INTRODUCTION
TO COMPUTERS
Mrs. Doss
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 All Information was taken from
 Microsoft Office 2011 For Mac Introductory by Shelly/Jones Cengage
Learning ISBN: 13:978-1-435-46138-3
 THIS POWERPOINT IS USED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES
ONLY.
WHAT IS A COMPUTER?
 An electronic device operating under the control of instructions stored
in its own memory, that can accept data (input), process the data
according to specified rules(process), produce results (output), and
store the results (storage) for future use.
 Generally, the term is used to describe a collection of electric,
electronic, and mechanical components known as hardware.
INFORMATION PROCESSING CYCLE
 Computers perform four basic operations:
 Input
 Process
 Output
 Storage
These operations comprise the information processing cycle.
These operations together process data into information and store it for
future use.
A computer gets its power from its capability to perform the information
processing cycle with amazing speed, reliability, and accuracy; its capacity to
store huge amounts of data and information; and its capability to communicate
with other computers.
PERFORMING OPERATIONS
 In order for a computer to perform operations, it must be given a
detailed set of instruction that tells it exactly what to do. These
instructions are called a program, or software.
 All computer processing requires data.
 Data is a collection of unprocessed items, which can include text,
numbers, images, audio, and video.
 Computers manipulate data to create information.
 Information conveys meaning and is useful to people.
EXAMPLE
Data
2 medium socks 1.49
1 small sub 3..49
1 salad 4.49
Processes
Computes each item’s total price by multiplying
the quantity by the price
Organizes data
Sums all item total price to determine order total
Calculates change due to customer
Arrow Deli
10 Park Street
Maple River, DE 20393
QTY
ITM TOTAL
2
Medium sodas 1.49
1
Small sub 3.49
1 Salad
4.49
Total Due
USERS
 People who use the computer directly or use the information it
provides are called computer users, end users, or sometimes just users.
COMPONENTS OF A COMPUTER
 There are six primary components of a computer that are referred to as
 Processor (control unit and arithmetic/logic unit)
 Input devices
 Memory
 Output devices
 Storage devices
 Communication devices
 A peripheral is a device that connects to the system unit and is controlled
by the processor in the computer.
 Peripherals can include input devices and output devices, as well as some
storage devices and communication devices.
INPUT DEVICE
 Any hardware component that allows you to enter data and
instructions into a computer. Five widely used devices are:
 Keyboard- contains keys users press to enter data and instructions into the
computer. There are different types of keyboards including: mini-keyboard, onscreen keyboard, and keypad.
 Mouse and other Pointing Devices- A mouse is a pointing device that fits comfortably
under the palm of your hand. With a mouse, users control the movement of the
pointer, which is a small symbol on the screen whose location and shape change as a
user moves a pointing device.
 The touchpad and Magic Mouse are common pointing devices used on most Apple
notebook computers.
PICTURES
keypad
On-screen
keyboard
Minikeyboard
SYSTEM UNIT
 The system unit is a case that contains electronic components of the
computer used to process data. For example: the motherboard
sometimes called a system board, is the main circuit board of the
system unit.
 Processor- also called the CPU, interprets and carries out the basic
instructions that operate a computer.
 Control unit- directs and coordinates most of the operations in the
computer.
 Arithmetic/logic unit (ALU)- performs arithmetic, comparison, and
other operations.
MEMORY
 Memory consists of electronic components that store instructions
waiting to be executed and data needed by those instructions.
 Memory is temporary. When the machine is shut off all its contents are
erased.
 RAM- (random access memory)- consists of memory chips that can be
read from and written to by the processor.
HOW MEMORY IS MEASURED
 Memory is measured four different ways:
 Kilobyte- (KB)- 1,024 bytes
 Megabyte- (MB)- one million bytes
 Gigabyte- (GB)- one billion bytes
 Terabyte- (TB)- one trillion bytes
For example: A computer with 4 GB of RAM can store approximately four
billion characters.
OUTPUT DEVICES
 Output devices are hardware components that convey information to
one or more people.
 Commonly used output devices include:
 Display devices
 Printers
 Speakers
 Headphones
 Earbuds
 Projectors
 Interactive whiteboards
PRINTERS
 A printer is an output device that produces text and graphics on a
physical medium such as paper. Two types are:
 Inkjet- produce text and graphics in both black and white and color
 Laser- high speed, high quality printer that operates in a manner similar to a copy
machine.
DISPLAY DEVICE
 A display device is an output device that visually conveys text, graphics,
and video information. Most monitors are LCD monitors.
 Mobile computers such as notebook computers, tablet PCs, smart
phones, handheld game consoles, and digital cameras, have built-in LCD
screens.
STORAGE DEVICES
 A storage device is the computer hardware that records and/or
retrieves items to and from storage media.
 A storage medium is the physical material on which a computer keeps
data, instructions, and information.
 Three common types of storage media are:
 Hard disks
 Flash memory
 Optical discs
HARD DISK
 A hard disk is a storage device that contains one or more inflexible,
circular platters that use magnetic particles to store data, instructions,
and information.
 Some hard disks are portable. An external hard disk is separate
freestanding hard disk that connects with a cable to a port on the
system unit.
FLASH MEMORY STORAGE
 Type of memory that can be erased electronically and rewritten.
 Types are:
 Memory cards
 USB flash drives
 ExpressCard modules
 Optical Discs
OPTICAL DISC
 Many different formats of optical discs exist today.
 CD-ROM- compact disc read-only memory. Type of optical disc that
users can read but not write or erase. (hence, read only) They hold 650
MB to 1 GB of data.
 CD-R- (compact disc-recordable)- a multisession optical disc on which
users can write, but not erase, their own items such as text, graphics,
and audio.
 CD-RW- (compact disc-rewritable)- an erasable multisession disc you
can write on multiple times. To write on a CD-RW drive, you must have
optical disc burning software and and CD-RW drive. Burning is the
process of writing on an optical disc.
CONTINUED
 DVD-ROM- a high-capacity optical disc on which users can read but not
write or erase. DVD’s store movies, music, huge databases, and
complex software.
 Blu-ray Disc- has a higher capacity and better quality than standard
DVD’s, especially for high-definition audio and video. They have storage
capacities of 100 GB, with expectations of exceeding 200 GB in the
future.
CLOUD STORAGE
 Cloud storage is an Internet service that provides hard disk storage to
computer users.
Web Site Names
Types of Storage Provided
Box.net, IDrive, SkyDrive
Backup
iCloud
Backup of Apple products
Flicker, Picasa
Digital photos
YouTube
Digital photos
Facebook
Digital photos, videos,
messages
Google Docs
Documents, Spreadsheets
Gmail, Hotmail,Yahoo! Mail
E-mail messages
Amazon EC2
Enterprise-level storage
SKYDRIVE
 https://bluprd0210.outlook.com/owa/#