| Part One: What is a computer? |
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| Work - Computer Primer | |
| Written by mbrock | |
| Tuesday, 20 May 2008 22:07 | |
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This is a computer primer so let's start with the most simple definition of a computer: A computer is a machine that can store, process, and retrieve data. This is what a computer is. But what do computers do? There are two things that a computer can do. The first thing a computer can do is perform calculations with data. The second thing a computer can do is to make decisions based on data. That's it. Computers are machines that manipulate data and do exactly what they are told to do.
The above definition encompasses a lot of devices that could be considered computers - such as your microwave oven, a cable or satellite TV box, the electronics in your car, or even a person doing math on a piece of paper. For the purposes of this primer, we will consider a computer to be a personal computer or "PC" for short - like the desktop or laptop PC you may use at home or at work or at the library. So now that we have a definition of a PC, we can start to learn more about it. Although PC's are amazingly complicated machines, they primarily consist of three things - input devices, processing units, and output devices. These devices together allow for the input of data, data manipulation, and the ability to view the manipulated data. What are input devices? Input devices allow for the input of data. Input devices include keyboards, mice, scanners, cameras, modems, CD's, network connections, etc. - or anything that allows you to get data into the computer. An example of inputting something into the computer is, when you send someone an email, you need a way to let the computer know that you want to open your email program. So you click on the email program's icon with your mouse. The computer responds to your input by running the program. What is the processing unit? PC's have a Central Processing Unit, or CPU, that manipulates your data. On most PC's the CPU is manufactured by Intel, AMD, or IBM. The CPU is the workhorse of the computer. It does the number crunching. The CPU is housed in the "box" part of most computers. Most newer computers also have a Graphics Processing Unit, or GPU. The GPU does the work of displaying data to the computer screen. Without a GPU, the CPU has to do all of it's calculations plus the work needed to output the data to the screen. Since most programs these days are graphics intensive, GPU's have been added to take a lot of the load off of the CPU. What are output devices? Output devices are devices that allow manipulated data to be communicated. Output devices include computer monitors, printers, speakers, CD's, etc. So for our purposes, a computer is a Personal Computer (PC). The PC can store, process, and retrieve data. And it does this with input devices (keyboard, mouse), a processing unit (Intel Inside), and output devices (monitor, printer).
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