Technology For Management

Introduction of computers and

brief history
Define Computer
 The term computer is derived from
word ‘compute’ which means to
calculate.
 A computer is an electronic machine,
devised for performing calcuations and
controlling operations that can be
expressed in logical or numerical terms.
Cont..
 In simple words a computer is an
electronic device that performs
mathematical and non mathematical
operations with the help of instructions
to process the information to achieve
desired results.
 Area of applications:education,
industries,govt,medicine,research,law
even music and arts
Early computers
 3000 BC – chinese abacus
 1642 AD – adding machine by pascal
 1833 – Difference engine by Charles
Babbage( father of computer)
 1896 –Hollarith’s machine(IBM now)
 1947- ENIAC(electronic numeric
integrator and calculator)
Cont..
 1949 – EDSAC(electronic delay storage
automatic calculator)
 1951 –UNIVAC(universal automatic
computer) – dedicated to business apps
First generation(1940-
1956 :vacuum tubes
 Characteristics:
 These computers used vacuum tubes for
circuitry and magnetic drums for memory.
 Inputs are based on punched cards and
paper tapes and output was given as printout.
 They rely on binary coded language(0 and 1).
 Very large and require lot of space for
installation, non portable.
 Expensive and used large amount of
electricity
First generation (Cont.)
 Since machine language is used its difficult to
program and use
 Machines are prone to frequent
failures ,hence constant maintenance was
required
 As thousands of vacuum tubes are used,they
generate large amount of heat.Therefore
airconditioning was essential.
 Second generation(1956-63)
Transistors
 Second gen used transistors instead of vacuum
tubes,which are superior to vacuum tubes
 Transistor is made of germanium and silicon.
 Generally it has three leads which perform
electrical functions such as voltage, current with
low power requirements.
 They still rely on punched cards for inputs and
printouts for outputs.
 size is reduced here as transistor is small..
Second (Cont.)
 The computation time is reduced from
microsec to millisec
 They are more reliable and less prone to
hardware failure ,hence less maintainance..
 Better portability and less heat but still
required air conditioning.
 Assembly language was used to program
computers.
 programming became more time efficient ..
 Third generation(1964-70)
Integrated circuits
 IC contains a single chip(silicon) with many components
such as transistors and resistors.
 IC’s replaced several individually wired transistors..this
made computers small in size,reliable and efficient
 Keyboards and monitors and interfaced with os..hence
many apps run at same time with central program and
memory.
 Computational time :microsec’s to millisec’s
 Devices consumed less power and less heat but still
required ac.
 Hardware failure is rare and so low maintenance
 Extensive use of high level languages possible..
 Commertial production became easier.
Fourth generation(1970-till
date) :Microprocessors
 IC one step further is Microprocessor where
all the components of computer (cpu,mem,i/o
controls) on a chip..its about 0.5 cm along
one side and 0.05 cm thick..
 This led to era of LSI and VLSI..constructed
thousands of transistors on a single chip.
 Personal computer revolution started..
 Computers are very small in size, portable,
reliable,less cost(cheapest), less maintenance
 Fourth gen (Cont.)
 GUI and pointing devices enable users to learn computers
quickly
 Interconnection of computers leads to better
communication and resource sharing
Fifth generation(2000 and
beyond):Artificial Intelligence
 They are in development stage
 Microprocessor with millions of
components on single chip.
 These are knowledgeable info
processing system.Modelled on human
intelligence and learning systems.
 Process speech,graphics,pics etc
Types of computers:
Based on purpose computers are classified as
 Analog computer

 Digital Computer

 Hybrid Computer

Based on size and performance:

Micro computer, Mini computer , Main frame
and Super computer
Cont..
 Analog computers measure physical quantities like
pressure ,temp, length etc and convert to numeric
values..eg:thermometer ,gas filling based on
quantity and price is numeric.
 Digital computers operates with numerical(num or
alphanumeric data) or info like text, sound,graphics
and video.. They process data into digital form( 0’s
and 1’s) and output also in digital form..eg.personal
computer, digital watch etc
 Hybrid is combination of analog and
digital..eg:cardiogram for heart patient
Cont..
 Micro computer: It’s a small low cost digital one,
consisting of a microprocessor, storage unit ,input
and output channels..designed as a single user
computer eg: personal computers
 Mini Computer :A multi user computer in between
micro and mainframes..less powerful than mainframe
and more powerful than micro computers.
 Mainframes: The earliest computers due to large size
are called mainframes.This is heart of network of
computers allowing hundreds of ppl to work at same
time on same data.
Cont..
 Super computers: complex scientific
applications like weather forecast require large
amount of data to be manipulated in short time.other
uses are in fluid dynamic calculations,nuclear energy
research etc..
 Eg; CRAY XMP-24,NEC -500 are super computers
Components of computer
The computer system
 A computer system essentially has three
important components.
 Central processing unit(CPU)
 Input Unit
 Output Unit
CPU
 It acts as administrative section of the
computer.
 It issues commands to all parts of the
computer system.
 It controls the operation as per
instructions flow.
 It stores data as well as instructions
and send results to output unit.
ALU(Arithmetic logic unit)
 This unit performs the arithmetic and
logical operations on stored numbers..
 Data is transferred from mem unit o
alu,processed and returned to internal
storage.Results are transferred from
internal storage to o/p devices.
Control unit
 This unit checks the correctness of the
sequence of operations. It fetches the
program instruction from primary
storage unit, interprets them and
ensures correct execution of the
program . It controls I/O devices and
directs overall functioning of other
units.
Memory Unit(primary or main
memory)
 This unit holds the intermediate results
during the course of calculations.
 It stores program instructions and data
on which processor currently works.
ones process is done final result is
transferred to output device.
 Registers are temporary storage units
for faster processing.
Primary Storage devices
 Primary or main memory
 RAM and ROM
 RAM(Random access memory,volatile)
 Ram needs to be refreshed many times
per second
 ROM(Read only memory)
 ROM is permanent
Secondary storage devices
 A storage medium that holds info until
it is deleted or overwritten.The capacity
of a computer can be increased with
secondary or external or auxiallary
memory.
 Less expensive and more flexible than
main memory.
 Magnetic disks
Cont..
 Floppy disk(max 1.4 MB)
 Hard disk(1MB to several GB)
 Flash drive(USB)
 Optical disk(CD – ROM, DVD-ROM)
Input devices
 1.Keyboard
 It has alphanumeric keys, punctuation
keys and special keys
 Enhanced keyboard has 101 keys
 2.Mouse
 Mechanical and optical mouse
 3.Scanner
Cont..
 4.Light pen
 5.Touch screen
 6.Barcode reader
 7.OMR(optical mark reader)
 8.webcam
Output devices
 Monitor(monochrome and color)
 Printers(laser, dot matrix, ink jet etc)
 Projector
 Speakers