphone - for capturing live sounds such as a dog barking or your
voice (for automatic speech recognition).
t Touchpad - another form of a stationary mouse on which you move your
finger to cause the pointer on the screen to move (popular also on notebooks).
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Common
Input Devices
t Mouse - today’s most popular
“pointing” input device.
t Bar code reader -
captures information that exists in the form of vertical bars whose width and
distance apart determine a number.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Common
Input Devices
t Touch screen -
special screen that lets you use your finger to point at and touch a particular
function you want to perform.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Common
Input Devices
t Optical mark recognition (OMR) - detects the presence or absence of
a mark in a predetermined place (popular for multiple choice exams).
t Scanner - captures images, photos,
and artwork that already exist on paper.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Common
Output Devices
n
Output
device - a
tool you use to see, hear, or otherwise accept the results of your
information-processing requests.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Common
Output Devices
n
CRT monitors – look like
television sets.
n
Flat-panel displays – thin,
lightweight monitors that take up much less space than CRTs.
n
Resolution of a screen – number of
pixels it has (given by row and column.)
n
Dot pitch – the distance between
the centers of a pair of like-colored pixels.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Common
Output Devices
n
Resolution
of a printer - the number of dots per inch (dpi) it
produces, which is the same principle as the resolution in monitors.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Common
Output Devices
n
Inkjet printers – make
images by forcing ink droplets through nozzles.
n
Laser printers – form images
using an electrostatic process.
n
Multifunction printers – scan,
copy, and fax, as well as print.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Characteristics
of CPUs and RAM
n
Central processing unit (CPU) - the actual hardware that interprets
and executes the software instructions and coordinates how all the other
hardware devices work together.
n
RAM, or random access memory, - temporary
storage that holds the information, the application software, and the operating
system software.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Characteristics
of CPUs and RAM
n
CPU speeds
n
CPU cycles determine how fast a CPU executes software instructions.
n
More cycles means faster processing (and more cost.)
t
Megahertz (MHz) - the number of millions of
CPU cycles per second.
t
Gigahertz
(GHz) - the number of
billions of CPU cycles per second.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Characteristics
of CPUs and RAM
n
CPU contains two primary
parts including:
t
Control unit - interprets
software instructions and literally tells the other hardware devices what to
do, based on the software instructions.
t
Arithmetic/logic unit (A/L unit) - performs all
arithmetic operations (for example, addition and subtraction) and all logic operations
(such as sorting and comparing numbers).
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Characteristics
of CPUs and RAM
n
RAM capacity is expressed in bytes.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Common
Storage Devices
n
Storage device capacities
are measured in terms of bytes.
t
Megabyte (MB or M or Meg) – is
roughly 1 million bytes.
t
Gigabyte (GB or Gig) - roughly 1 billion characters.
t
Terabyte (TB) - roughly 1 trillion bytes.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Common
Storage Devices
n
Floppy disk – great for
portability of information and ease of updating but holds only 1.44MB of
information.
n
High-capacity floppy disk – great for
portability and ease of updating and holds between 100MB and 250MB of
information.
n
Hard disk – rests within your system
box and offers both ease of updating and great storage capacity.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Common
Storage Devices
Figure C.12
Common Storage Devices
page 413
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Common
Storage Devices
n
CD-ROM – optical or laser disc
that offers no updating capabilities with about 800MB of storage capacity.
n
CD-R (compact disc – recordable) –
optical or laser disc that offers one-time writing capability with about 800MB
of storage capacity.
n
CD-RW (compact disc – rewritable) –
offers unlimited writing and updating capabilities on the CD.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Common
Storage Devices
n
DVD-ROM – optical or laser disc
that offers no updating capabilities with upward of 17GB of storage capacity.
n
DVD-R – optical or laser disc
that offers one-time writing capability with upward of 17GB of storage
capacity.
n
DVD-RW, or DVD-RAM, or DVD+RW – optical or laser disc
that offers unlimited writing and updating capabilities on the DVD.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Telecommunications
Devices
n
Network - two or more computers
connected so that they can communicate with each other and possibly share
information, software, peripheral devices, and/or processing power.
n
Telephone modem - a device
that connects your computer to your phone line so that you can access another
computer or network
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Telecommunications
Devices
Figure C.13
The Role of a Telephone Modem
page 414
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Telecommunications
Devices
n
Types of modems include:
t
Telephone modem
t
Digital Subscriber Line
(DSL) modem
t
Cable modem
t
Satellite modem
n
Module D covers these in
more detail.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Telecommunications
Devices
n
Communication software
includes:
t
Connectivity software – enables
you to use your computer to “dial up” or connect to another computer.
t
Web browser software – enables
you to surf the Web.
t
E-mail software – enables
you to electronically communicate with other people by sending and receiving
e-mail.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Connecting
Devices
n
Connecting devices enable
your hardware to communicate with each other. Types include:
t
Buses
t
Expansion Slots
t
Expansion Cards
t
Ports and Connectors
n
System bus - consists of the
electronic pathways which move information between basic components on the
motherboard, including between your CPU and RAM.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Connecting
Devices
Figure C.14
Connecting with Connectivity Software
page 415
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Connecting
Devices
n
Expansion bus - moves
information from your CPU and RAM to all of your other hardware devices such as
your microphone and printer.
n
Expansion slot - a long
skinny socket on the motherboard into which you insert an expansion card.
n
Expansion card - a circuit
board that you insert into an expansion slot.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Connecting
Devices
Figure C.16
Buses, Expansion Slots, and Expansion
Cards
page 417
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Connecting
Devices
n
Different hardware devices require
different kinds of ports and connectors.
n
Ports
- the plug-ins found on the outside of your system box (usually in the back)
into which you plug a connector.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Ports
Figure C.17
Ports and Connectors
page 418
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Connecting
Devices
n
Popular connectors
include:
t
USB (universal serial bus) – becoming
the most popular means of connecting devices to a computer.
t
Serial connector – usually
has 9 holes but may have 25, which fit into the corresponding number of pins in
the port.
t
Parallel connector – has 25
pins, which fit into the corresponding holes in the port.
Hardware: Your
Physical Interface
Connecting
Devices
n
IrDA (infrared data association) ports –are for wireless devices
that work in essentially the same way as the remote control on your TV does.
n
Insert only the three
connector photos in Figure A.18
I would like to see my
computer at work.
The Complete Computer at Work
n
Assume the following simple case of you using
a program that adds two numbers. This is what happens when you use the program
– DOUBLE CLICK ON ICON
The Complete Computer at Work
n
Mouse sends command to CPU
n
OS instructs control unit
(CU) in CPU that you want to launch and use a program
n
The CU sends a message to
hard drive
t
Where the program is
located
t
Please send a copy to RAM
n
CU instructs RAM to hold
it until further instructions
The Complete Computer at Work
Figure C.18
Software Program for Adding Two
Numbers
page 419
The Complete Computer at Work
Figure C.19
What Appears on Your Screen
page 419
Summary
Student
Learning Outcomes
n
Define information
technology (IT) and its two basic categories: hardware and software.
n
Describe categories of
computers by size.
n
Compare the roles of personal
productivity, vertical market, and horizontal market software.
Summary
Assignments
and Exercises
n
Customizing a computer purchase
n
Web-enabled cell phones and web computers
n
Operating system software for PDAs
n
Types of monitors and their quality