What is Computer?

Computer is an electronic device that is designed to work with Information. The

term computer is derived from the Latin term ‘computare’, this means
to calculate or programmable machine. Computer cannot do anything without a
Program. It represents the decimal numbers through a string of binary digits. The Word
'Computer' usually refers to the Center Processor Unit plus Internal memory.

Charles Babbage is called the "Grand Father" of the computer. The First mechanical
computer designed by Charles Babbage was called Analytical Engine. It uses read-only
memory in the form of punch cards.

Computer is an advanced electronic device that takes raw data as input from the user and
processes these data under the control of set of instructions (called program) and gives the
result (output) and saves output for the future use. It can process both numerical and non-
numerical (arithmetic and logical) calculations.

Uses of Computer
 Education: Getting the right kind of information is a major challenge as is getting
information to make sense. College students spend an average of 5-6 hours a week
on the internet. Research shows that computers can significantly enhance
performance in learning. Students exposed to the internet say they think the web has
helped them improve the quality of their academic research and of their written
work. One revolution in education is the advent of distance learning. This offers a
variety of internet and video-based online courses.
 Health and Medicine: Computer technology is radically changing the tools of
medicine. All medical information can now be digitized. Software is now able
to computer the risk of a disease. Mental health researchers are using computers to
screen troubled teenagers in need of psychotherapy. A patient paralyzed by a stroke
has received an implant that allows communication between his brain and a
computer; as a result, he can move a cursor across a screen by brainpower and
convey simple messages.
 Science: Scientists have long been users of it. A new adventure among scientists is
the idea of a “collaboratory”, an internet based collaborative laboratory, in which
researchers all over the world can work easily together even at a distance. An
example is space physics where space physicists are allowed to band together to
measure the earth’s ionosphere from instruments on four parts of the world.
 Business: Business clearly sees the interest as a way to enhance productivity and
competitiveness. Some areas of business that are undergoing rapid changes are
sales and marketing, retailing, banking, stock trading, etc. Sales representatives not
only need to be better educated and more knowledgeable about their customer’s
businesses, but also must be comfortable with computer technology. The internet
has become a popular marketing tool. The world of cybercash has come to banking –
not only smart cards but internet banking, electronic deposit, bill paying, online stock
and bond trading, etc.
 Recreation and Entertainment: Our entertainment and pleasure-time have also
been affected by computerization. For example:
 1. In movies, computer generated graphics give freedom to designers so that
special effects and even imaginary characters can play a part in making
movies, videos, and commercials.
2. In sports, computers compile statistics, sell tickets, create training programs
and diets for athletes, and suggest game plan strategies based on the
competitor’s past performance.
3. In restaurants, almost every one has eaten food where the clerk enters an
order by indicating choices on a rather unusual looking cash register; the
device directly enters the actual data into a computer, and calculates the cost
and then prints a receipt.
 Government: Various departments of the Government use computer for their
planning, control and law enforcement activities. To name a few – Traffic, Tourism,
Information & Broadcasting, Education, Aviation and many others.
 Defence: There are many uses computers in Defence such as:
1. Computers are used to track incoming missiles and help slew weapons
systems onto the incoming target to destroy them.
2. Computers are used in tanks and planes and ships to target enemy forces,
help run the platform and more recently to help diagnose any problems with
the platforms.
3. Computers help design and test new systems.
 Sports: In today's technologically growing society, computers are being used in
nearly every activity.
 Recording Information: Official statistics keepers and some scouts use computers
to record statistics, take notes and chat online while attending and working at a
sports event.
 Analyzing Movements: The best athletes pay close attention to detail. Computers
can slow recorded video and allow people to study their specific movements to try to
improve their tendencies and repair poor habits.
 Writers: Many sportswriters attend several sporting events a week, and they take
their computers with them to write during the game or shortly after while their
thoughts are fresh in their mind.
 Scoreboard: While some scoreboards are manually updated, most professional
sports venues have very modern scoreboards that are programmed to update
statistics and information immediately after the information is entered into the
computer.
 Safety: Computers have aided in the design of safety equipment in sports such as
football helmets to shoes to mouth guards

Characteristics about computer are:

1. Speed: - As you know computer can work very fast. It takes only few seconds for
calculations that we take hours to complete. You will be surprised to know that
computer can perform millions (1,000,000) of instructions and even more per second.

Therefore, we determine the speed of computer in terms of microsecond (10-6 part

of a second) or nanosecond (10 to the power -9 part of a second). From this you can
imagine how fast your computer performs work.
 2. Accuracy: - The degree of accuracy of computer is very high and every calculation is
performed with the same accuracy. The accuracy level is determined on the basis of
design of computer. The errors in computer are due to human and inaccurate data.
3. Diligence: - A computer is free from tiredness, lack of concentration, fatigue, etc. It
can work for hours without creating any error. If millions of calculations are to be
performed, a computer will perform every calculation with the same accuracy. Due to
this capability it overpowers human being in routine type of work.
4. Versatility: - It means the capacity to perform completely different type of work.
You may use your computer to prepare payroll slips. Next moment you may use it for
inventory management or to prepare electric bills.
5. Power of Remembering: - Computer has the power of storing any amount
of information or data. Any information can be stored and recalled as long as you
require it, for any numbers of years. It depends entirely upon you how much data you
want to store in a computer and when to lose or retrieve these data.
6. No IQ: - Computer is a dumb machine and it cannot do any work without instruction
from the user. It performs the instructions at tremendous speed and with accuracy. It
is you to decide what you want to do and in what sequence. So a computer cannot
take its own decision as you can.
7. No Feeling: - It does not have feelings or emotion, taste, knowledge and
experience. Thus it does not get tired even after long hours of work. It does not
distinguish between users.
8. Storage: - The Computer has an in-built memory where it can store a large amount
of data. You can also store data in secondary storage devices such as floppies, which
can be kept outside your computer and can be carried to other computers.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Computer

Computer has making human life faster because of its incredible speed, Accuracy and
storage, with which human can save anything and search it out easily when needed. We can
say computer a versatile machine because it is very flexible in performing their jobs. but
Computers have several important advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of computer
 Multitasking: Multitasking is one of the major advantage of computer. Person can
perform multiple task, multiple operation, calculate numerical problems within few
seconds. Computer can perform trillion of instructions per second.
  Speed: Now computer is not just a calculating device. Now a day’s computer has
very important role in human life. One of the main advantages of computer is its
incredible speed, which helps human to complete their task in few seconds. All the
operations can be performed very fast just because of its speed else wise it takes a
long time to perform the task.
 Cost/ Stores huge amount of data: It is a low cost solution. Person can save huge
data within a low budget. Centralized database of storing information is the major
advantage that can reduce cost.
 Accuracy: One of the root advantage of computer is that can perform not only
calculations but also with accuracy.
 Data Security: Protecting digital data is known as data security. Computer provide
security from destructive forces and from unwanted action from unauthorized users
like cyberattack or access attack.

Disadvantage of Computer
As we know advantage comes with disadvantage.
 Virus and hacking attacks: Virus is a worm and hacking is simply an unauthorized
access over computer for some illicit purpose. Virus is being transferred from email
attachment, viewing an infected website advertisement, through removable device
like USB etc. once virus is transferred in host computer it can infect file, overwrite the
file etc.

For example: Huge portion of internet was going down including Twitter, Netflix,
Reddit and CNN in October 2016 because the largest DDoS attack was launched on
service provider DYN using IoT Botnet.
 Online Cyber Crimes: Online cyber-crime means computer and network may have
used in order to commit crime. Cyberstalking and Identity theft are the points which
come under online cyber-crimes. For example: one may get the access of the access
to your shopping account like amazon account now that person will be able to know
your personal details like debit card or credit card number which can be than
misused.

 Reduction in employment opportunity: Mainly past generation was not used of

the computer or they have the knowledge of computer they faced a big problem
when computer came in field. As we have seen in banking sector senior bank
employees faced this problem when computer came to the banking sector.

Above were the main disadvantages of computer, no IQ, Dependency, No feeling, Break
down are the basic disadvantages of computer.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The computer system is nothing without the Central processing Unit so, it is also known as
the brain or heat of computer. The CPU is an electronic hardware device which can perform
different types of operations such as arithmetic and logical operation.
The CPU contains two parts: the arithmetic logic unit and control unit. We have discussed
briefly the arithmetic unit, logical unit, and control unit which are given below:
 Control Unit: The control unit (CU) controls all the activities or operations which are
performed inside the computer system. It receives instructions or information directly
from the main memory of the computer.

When the control unit receives an instruction set or information, it converts the
instruction set to control signals then; these signals are sent to the central processor
for further processing. The control unit understands which operation to execute,
accurately, and in which order.
 Arithmetic and Logical Unit: The arithmetic and logical unit is the combinational
digital electronic circuit that can perform arithmetic operations on integer binary
numbers. It presents the arithmetic and logical operation. The outputs of ALU will
change asynchronously in response to the input. The basic arithmetic and bitwise
logic functions are supported by ALU.
 Storage Unit: The information or set of guidelines are stored in the storage unit of
the computer system. The storage unit provides the space to store the data or
instruction of processed data. The information or data is saved or hold in computer
memory or storage device. The data storage is the core function and fundamental of
the computer components.

INPUT and OUTPUT DEVICES

INPUT DEVICES
The devices which are used to give data and instructions to the computer are called Input
Devices. Various types of input devices can be used with the computer depending upon the
type of data you want to enter in the computer, e.g., keyboard, mouse, joystick, scanner,
touch screen, microphone, trackball, web cam, light pen, etc.

Keyboard
It is the most commonly used input device. It is used to enter
data and instructions directly into the computer. There are 104
buttons on the keyboard which are called keys.

Mouse
Mouse is another input device which is commonly found connected with the computers. It is
basically a pointing device which works on the principle of Point and Click. When the mouse
is moved on the mouse pad, a light beam underneath reflect to give motion to the pointer
on the screen.
The mouse is used in windows based programs, where the user can run the commands by
pointing the objects with the help of pointer and clicking the buttons on the mouse. We also
use mouse for drawing in paint and kid pix.

Most of the latest mouses, these days, include a wheel in the middle of two buttons that
help us to scroll through documents more easily. We use our forefinger to move the wheel to
scroll up or down in a document. Optical mouse uses red light to track the movement of
mouse for moving the pointer on the computer screen. This type of mouse is more accurate
and reliable than the traditional mouse.

Nowadays cordless mouse is very popular. It does not have wires. It either uses Bluetooth
technology to sends the data through the air to a receiver, usually plugged in USB port of
the computer.

Joystick and Game-pad

Joystick and game-pad are also input devices which
are also input devices which are used to control the
movement of object on the screen. Just like mouse,
these are also pointing devices. Mostly they are
used for playing games on the computer.

The joystick has a vertical stick with a track ball at

its bottom. While playing the games on the
computer, the user needs to move the objects
quickly on the screen. With the movement of this vertical stick the objects can be moved in
all the directions easily.

A game-pad is a type of game controller held in two hands, where the fingers (especially
thumbs) are used to provide input by pressing buttons on it. It is also known as Control Pad.

Scanner
We can store pictures, photographs, diagrams into the computer with
the help of scanner. The scanner reads the image and saves it in the
computer as a file.

Touchscreen
Touchscreen is a special computer screen that takes the input by
sensing the touch of a human finger, gloved hand, stylus, pen or
any other pointing device. The user gives instructions to the
computer just by touching the screen.
Microphone
This is an input device which is used to record sound or voice into the
computer system. You can store voice data in the computer by
speaking in front of this device.

Trackball
A trackball is similar to a mouse but is mounted in a fixed
position. The user spins the ball with fingers to move the pointer
on the screen.

A Trackball technology was used in earlier laptop computer which

is now replaced with track-pad.

Webcam
A webcam is a camera that connects to a computer. It
captures either still pictures or motion video, and with the aid
of software, can transmit its video on the Internet in real-time.
The picture is of a Logitech Webcam C270, an example of a
webcam.

Today, most webcams are either embedded into the display

with laptop computers or connected to the USB or FireWire port on the computer.

OUTPUT DEVICES
The devices which are used to display the results or information are called Output Devices.
You can view the output on the monitor or you can print it on a paper using a printer.
Monitor and the printer are the commonly used output devices.

Following are some of the important output devices used in a computer.

1. Monitor
2. Printer
3. Projector
4. Plotter
5. Speaker
6. HeadPhones

1. Monitor
This is the most common output device connected with the computer to display the
processed information. It looks like a TV and is also known as VDU (Visual Display
Unit). Pictures are displayed by using a large number of very small dots on screen called
pixels. The number of pixels that a monitor can show on its screen is referred to as the
resolution of the screen.

The types of monitors are given below.

i) CRT Monitor
The CRT display is made up of small picture elements called pixels.
The smaller the pixels, the better the image clarity or resolution. It
takes more than one illuminated pixel to form a whole character,
such as the letter ‘e’ in the word help.

A finite number of characters can be displayed on a screen at

once. The screen can be divided into a series of character boxes -
fixed location on the screen where a standard character can be
placed. Most screens are capable of displaying 80 characters of data horizontally and 25
lines vertically.
There are some disadvantages of CRT −
 Large in Size
 High power consumption

ii) LCD Monitor

The LCD monitor is a flat panel screen that is compact and
light-weight as compared to CRT monitors. It is based on
liquid crystal display technology which is used in the screens
of laptops, tablets, smart phones, etc. An LCD screen
comprises two layers of polarized glass with a liquid crystal
solution between them. When the light passes through the
first layer, an electric current aligns the liquids crystals. The
aligned liquid crystals allow a varying level of light to pass
through the second layer to create images on the screen.

The LCD screen has a matrix of pixels that display the image on the screen. Old LCDs had
passive-matrix screens in which individual pixels are controlled by sending a charge. A few
electrical charges could be sent each second that made screens appear blurry when the
images moved quickly on the screen.

Modern LCDs use active-matrix technology and contain thin film transistors (TFTs) with
capacitors. This technology allows pixels to retain their charge. So, they don’t make screen
blurry when images move fast on the screen as well as are more efficient than passive-
matrix displays.

iii) LED monitor

The LED monitor is an improved version of an LCD
monitor. It also has a flat panel display and uses liquid
crystal display technology like the LCD monitors. The
difference between them lies in the source of light to
backlight the display. The LED monitor has many LED
panels, and each panel has several LEDs to backlight the
display, whereas the LCD monitors use cold cathode
fluorescent light to backlight the display .Modern
electronic devices such as mobile phones, LED TVs,
laptop and computer screens, etc., use a LED display as
it not only produces more brilliance and greater light intensity but also consumes less
power.

iv) Plasma Monitor

It is also a flat panel display but it is based on plasma
display technology. In a plasma monitor, a small cell is
present in between two glass surfaces and these cells
contain a solution of noble gases and mercury. So when
the electricity supply on the gas present in the cell
converts into plasma and produces UV light that creates
an image. It is much better than an LCD monitor. The
resolution of this monitor is also high up to 1920 x 1920.
It has a good contrast ratio, high refresh rate, etc.

2. PRINTERS
Printer is an output device, which is used to print information on paper.
There are two types of printers −
 Impact Printers
 Non-Impact Printers

Impact Printers
In impact printers, characters are printed on the ribbon, which is then smashed on the
paper. Or we can say that such type of printer uses a print head or hammer to print the
data on the paper. Here to print the paper the hammer or print head strikes an ink ribbon
against the paper and the character starts printing. Some of the types of impact printers
are:
1. Dot matrix printer
2. Daisy wheel printer
3. Line printer
4. Chain printer

Characteristics of Impact Printers

 Extremely low consumable costs.
 Fairly noisy
 It’s perfect for large-scale printing because of its inexpensive cost.
 Physical contact with the paper is required to form an image.

1. Dot Matrix Printer

In the market, one of the most popular printers is Dot Matrix
Printer. These printers are popular because of their ease of
printing and economical price. Each character printed is in
the form of pattern of dots and head consists of a Matrix of
Pins of size (5*7, 7*9, 9*7 or 9*9) which come out to form a
character which is why it is called Dot Matrix Printer.
Advantages
 Inexpensive
 Widely Used
 Other language characters can be printed
Disadvantages
 Slow Speed
  Poor Quality

2. Daisy Wheel
Head is lying on a wheel and pins corresponding to
characters are like petals of Daisy (flower) which is why it
is called Daisy Wheel Printer. These printers are
generally used for word-processing in offices that require
a few letters to be sent here and there with very nice quality.
Advantages
 More reliable than DMP
 Better quality
 Fonts of character can be easily changed
Disadvantages
 Slower than DMP
 Noisy
 More expensive than DMP

3. Line Printers
Line printers are the printers which print one line at a time.

These are of two types −

 Drum Printer
 Chain Printer

4. Drum Printer
This printer is like a drum in shape hence it is
called drum printer. The surface of the drum is
divided into a number of tracks. Total tracks are
equal to the size of the paper, i.e. for a paper
width of 132 characters, drum will have 132
tracks. A character set is embossed on the track.
Different character sets available in the market
are 48 character set, 64 and 96 characters set.
One rotation of drum prints one line. Drum printers
are fast in speed and can print 300 to 2000 lines per minute.
Advantages
 Very high speed
Disadvantages
 Very expensive
 Characters fonts cannot be changed

5. Chain Printer
In this printer, a chain of character sets is used,
hence it is called Chain Printer. A standard character
set may have 48, 64, or 96 characters.
Advantages
 Character fonts can easily be changed.
  Different languages can be used with the same printer.
Disadvantages
 Noisy

Non-impact Printers
Non-impact printers print the characters without using the ribbon. These printers print a
complete page at a time, thus they are also called as Page Printers.
These printers are of two types −
1. Laser Printers
2. Inkjet Printers
Characteristics of Non-impact Printers
 Faster than impact printers
 They are not noisy
 High quality
 Supports many fonts and different character size

1. Laser Printers
These are non-impact page printers. They use laser
lights to produce the dots needed to form the
characters to be printed on a page.

Advantages
 Very high speed
 Very high quality output
 Good graphics quality
 Supports many fonts and different character size
Disadvantages
 Expensive
 Cannot be used to produce multiple copies of a document in a single printing

2. Inkjet Printers
Inkjet printers are non-impact character printers based on a
relatively new technology. They print characters by spraying
small drops of ink onto paper. Inkjet printers produce high quality
output with presentable features.

They make less noise because no hammering is done and these

have many styles of printing modes available. Color printing is
also possible. Some models of Inkjet printers can produce
multiple copies of printing also.
Advantages
 High quality printing
 More reliable
Disadvantages
 Expensive as the cost per page is high
 Slow as compared to laser printer
3. Projector
A projector is a device that allows users to project their output
onto a large area, such as a screen or a wall. It can be used to
project the output of a computer and other devices onto a
screen. It magnifies texts, photos, and movies using light and
lenses. As a result, it’s an excellent output device for giving
presentations or teaching big groups of people.
Characteristics of Projector:
 They are lightweight, and one person can easily take them out of the box, connect
them, and hang an image on the wall.
 Projectors can be the most cost-effective option for large-screen video in your
home.
 A small projector mounted on a back shelf or bookcase, or mounted on the ceiling,
takes up no area on the floor. It is barely visible when it is not in use.

4. Plotter
A plotter is a device that prints high-quality graphics in a variety of color formats. It works
in a similar way to a printer, although it has more advanced features. It is used to print
large maps, architectural drawings, large-format printing, and create pictures, 3D
postcards, advertising signs, charts, and various designs of the internal structure of
building machines, as well as create pictures, 3D postcards, advertising signs, charts, and
various designs of the internal structure of building machines.
Characteristics of Plotter:
 Large size prints can be taken via plotters.
 It is slow and expensive.

Plotter

5. Speakers
Speakers are connected to computers to allow sound to be output. For the working of
speakers, sound cards are required. From simple two-speaker output devices to surround-
sound multi-channel sets, speakers come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They take audio
input from the computer’s sound card and output sound waves as audio output.
Characteristics of Speakers:
 Speakers are available in a wide range of qualities and prices.
 Small, plastic computer speakers with low sound quality are often included with
computer systems.
6. Headphones
To hear the sound, use earbuds with your computer, laptop, or smartphone. It enables you
to hear the sound without causing any inconvenience to others. To translate electronic
signals into sounds without causing inconvenience to others. They can be wired or wireless
and can be connected to computers, laptops, mobile phones, etc. They are connected with
the devices via Bluetooth.

Characteristics of Headphones:
 Stereo phones and headsets are other names for them.
 Earphones or earbuds are the names for the in-ear variants.
 The term headset denotes a combination of headphones and a microphone used for
two-way communication, such as using a telephone.

Heaphone