CHAPTER 1:

AN OVERVIEW OF
INFORMATION AND
COMMUNICATIONS
TECHNOLOGY
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY

- all devices, networking components, applications and

systems that combined allow people and organizations
to interact in the digital world.

 Communication- people are in touch with the help of ICT

 Job Opportunities- ICT enables organizations to operate more efficiently, so
employing staff with ICT skills is vital to the smooth running of any business
 Education- Schools use a diverse set of ICT tools to communicate, create, dis-
seminate, store, and manage information.
 Socializing- social networking and collaborative services have grown rapidly
enabling
people to communicate and share interest in many more ways.
IMPACT OF ICT IN THE SOCIETY

Positive impacts of Information and Communication

Technology
• Access to information: Increase in access to information and services
that has accompanied the growth of the Internet.
• Improved access to education: e.g. distance learning and online tuto-
rials. New ways of learning, e.g. interactive multi-media and virtual real-
ity.
• New tools, new opportunities: ICT gives access to new tools that did
not
previously exist:
• Communication: Cost savings by using e.g. VoIP instead of normal
telephone, email / messaging instead of post, video conferencing instead
of traveling to
meetings, e-commerce web sites instead of sales catalogues.
• Information management: Data mining of customer information to
produce
IMPACT OF ICT IN THE SOCIETY

Positive impacts of Information and Communication

Technology
• Security: ICT solves or reduces some security problems, e.g. Encryption
methods can keep data safe from unauthorized people, both while it is be-
ing stored or
while it is being sent electronically.
• ICT allows people to participate in a wider, even worldwide, society.
• Distance learning: students can access teaching materials from all over
the world.
• ICT facilitates the ability to perform ‘impossible’ experiments’ by using
simulations
• Creation of new more interesting jobs. Examples would be systems
analysts
programmers and software engineers, as well as help desk operators and
IMPACT OF ICT IN THE SOCIETY

Negative impacts of Information and Communication

Technology
× Job loss: Manual operations being replaced by automation. e.g. robots re-
placing people on an assembly line.
× Reduced personal interaction
× Reduced physical activity
× Cost
× Competition
Technology Uses

Educators and teaching institutions use technol-

Education ogy to assist with education. Most equip labs and
classrooms with laptops or desktops.

A learning management system,

which is software that contains
tools for class preparation, distribu-
tion, and
management.
Government Most government offices have websites to pro-
vide
citizens
Employeeswithofup-to-date
governmentinformation
agencies use com-
puters as part of their daily routine.

Finance

Many people and companies use on-

line banking or finance software to
pay bills, track personal income and
expenses,
Retail
You can purchase just about any product or
service on the web, including groceries,
flowers,
books, computers and mobile devices, mu-
sic,
movies, airline tickets, and concert tickets.
Entertainme
nt You can use computers and mobile devices
to listen to audio clips or live audio; watch
video clips, television shows, or live per-
formances
and events; read a book, magazine, or
newspaper; and play a myriad of games
individually or with others
Health Care
Hospitals and doctors use computers and
mobile devices to maintain and access pa-
tient
records.
Computers and mobile devices monitor
patients’ vital signs in hospital rooms and
at
home; patients use computers to manage
health conditions, such as diabetes
Science All branches of science, from biology to astronomy to
meteorology, use computers to assist them with
collecting, analyzing, and modeling data.

Whether traveling by car or plane, your goal is

to
Travel arrive safely at your destination. As you make
the
journey, you may interact with a navigation
system or GPS, which uses satellite signals to
determine a geographic location.
Publishing Many publishers of books, magazines, news-
papers, music, film and video make their
works available
online.
A podcast is recorded media that users can
download or stream to a computer or portable
media player.
A blog is an informal website consisting of time-
stamped articles (posts) in a diary or journal format,
usually listed in reverse chronological order. Posts
can contain text,
photos, links and more.

A wiki is a collaborative website that allows

users to create, add to, modify, or delete the
content
via their browser.
Manufacturing
Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) refers to the use of
computers to assist with manufacturing processes, such
as
fabrication and assembly. Industries use CAM to reduce
product development costs, shorten a product’s time to
market, and stay ahead of the competition. Often, robots
carry out processes in a CAM environment.
A. Computer

A computer is an elec-
tronic
device that manipulates
information, or data. It
has the ability to store,
retrieve, and process
data.
What does it do

Receives data and

instructions during the Applying instructions to
INPUT stage of the data takes place during
information cycle. the PROCESSING
stage.

can save information in a to which it is followed

temporary holding place by the expected result
called the memory. Sav- of the user in the
ing OUTPUT stage.
information on a com-
puter
occurs during the
STORAGE phase
 HARDWARE vs. SOFTWARE

Hardware is any part of your computer that

has a physical structure, such as the key-
board or mouse. It also includes all of the
computer's internal parts

Software is any set of instructions that tells the

hardware
what to do and how to do it. Examples of software
include web browsers, games, and word processors.
 PARTS OF A COMPUTER

A computer monitor is an output de-

vice
that displays information in pictorial
or
textual form.

A computer mouse is a hand-held

pointing device that detects two-dimen-
sional motion relative to a surface.
 A computer keyboard is a peripheral input
device modeled after the typewriter key-
board which uses an arrangement of but-
tons or keys to act as mechanical levers
or electronic
switches.

A computer speaker is a piece of hard-

ware
attached to a computer system used to
produce sound.
printer, also called computer printer, elec-
tronic
device that accepts text files or images
from a
computer and transfers them to a
medium
such as paper or film.
A system unit is the part of a com-
puter that houses the primary de-
vices that
perform operations and produce re-
sults for complex calculations.
Different Types of Computers
Desktop Computers

• stationary location, more precisely, placed on a desk,

where all of its components fit on or under a desk or
table.
• computer case, monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

Laptops
• battery-powered computers that are more portable than
desktops
• Designed to fit on your lap and for easy transport,
• Most laptops can operate on batteries or a power supply or
both.
Tablets

• handheld computers that are even more portable than

laptops.
• touch-sensitive screen for typing and navigation.
The iPad is an example of a tablet.

Mobile and Game Devices

• is a computing device small enough to hold in your

hand.
• Popular types of mobile devices are smartphones, digi-
tal cameras, portable and digital media players, e-book
readers, and wearable devices.
 Technology Users

A home user is any person who

A mobile user includes any person
spends time using technology at
who works with computers or mobile
home. Parents, children, singles, devices while away from a main of-
couples, teenagers, fice, home, or school.
grandparents, etc., are all examples
of
home users.

A power user is a user who requires the

capabilities of a powerful computer.
B. History
of Com-
puters
Earliest Computer
Tally Stick
ancient memory aid device to record and
document numbers or messages.
Fingers- counted by fin-
gers

• One of the earliest and most well-known devices

was an abacus.
• 3000 years ago.
• Beads represent digits, rods represent places and
units, tens, hundreds, and higher multiples of
ten.
• Invented in Babylonia in 2400 B.C
Earliest Com-
puter
Napier’s
Bone • John Napier in 1614.
• Allowed the operator to multiply, divide and cal-
culate square and cube roots by moving the rods
around
and placing them in specially constructed boards.

Slide Rule
• William Oughtred in 1622.
• Based on Napier's idea about logarithms.
• Used primarily for multiplication, division,
roots,
logarithm, trigonometry
• Not normally used for addition or subtraction.
Earliest Com-
puter
Pascaline
• Blaise Pascal in 1642.
• It was its limitation to addition and
subtraction.
• It is too expensive

Stepped Reckoner
• Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in 1672.
• The machine that can add, sub-
tract,
multiply and divide automatically
Earliest Com-
puter
Jacquard Loom
• Jacquard Loom is a mechanical loom, in-
vented by Joseph-Marie Jacquard in 1881.
• It’s an automatic loom controlled by
punched cards

Arithmometer
• Thomas de Colmar in 1820.
• first reliable, useful and commercially successful calcu-
lating
• machine.
• The machine could perform the four basic mathematic
• functions.
• The first mass-produced calculating machine.
Earliest Com-
puter
Difference Engine and Analytical Engine
• automatic, mechanical calculator designed
to
tabulate polynomial functions.
• Invented by Charles Babbage in 1822 and
1834
• It is the first mechanical computer

First Computer Programmer

In 1840, Augusta Ada Byron suggests
to Babbage that he use the binary
system.
She writes programs for the Analyti-
cal
Earliest Com-
puter
Scheutzian Calculation Engine
• Invented by Per Georg Scheutz in 1843.
• Based on Charles Babbage's difference
engine.

Tabulating Machine
• Invented by Herman Hollerith in
1890.
• To assist in summarizing informa-
tion
and accounting.
Earliest Com-
puter
Harvard Mark 1
• Also known as IBM Automatic Se-
quence
Controlled Calculator (ASCC).
• Invented by Howard H. Aiken in
1943
• The first electro-mechanical
Z1com-
puter. • The first programmable computer.
• Created by Konrad Zuse in Germany
from
1936 to 1938.
• To program the Z1 required that the
user
insert punch tape into a punch tape
reader
Earliest Com-
puter
Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC)
• It was the first electronic digital
computing
device.
• Invented by Professor John Atana-
soff and
graduate student Clifford BerryENIACat
Iowa • ENIAC stands for Electronic Numeri-
State University between 1939cal and
1942. Integrator and Computer.
• It was the first electronic general-
purpose
computer.
• Completed in 1946.
Earliest Com-
puter
The UNIVAC I (UNIVersal Automatic
Computer It was the first commercial
computer.
• Designed by John Presper Eckert
and
John Mauchly

EDVAC
• EDVAC stands for Electronic Discrete
Variable Automatic Computer
• The First Stored Program Computer
• Designed by Von Neumann in 1952.
• It has a memory to hold both a stored
program as well as data.
Earliest Com-
puter

The First Portable Computer

• Osborne 1 – the first portable com-
puter
• Released in 1981 by the Osborne
Computer Corporation.
 Generations of Com-
puter
First generation – 1946 to 1958 The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and
magnetic
drums for memory, and were often enormous, taking up entire rooms

Second generation – 1959 to 1964 Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and ushered in the
second
generation of computers. One transistor replaced the equivalent of 40 vacuum tubes

Third generation – 1965 to 1970 The development of the integrated circuit was the hall-
mark of the
third generation of computers. Transistors were miniaturized and placed on silicon chips,
called
semiconductors, which drastically increased the speed and efficiency of computers.

Fourth generation – 1971 to today. The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of
computers, as thousands of integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip. As these
small computers became more powerful, they could be linked together to form networks,
which eventually led to the
development of the Internet
Earliest Com-
puter
Basic Computing Periods - Ages
a. Pre-mechanical

- earliest age of information technology.

- It can be defined as the time between 3000B.C. and 1450A.D.
- When humans first started communicating they would
try to use language or simple picture drawings known as
petroglyphs which were usually carved in rock.
Early alphabets were developed such as the Phoenician
alphabet.
Earliest Com-
puter
Basic Computing Periods - Ages
b. Mechanical

- is when we first start to see connections between our current technology and
its
ancestors.
- time between 1450 and 1840.
- A lot of new technologies are developed in this era as there is a large explo-
sion in interest with this area.
- Technologies like the slide rule (an analog computer used for multiplying and
dividing were invented.
- Blaise Pascal invented the Pascaline which was a very popular mechanical
computer and performs basic arithmetic operations
- Charles Babbage developed the difference engine which tabulated polyno-
mial
equations using the method of finite differences
Earliest Com-
puter
Basic Computing Periods - Ages

c. Electromechanical

- finally getting close to some technologies that resemble our modern-day

technology.
- time between 1840 and 1940. These are the beginnings of telecommuni-
cation.
- The telegraph was created in the early 1800s. Morse code was created by
Samuel Morse in 1835.
- The telephone (one of the most popular forms of communication ever)
was
created by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876.
- The first radio developed by Guglielmo Marconi in 1894.
- extremely crucial emerging technologies that led to big advances in the
information technology field
Technology Users

A home user is any person who

A mobile user includes any person
spends time using technology at
who works with computers or mobile
home. Parents, children, singles, devices while away from a main of-
couples, fice, home, or school.
teenagers, grandparents, etc.,
are all examples of home users.

A power user is a user who requires the

capabilities of a powerful computer.
Assignment

Select one topic under TECHNOLOGY USES and write a short paragraph answer-
ing this
question: “How does _________ depend on computers?”. You may give
samples/evidence to support your ideas and answer.