Computer Concepts & Applications

This book is arranged to mirror certain computer applications, divided as it is into modules rather than book divisions and utilizing other computer terms for the chapters and sections of the book. There are four modules, each of which can be considered a major division in the subject matter.

This is the dawn of a new age, the computer age, with computers not only in business and other large-scale applications but also in the home in the form of the personal computer to perform a variety of tasks. With the pervasiveness of computers in both business and private life, there is a demand for computer literacy for the coming generation. This book is intended to provide a beginning toward computer literacy. The author begins by explaining what a computer is, in general times how it works, and what it can do. A computer may be used singly or as part of a larger system, and even a single computer is itself a system in terms of the way it links different elements together. The concept of a program and of how a program is stored and used is addressed. Computers come in different sizes according to the memory they possess, what amount of material they can store, what amount of work they can perform. The author also gives a good sense of how the computer developed from simple calculating machines of the past into the complex means for manipulating data that exists today.

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The keyboard is one tool used to enter data. Another method is used in supermarkets and other businesses that have scanners which read information on bar codes. The financial transactions we undertake at banks are entered through electronic means. New means of entering data are being developed all the time. Storing and receiving output is addressed next. Storage means retaining the data that has been input, and retrieval means we can access that data as needed. Access can be gained through the same sort of interfaces that input data. Disks and magnetic tape are the common storage devices, and there are different types of disks and different types of memory described. "Storage hierarchy" refers to a range of different storage methods that are ranked according to speed of retrieval, storage capacity, and cost per bit of capacity. Secondary storage is on magnetic disks, and the way a disk is divided into sectors and the way the data is divided and stored is discussed in some detail. Disks have advantages and limitations that are noted. Other storage methods are also described--RAM disks and magnetic bubbles, optical disks and tape strips, and future possibilities for direct-access such as perpendicular recording techniqu
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Some common words found in the essay are:
COMPONENTS SYSTEMS, York McGraw-Hill, Considering PC, SOCIAL IMPACT, Expert Systems, OS IBM, Decision-support MIS, Intelligence AI, computer system, entering data, types operation, computer literacy, wide variety, computers business, science engineering business, perform operations, storage retrieval, disks magnetic, access information, allowing data retrieved,
Approximate Word count = 2581
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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