Extended Learning Module A
Computer Hardware and
Software
A-1
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Introduction

Information technology (IT) – computer-based tool that
people use to work with information and support the
information and information-processing needs of an
organization.

Hardware – the physical devices that make up a
computer.

Software – the set of instructions that your hardware
executes to carry out a specific task for you.
A-2
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
A Quick Tour of Technology

Six categories of hardware
1.
Input device Output device
Storage device
Central processing unit (CPU) RAM, or
random access memory,
Telecommunications device
Connecting device –
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
A-3
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Trends in Computer System
Capabilities
First
Generation
Second
Generation
Third
Generation
Fourth
Generation
Fifth
Generation
Trend: Toward Smaller, Faster, More Reliable, and Less Costly
Vacuum
Tubes
Solid-State
Integrated
Circuits
Greater
Power,
Smaller
Footprint
LSI, VLSI
Microprocessors
Trend: Toward Easy to Purchase, and Easy to Maintain
A-4
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Categories of Computers By Size
Personal Digital Assistants, Notebook
Computers, and Desktop Computers

Personal digital assistant (PDA) – a small hand-held
computer that helps you surf the Web and perform
simple tasks such as note taking, calendaring,
appointment scheduling, and maintaining an address
book.

Notebook computer - a fully functional computer
designed to be carried around and run on battery power.

Desktop computer - the most popular choice for
personal computing needs.
A-5
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Categories of Computers By
Size
Minicomputers, Mainframe Computers,
and Supercomputers
A-6
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
A Quick Tour of Technology

Software types include:


Application software - solves specific
problems or perform specific tasks.
System software - handles tasks specific to
technology management.
•
•
A-7
Operating system software - controls application
software and manages hardware devices.
Utility software - provides additional functionality
to the operating system.
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Trends in Computer Software
First
Second
Third
Generation Generation Generation
Fourth
Generation
Fifth
Generation
Trend: Toward Easy-to-Use Multipurpose Network-Enabled Application
Packages for Productivity and Collaboration
User-Written
Programs
Machine
Languages
Packaged
Programs
Symbolic
Languages
Operating
Systems
High-Level
Languages
DBMS
Fourth-Generation
Languages
Microcomputer
Packages
Natural &
Object-Oriented
Languages
Multipurpose
Graphic- Interface
Network-Enabled
Expert-Assisted
Packages
Trend: Toward Visual or Conversational Programming Languages and
Tools
A-8
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Software: Your Intellectual
Interface
Application Software

Application software is used to meet
specific information-processing needs,
including such things as:





A-9
Payroll
Customer relationship management
Project management
Training
Word processing and many others.
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Software: Your Intellectual
Interface
Application Software

Personal productivity
software - performs personal
tasks, including such things as
creating:
 Memos
 Graphs
 Slide presentations
A-10
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Team Work
Buying Personal
Productivity
Software Suites
(p. 49)
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Software: Your Intellectual
Interface
Application Software





A-11
Word processing – Spreadsheet –
Presentation – Desktop publishing –
Personal information management
(PIM) –Web authoring –
Graphics – Communications
Database management system (DBMS)
Personal finance.
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Software: Your Intellectual
Interface
Application Software

Vertical market software

Horizontal market software
A-12
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Software: Your Intellectual
Interface
System Software

Operating system software - controls application
software and manages how hardware devices work
together.

Multitasking - allows you to work with more than one
piece of software at a time.

Utility software - adds additional functionality to the
operating system.

Anti-virus software - utility software that scans for and
often eliminates viruses in RAM and storage devices.
A-13
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Software: Your Intellectual
Interface
System Software

Uninstaller software – utility software that
removes software from your hard disk.

Disk optimization software – utility
software that organizes information on
your hard disk.
A-14
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Software: Your Intellectual
Interface
Personal Operating Systems






Microsoft Windows 2000 Pro
Microsoft Windows 2000 Me
Microsoft Windows XP Home
Microsoft Windows XP Pro
Mac OS.
Linux –
A-15
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Top 10 Signs You Need a New
Computer










A-16
10. That burning smell whenever you boot up.
9. Can't find replacement vacuum tubes.
8. Te damnd kybrd dosnt wrk.
7. You have so little memory your computer forgets everything you
type in.
6. You don't "surf" the Web, you drown.
5. Your favourite punch-card outlet just went out of business.
4. You keep getting calls from the curator at the Smithsonian.
3. Your computer crashes every time you sneeze.
2. You're still using 5.25" floppy disks for mass storage.
1. Your cell phone can play better games than your PC.
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Hardware: Your Physical
Interface
Common Input Devices






Keyboard
Trackball
Point-of-sale (POS)
Pointing stick
Microphone
Touchpad





A-17
Mouse
Bar code reader
Touch screen
Optical mark
recognition (OMR)
Scanner
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Hardware: Your Physical
Interface
Common Output Devices


CRTs
Flat-panel displays –.


A-18
Resolution of a screen–
Dot pitch
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Hardware: Your Physical
Interface
Common Output Devices

Resolution of a
printer - the number
of dots per inch (dpi)
it produces, which is
the same principle as
the resolution in
monitors.
A-19
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Hardware: Your Physical
Interface
Common Output Devices

Inkjet printers – make images by
forcing ink droplets through
nozzles.

Laser printers – form images
using an electrostatic process.

Multifunction printers – scan,
copy, and fax, as well as print.
A-20
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
On Your Own
Finding a Printer to
Meet Your Needs
(p. 57)
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Hardware: Your Physical
Interface
Characteristics of CPUs and RAM

Central processing unit (CPU) - the actual
hardware that interprets and executes the
software instructions and coordinates how all the
other hardware devices work together.

RAM, or random access memory, - temporary
storage that holds the information, the
application software, and the operating system
software.
A-21
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Hardware: Your Physical
Interface
Characteristics of CPUs and RAM

CPU speeds

CPU cycles determine how fast a CPU executes
software instructions.

More cycles means faster processing (and more cost.)


A-22
Megahertz (MHz) - the number of millions of CPU cycles per
second.
Gigahertz (GHz) - the number of billions of CPU cycles per
second.
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Hardware: Your Physical
Interface
Characteristics of CPUs and RAM

RAM capacity is expressed in bytes.
A-23
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Moore’s Law
A-24
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Hardware: Your Physical
Interface
Common Storage Devices

Storage device capacities are measured in
terms of bytes.



A-25
Megabyte (MB or M or Meg) – is roughly 1
million bytes.
Gigabyte (GB or Gig) - roughly 1 billion
characters.
Terabyte (TB) - roughly 1 trillion bytes.
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Storage Trends
Primary
Storage
First
Generation
Second
Generation
Third
Generation
Magnetic
Drum
Magnetic
Core
Magnetic
Core
Fourth
Generation
Fifth
Generation
VLSI
LSI
Semiconductor Semiconductor
Memory Chips Memory Chips
Trend: Towards Large Capacities Using Smaller Microelectronic Circuits
Secondary
Storage
Magnetic Tape Magnetic Tape
Magnetic Drum Magnetic Disk
Magnetic Disk
Magnetic Tape
Magnetic Disk
Optical Disk
Magnetic Tape
Optical Disk
Magnetic Disk
Trend: Towards Massive Capacities Using Magnetic and Optical Media
A-26
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Hardware: Your Physical
Interface
Common Storage Devices









Floppy disk
High-capacity floppy disk
Hard disk
CD-ROM
CD-R (compact disc – recordable)
CD-RW (compact disc – rewritable)
DVD-ROM –
DVD-R –
DVD-RW, or DVD-RAM, or DVD+RW
A-27
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Hardware: Your Physical
Interface
Telecommunications Devices
A-28
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Hardware: Your Physical
Interface
Telecommunications Devices

Types of modems include:





Telephone modem
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) modem
Cable modem
Satellite modem
Module E covers these in more detail.
A-29
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Hardware: Your Physical
Interface
Telecommunications Devices

Communication software includes:
 Connectivity software – enables you to use
your computer to “dial up” or connect to
another computer.
 Web browser software – enables you to surf
the Web.
 E-mail software – enables you to
electronically communicate with other people
by sending and receiving e-mail.
A-30
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Hardware: Your Physical
Interface
Connecting Devices
A-31
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Hardware: Your Physical
Interface
Connecting Devices

Different hardware devices require
different kinds of ports and connectors.

Ports - the plug-ins found on the outside
of your system box (usually in the back)
into which you plug a connector.
A-32
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved
Hardware: Your Physical
Interface
Ports
Keyboard and mouse ports
USB port
Serial port
Parallel port
A-33
Management Information Systems
for the Information Age
Copyright 2002
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved