Hardware vs.
Software
Hardware
The computer equipment
Includes printers, monitors, disk drives, etc.
Software
Programs which tell the computer what to do
Examples - word processing, gradebook, tutorials,
games, etc.
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History of Computers
Charles Babbage - father of computer
1800’s planned analytical engine
ENIAC - developed at end of WW II
1951 - 1963 1st and 2nd generation
very large, used unreliable vacuum tubes
1963 - present - 3rd and 4th generation
smaller, faster - use transistors and integrated circuits
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History - Microcomputers
Apple
First sold in late 1970’s
Developed by Jobs and Wozniak
IBM Personal Computers
First sold in 1981
Was quickly accepted by businesses
IBM compatibles soon developed
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Computer - Social Impact
Threat to privacy
Reduce personal interactions
Displace workers and change workplace
Create two tiered society
Computer failures cause great damage
Artificial Intelligence
Create a “new life form”
Machines smarter than their creators
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Types of Computers – Personal 6
Computers (PC)
Also called
Microcomputers
Available in desktop size,
notebook size and
handheld
Can be IBM, IBM
Compatible or Apple
Types of Computers -
Minicomputers
Size of filing cabinet
Used by small and medium size companies and
institutions
Operated by computer specialist
Terminals allow many people to use
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Types of Computers - Mainframes
Very powerful
Very fast
Used by large corporations and governmental
agencies
Operated by computer specialist
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Types of Computers-
Supercomputers
Most powerful
Fastest
Most expensive
Several million dollars each
Used only by
Governmental agencies
Large international corporations
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Input Processing Output
External Storage
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Input Devices - Keyboard
Most commonly used input device
Ergonomic - fit natural hand placement
Special keys
Enter, Function, Ctrl, Alt, Num Lock, Esc
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Input Devices - Mouse
Controls cursor on
screen
May be mechanical
or optical
Most models have a
“wheel” for scrolling
Input Devices - Other
Pointers (replaces mouse on notepads)
Track point, track ball, touch pad
Scanner
Digital camera
Touch screen
Voice
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Output Devices
Monitor
Printer
Disk Drive
Can also be input device
Modem
Can also be input device
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Monitors
Made up of tiny
elements called
pixels
Each row of pixels is
called a scan line
Picture is displayed
by an electronic beam
lighting up certain
pixels
Monitors - Resolution
Resolution is how sharp and clear the picture is
How many scan lines on the screen
640 x 480 is low resolution
1600 x 1200 is high resolution
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Monitors - Dot Pitch
Measures the distance between pixels
Commonly seen on monitors advertised
.49 (not very good)
.28 (much better)
.26 or lower (excellent)
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Monitors - Sizes
Screen measured diagonally
May also measure actual viewing area
14” or 15” on bargain systems
17” has become the standard
19 and 21” available but are more expensive.
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Monitors - LCD
Liquid Crystal Display
Similar to digital watch
Used for notebook computers
Should be an Active Matrix Screen
Also used in flat screen monitors
Much thinner than regular CRT monitor
More expensive than regular CRT monitor
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Monitors - Video Card
Processes info to send to monitor
Amount of video memory may speed up graphic
intensive programs
32 megs –general purpose
128 or more megs – graphic intensive use
AGP port can speed up graphics
3D accelerator card improves graphics
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Monitor - Buying Hints
17” or larger
.28 dot pitch or better
32 or more megs of memory on
video card
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Printers
Laser
Ink Jet
Dot Matrix
Printers - Laser
Works similar to a copy machine
Color printers available but more expensive
Fast, quite, with excellent quality
More expensive to buy and operate
Some units scan, photocopy, and print
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Printers - Ink Jet
Squirts small jet of ink onto paper to form characters
Replaced dot matrix
Quiet
Does good job on color
Good quality and reliability
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Printers - Dot Matrix
Strikes pins against ribbon to print
Comes in 9 and 24 pin
Once very popular
Now replaced by ink jet and laser
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Printers - Speed
Measured in pages per minute (PPM)
Laser printers range from 20-45 ppm
Color printing is slower
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Printers - Quality of Print
One measure is dots per inch (DPI)
300 dpi for general purpose uses
600 dpi for higher quality
1200 dpi for photo quality
May have different vertical and horizontal resolution
600 x 300
Other factors can affect quality
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Central Internal
Data
Processing Memory
Bus
Unit
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How Information Is Stored
Memory consist of switches which can be either on or
off - Off=0 On=1
Each on/off switch is called a bit
Eight bits make up a byte
It takes one byte to store a character
Character can be letter, space, punctuation, etc.
ASCII code used
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Other Memory Terms
Byte is eight bits
Kilobyte (KB) is approx. 1,000 bytes
Megabyte (MB) is approx. 1million bytes
Gigabyte (GB) is approx. 1 billion bytes
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Central Processing Unit
Also called CPU, processor or microprocessor
Is the “brains” of the computer
Performs all computer operations
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CPU - IBM COMPATIBLES
Many made by company called Intel
Also made by AMD
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Pentium class processors
Needed to run most current software
Intel – Celeron or Pentium IV
AMD
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CPU - Clock Speed
Number of “cycles” per second computer can operate
Measured in megahertz (MHz)
One MHz = 1 million cycles per second
One gigahertz(GHz)=1 billion cycles
Current speeds 2-4 GHz
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CPU - Misc.
Performance also affected by speed of data bus
400-800 MHz on most current systems
Cache can increase speed
Stores data you will likely need next in an area that has
faster access
Both memory cache and disk cache used
Should be 512 K or better
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CPU - Buying Hints
Minimum of Pentium IV or AMD Athlon
Minimum of 2 GHz clock speed
Minimum of 512K of cache
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Internal Memory - RAM
RAM - Random Access Memory
CPU can access any location as quickly as any other
Can not only read current info but also write new
info
Very important in determining capabilities of the
computer system
Computer should have at least 256 megs - 512
preferred (can add to later)
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Internal Memory - ROM
ROM - Read Only Memory
Can read info Stored in ROM
Can not write new info into ROM
Used for “internal workings” of computer
Buyer is not very concerned with ROM
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Floppy Drives
Comes in 5 1/4” and 3 1/2”
All systems now only have 3 1/2”
HD - High density - comes on all current systems
3 1/2” - 1.44 megs
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Hard Drives
Built into machine
Made up of stack of platters
Can store much more than floppy
drives
40 gigabytes should be minimum
Can access info much faster than
floppy drive
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CD ROM
Same as music CDs
Are read only
Can store over 650 megs
All programs now only sold on CD
Make multimedia possible
Come in different speeds - 20x, - 50x
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DVD-ROM
Digital Video Disk
Can store up to 17 GB
Can store full-length movies
Can also read CD-ROM disk
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CD-RW & DVD-RW DRIVES
Allows you to write to disk
Useful for
Data backup
Storage of large files
Recording music and other multimedia files
DVD-RW
Allows you to write to both CD and DVD disk
Still somewhat expensive
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Storage Devices - Other
USB drive
Very popular – 64-512 MB
Tape drive
Similar to cassette tape
Used for backup
Zip drive
100 MB to 2 GB capacity
Everyday use and backup
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Drives - Buying Advice
40 gigabyte hard drive
One 3 1/2” high density floppy drive
CD-RW drive
DVD not yet essential but useful
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Expansion Slots
Allows you to add capabilities
Example of cards you can add
Network card
Modem
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Ports
Connects computer to another
device
Parallel port
Used primarily by printers
Serial ports
Modem, mouse, etc.
SCSI - chain devices
USB –may be needed for
Digital Cameras
Mp3 players
Other devices
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Networks
Connects computers
LAN - Local Area
WAN - Wide Area
Wireless
Allows sharing of
programs, files,
printers, etc.
Server is “main”
computer
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Modems - General
Allows 2 computers to
communicate over
phone lines
Can be internal or
external
Can also have fax
capabilities
Modems
Bits per second(bps) indicates speed
Old modems - 9,600, 14,400, 28,800, 33,600
56,000 (56K) has becoming standard
Ways of connecting to the Internet
Dial-up modem – used in most homes
Cable modem – uses TV cable lines
DSL – modified phone line
T1 line – used by schools, businesses, etc.
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Buying Hints Summary - Min
Hardware Requirements
2 GHz Pentium IV Class Processor
256 megabytes of RAM
17”, .28 dot pitch monitor with 32 meg card
40 gigabyte hard drive
CD-RW
56k modem
Ink jet or laser printer
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Buying Hints - Software Bundles
Many systems come with software included
Productivity
Microsoft Works
Microsoft Office, Lotus SmartSuite, etc
Quicken, Money, or other financial software
Reference
Microsoft Encarta or Compton’s encyclopedia
Games
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Buying Hints - Service and
Warranty
Toll-free 24 hr 7 day support (800 #)
1 year warranty on parts and labor
Optional extended warranty
30 day return policy
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Buying Hints - Web Sites
On-line computer stores
C-Net Hardware – reviews and prices from many
vendors
Dell - http://www.dell.com/
Gateway - http://www.gateway.com/
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Programs
Set of instructions to the computer
Programming languages
Machine language
Assembly language
Procedural languages
Basic, Fortran, Cobol
Object oriented languages
Visual Basic, C++, C#, Java
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Systems Software
Run fundamental operations
Loading and running programs
Saving and retrieving data
Communicating with printers, modems, etc.
Examples of systems software
DOS
Windows 3.1, 95, 98, Me, 2000, and XP
Unix
Linux
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Applications Software
Helps you to accomplish a certain task
Examples
Word processing - memos, reports, etc.
Spreadsheets - budgets, etc.
Database - search, sort, select data
Educational - simulations, practice
Graphics - charts, diagrams
Desktop publishing - pamphlets, etc.
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Software - Legal Issues
Commercial software
Can only make backup copies for yourself
Can only use on one machine at a time
Site license - use on more that one machine
Shareware
Can use - make copies and give to anyone
Should pay if you continue to use
Freeware – can copy and use indefinitely
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Software Viruses
Illegal code added to a program
May spread to many computers
Copy files from one computer to another
Download files by modem
E-mail attachments
Virus may be relatively harmless
Writes “You’ve been stoned” on screen
Virus may also be very damaging
Erases everything on hard drive
Virus may activate on a certain date
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Virus Protection
Be careful where you copy files from
Do not open e-mail attachments unless you are sure
that it is safe
Use virus protection program
Detects and removes illegal code
Should be updated often
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End of Slide Show
