In this chapter and section, digital devices of all sorts are
discussed as well as computer basics, concepts and terminology. The first
digital device that is described in detail is a computer, which at its core, is
a multipurpose device that accepts inputs, processes various amounts of data,
stores information, and produces output, all according to a very specific
series of stored instructions. Computer inputs by their very definition can be
typed, submitted, or directly transmitted to a computer itself. Input can be
supplied by a person manually, or by another computer digitally or
electronically.
On the contrary output is any result made by a computer
system. Reports, documents, music, graphs, and pictures are some examples.
Computers can also process, or manipulate data, which technically data is
symbols that equate or represent facts, objects and/or ideas. All computers
have a CPU or central processing unit that processes data. The CPU of most
modern computers is a microprocessor, which is equipment in a computer that can
be programmed to do things based on info it receives. Computers can store data
using memory, whereas storage is where data can be left permanently where it
won’t be immediately needed for processing.
This data is kept in files, which are named collections
of info that exist inside a storage medium like a hard drive, CD, DVD or flash
drive. A personal computer or pc is a microprocessor based computing device
designed to meet the needs of individuals. Computers can also be considered workstations,
where the computer is simply connected to a network or the computer is a
powerful desktop computer utilized to perform complex or powerful tasks.
Popular video game devices, like the Xbox 360, Wii, or PS3 are not considered
pc’s simply because of their history of being game devices.
A computer can be a server simply because it is designed
to serve other computers on a network. Clients are what computers use to
request data from. Bigger computers exist in the world today. These are called
Mainframe computers, which are large expensive computers with lots of
processing power. Whereas a super
computer, would be some of the fastest computers built.
Handheld devices, such as iPhones, iPods, GPS,
Blackberry, Kindles ,etc. have computer characteristics just as much as video
game consoles have them. Some of the first handheld devices were called PDS’s
or personal digital assistants, which basically were appointment books. With
many handheld devices, apps are used. Apps or applications can be anything and
everything from games to news, really anything you need.
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