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Laula Innasari, S.S., M.Hum
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Unit 1
Getting to know the computer
What
is a computer?
A computer is
an electronic device that manipulates
information, or "data." It has the ability to store, retrieve, and process data. You can use a
computer to type documents, send email, and browse the internet. You can also
use it to handle spreadsheets, accounting, database management, presentations,
games, and more.
The computer is no longer a
novelty today. It is something that is highly functional and useful not only to
scientists, managers, businessmen, professionals, and government officials, but
also to students like you.
The world is changing because of
the computer. The computer can do almost any routine or systematic procedure or
operation involving information, so that people can have more time to do what
they do best - think.
The term computer has many
definitions. The easiest to understand and remember is: A computer is an electronic device designed to manipulate data so that
useful information can be generated. Data may be defined as any collection
of facts. By this definition, data may refer
to both numerical and non-numerical information. Data
processing is the manipulation of data into a more useful form. It
involves the collection, processing, and distribution of facts and figures to
achieve a desired result. It may also involve the classification of data and
the transmission of data from one place to another. All the operations involved
in data processing may have been performed by some kind of a machine or a
computer, although some of them could have been carried out manually. Data processing system refers to the equipment or
devices as well as procedures by which the
result is achieved. In short, a computer is part of a data processing system.
A computer accepts information (in
the form of digitalized data) and
manipulates it for some result based on a program or sequence of instructions
on how the data is to be processed. Complex computers also include the means
for storing data (including the program, which is also a form of data) for some
necessary duration. A program may be invariable and built into the computer
(and called logic circuitry as it is on microprocessors) or different programs may be provided to the
computer (loaded into its storage and then started by an administrator or
user). Today's computers have both kinds of programming.
