Essential Computer Concepts

•
A
computer
is an electronic device
that:

•
A
ccepts
information and instructions
from a
user

•
M
anipulates

the information
according to the
instructions

•
Displays

the
information in some
way

•
Stores

the
information for retrieval
later.

2


Personal
Computers

(PCs)


Desktop
computers


Laptops
-
they are portable


Handheld
computers
-
example?
Smartphone


Mainframe

computers


Supercomputers

3

4

See page ECC 4
-
5

Tablet PC: Apple’s IPad2

Pictures of Computers

Supercomputer


Desktop


Portable (laptops, notebooks)

5

Desktop by HP

Laptop by HP


Size
-
Sits on your desk


Speed
-
Example
-
2.6
GHz

AMD
a
thlon

dual
-
core processor


Cost
-
$300 to $3500


6


Laptops
-
Laptops come in many brands that
use Windows software such as Dell, Acer,
Toshiba, IBM. Brands that use Apple
software are
MacBooks
.


Notebooks
-
similar to laptops but usually
smaller, lighter. Example: Dell “
Netbook
”.
Very small.

7


PDAs

(Personal Data Assistant)
-
Example
-
Blackberry
-
holds calendar,
names and addresses, can access the
internet


Cell phones
-
Iphone
, the Droid
(
Googles

answer to the
Iphone
)


Size
-
can hold in your hand


Cost
-
$100
-
$2500


8


Example
-
the computers running MSTC, the
computers

running the hospital, the computers
running your local bank.


Cost
:

Several hundred thousand dollars to a
million dollars

9


Size
-
Huge


Speed
-
Fastest on
the planet



Cost
-
$ Millions


Example
-
Cray
Research in
Chippewa Falls WI

10


Seymour Cray standing
next to the core unit of the
Cray
-
1 computer, circa
1974, Chippewa Falls, WI.


Photograph
courtesy of
the Charles Babbage
Institute, University of
Minnesota,
Minneapolis


Cray Timeline


About Cray's latest
Supercomputer....The
Jaguar

11


Include
computer hardware and software


Hardware

–
the physical stuff
-
the case, the guts
inside


Software

refers to the
instructions, the programs

that

the
computer needs to perform a specific
task



Specifications
-
The
technical details about each
component

(See pg 2 of textbook for an
example)

12

13


The
motherboard

is the
main electronic
component of the
computer



The
microprocessor
-
the
“brain”

of a computer
,
also called CPU
(transistors on a chip,
speed
)
-
Examples
-

Intel
,
AMD



Cards

are removable
circuit
boards
-
Example
-

video cards, sound
cards

Good
pics

on
pg

ECC 8
-
9.


Input
-
instructions you put in.



How?


With a
keyboard


With a
mouse


With a
scanner


14

15


Output
-
the results.


How do you see the results?


With a
monitor


With a
printer

16

Monitor


Laser
-
fastest, most expensive, highest
quality


Inkjet
-
sprays ink on paper


Dot matrix
-
punches dots, lowest
quality

17


Computers understand only code. (0s and 1s; On
or Off). They don’t understand English.


The code they understand uses binary digits,
called bits. The code is called ASCII code.


8

bits
= 1
byte

= 1 character

1 thousand bytes = 1KB (
kilobyte
)

1 million bytes = 1 MB (
megabyte
)

1 billion bytes = 1 GB (
gigabyte
)

1 trillion bytes = 1 TB (
terabyte
)

Main point
:

Computers use and store A LOT of info!


18


RAM
-
Random Access Memory


Temporary


Lost when the computer is turned off (unless you save
your work)




ROM
-
Read
O
nly Memory


Permanent


Tells the computer how to “boot”.

19

20

•
Hard drive
-
usually your “C:” drive. Here at
school you will be storing your work on the “H”
drive and/or your
flash drive.

•
CDs and DVDs
-
2 things you should NEVER do!

•
1) Scratch or 2) Expose to high temps

•
DVD

can store 4.7 GB
-
more than enough
capacity for a full
-
length feature film.
Blu
-
ray

can store more than 5 times more (25 GB per
layer).

•
Flash drives
-
“jump drive”
-
from 32
MB
-
16 GB


A computer
file

-
a collection
of stored
data:


An
executable file
-
instructions
that tell a
computer how to perform a specific task


A
data file
-
created
by a
user
-
you will be
creating data files in Microsoft Office
(Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access).


21

SYSTEM SOFTWARE

APPLICATION
SOFTWARE


Windows 7


Windows XP


Windows Vista


Safari, Lion (Apple
Systems)


Microsoft Word


Microsoft
Powerpoint


Microsoft Excel


Microsoft Access


Gaming Software

22


System
software
-

manages the
fundamental operations of your
computer.
Also called an operating system.


Examples
-


Windows XP


Windows 7


Lion (Apple)


23

24

To get here, click on the folder icon in the bottom left corner of your desktop.
Then click “Computer.”


Application software
-
enables
you to
write
letters, make spreadsheets, create databases,
create presentations, create games etc.


Examples of application software are Microsoft
Word, Excel,
Powerpoint
, Access and many
others.


Example of gaming software
-

Blizzard
Entertainment

25


Data communications
-
the
transmission of text,
numeric, voice, or video data from one
computer to
another or from a computer to a
peripheral (keyboards, printers
etc
).


4 things are needed
for data communications:


Sender


Channel
-
telephone cable, coaxial cable, optical fibers


Protocol
-
rules for accurate transfer handled by a
driver


Receiver

26


Data bus
-
The
path
connecting
the
microprocessor, RAM, and
peripherals

and
back again


The data bus needs
ports
:



USB port (Universal Serial Bus)
-
where flash
drives, cameras, your IPOD connects



Ethernet port
-
where the internet connects

27


A
network

connects one computer to other
computers. Example
-
LAN

(local area network)

28


C
ommunicating
over a
long
distance using a
phone line or some other data
line. To do this you
need:


A

modem

either outside your computer or inside on the
motherboard.


The modem converts a computer signal (called a digital
signal) to a telephone signal (called an analog signal) and
back again on the other end.


A

phone line
(through the phone company) or a
dedicated subscriber line (
DSL
) like through the cable
company. The DSL will transmit faster than a telephone
line.


29


The
Internet

is the largest network in the
world. It offers:


Electronic
mail
(email)


World Wide
Web
(www)
-
lots and lots AND
LOTS of information and products


Info and products are on
web pages


A collection of web pages is a
web site
.

30


Security
-
steps
a computer owner takes to
prevent unauthorized use of or damage to
the
computer.


Viruses
-

harmful programs. Also called
malware
.


Antivirus
software
-
searches files for
viruses and disinfects them.



Firewall
-

like
a locked door

on your
computer which prevents other computers
on the internet from accessing yours without
your permission.

31


Storing data, applications, and resources on
servers which you access over the Internet
rather than on a users’ computer.


Access only what you need, when you need it.


Examples: Google Docs, Microsoft Web Apps,
Windows Live
Skydrive
. Companies can also
have “the Cloud” do automatic back
-
ups of
their data.

32


Space on Windows Live servers which you
access over the Internet.


You can store up to 25 GB of files there


You can store them in public or private folders
or in folders that you make available to only
certain people


Need a Windows Live ID to use it (free).


See
pg

ECC 32 for screen display.


Here is what
Skydrive

looks like:
https://login.live.com


33


All photos are courtesy of Course Technology
at
Cengage

Learning unless credit is otherwise
given.


YouTube clip of “Mouse” courtesy of YouTube.

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