VALENZUELA CITY POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE

Kamagong Street, Fortune Village VI, Parada, Valenzuela City

BASIC COMPUTER CONCEPT

Computer

A computer is an electronic device that manipulates information, or data. It

has the ability to store, retrieve, and process data. You may already know
that you can use a computer to type documents, send email, play games,
and browse the Web. You can also use it to edit or
create spreadsheets, presentations, and even videos.

Hardware and Software.

Hardware - refers to the physical and tangible components of the computer, the
Physical Machine. The components could be internal or external and categorized into
input hardware, storage hardware, output hardware, and communication hardware.

Categories of Hardware

1. INPUT – It refers to the hardware used to input data and transactions.

 KEYBOARD  MOUSE
 TRACK BALL  JOYSTICK
 TOUCH SCREEN  LIGHT PEN
 BARCODE READER  OPTICAL MARK READER

2. STORAGE – It refers to the hardware used to temporarily and permanently store

data, instructions, files and programs.

 READ-ONLY MEMORY  DISKETTE

 RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY  FLASH DISK
 HARD DISK  MEMORY CARD

3. OUTPUT – It provides the means for the user to view information produced by the
computer system. (Softcopy and Hardcopy)

 PRINTER  MONITOR

4. COMMUNICATION – Its function is to facilitate connection between computers

connected with a network of computers.

 NETWORK INTERFACE CARD  HUB

Software
 is any set of instructions that tells the hardware what to do and how to
do it. Examples of software include web browsers, games, and word
processors.(http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computers/computerbasics/1)

UNIT 2 – BASIC COMPUTER CONCEPT

 VALENZUELA CITY POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE
Kamagong Street, Fortune Village VI, Parada, Valenzuela City

 refers to the non-physical and intangible components of the computer system.

It is also called program or set of instructions that instruct the hardware what to do.

CATEGORIES OF SOFTWARE

1. SYSTEM SOFTWARE – It refers to the programs that assist in the computer operations. It
facilitates the execution of application program.

 Operating System  Language Processor

 Programming Languages

Operating System is considered as the master control program, executive processor and
controller system. It is the bridge between the applications and hardware.

 WINDOWS OS  MAC OS
 LINUX  UNIX OS

Programming Languages are programs used to write other programs.

 Turbo C C#  Java

 C++  Visual Basic  VB.net

Language Processors are also called translators. It convert source code or the program
into a form suitable for execution. There are three (3) types of language processors:

 COMPILERS  INTERPRETERS

 ASSEMBLERS
2. APPLICATION SOFTWARE - It refers to the user programs being installed in the computer that
are designed to solve various problems in business, engineering and scientific research. There
are two (2) types of application software:

 PACKAGE PROGRAMS  CUSTOM PROGRAMS

Package programs are also called application package because they are readily
available for everyone.
 MS Word  MS Access  AutoCAD
 MS Publisher  MySQL  Adobe PS

 MS Excel  Adobe Flash  Notepad

UNIT 2 – BASIC COMPUTER CONCEPT

 VALENZUELA CITY POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE
Kamagong Street, Fortune Village VI, Parada, Valenzuela City

Custom Program is a customized program created by programmers to specifically answer the

computerization need of a business, company or organization.

 Inventory System  Enrollment System

Capabilities of Computer System

Capabilities of a computer system are the qualities of the computer that put it
in a positive light and make the user experience more efficient.

Speed
Speed means the duration computer system requires in fulfilling a task or
completing an activity. It is well-known that computers need very little time than
humans in completing a task. Generally, humans take into account a second or
minute as a unit of time.

Nevertheless, computer systems have such fast operation capacity that the unit
of time is in fractions of a second. Today, computers are capable of doing 100
million calculations per second and that is why the industry has developed Million
Instructions per Second (MIPS) as the criterion to classify different computers
according to speed.

Accuracy
Accuracy means the level of precision with which calculations are made and
tasks are performed. One may invest years of his life in detecting errors in
computer calculations or updating a wrong record. A large part of mistakes in
Computer Based Information System(CBIS) occurs due to bad programming,
erroneous data, and deviation from rules. Humans cause these mistakes.

Errors attributable to hardware are generally distinguished and corrected by the

computer system itself. The computers rarely commit errors and do all types of
tasks precisely.

Reliability
Reliability is the quality due to which the user can stay dependable on the
computer. Computers systems are well-adjusted to do repetitive tasks. They
never get tired, bored or fatigued. Hence, they are a lot reliable than humans.
Still, there can be failures of a computer system due to internal and external
reasons.

UNIT 2 – BASIC COMPUTER CONCEPT

 VALENZUELA CITY POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE
Kamagong Street, Fortune Village VI, Parada, Valenzuela City

Any failure of the computer in a highly automated industry is disastrous. Hence,

the industry in such situations has a backup facility to take over tasks without
losing much of the time.

Adaptability
Adaptability of computer system means the quality of it to complete a different
type of tasks: simple as well as complex. Computers are normally versatile unless
designed for a specific operation. Overall, a daily purpose computer is used in
any area of application: business, industry, scientific, statistical, technological
and so on

A general purpose computer, when introduced in a company, can replace the

jobs of multiple specialists due to its flexibility. A computer system can replace
the functions of all these specialists because of being very versatile.

Storage
Storage is the ability of the computer to store data in itself for accessing it again
in future. Nowadays, apart from having instantaneous access to data,
computers have a huge ability to store data in a little physical space.

A general computer system has a capacity of storing and providing online

millions of characters and thousands of pictures. It is obvious from the above
discussion that computer capabilities outperform the human capabilities.
Therefore, a computer, when used rightfully, will tenfold the effectiveness of an
organization.

Limitations of Computer Systems

Limitations are the drawbacks of the computer system in which humans

outperform them.

Lack of common-sense
This is one of the major limitations of computer systems. No matter how efficient,
fast and reliable computer systems might be but yet do not have any common
sense because no full-proof algorithm has been designed to programme logic
into them. As computers function based on the stored programme(s), they simply
lack common sense.

UNIT 2 – BASIC COMPUTER CONCEPT

 VALENZUELA CITY POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE
Kamagong Street, Fortune Village VI, Parada, Valenzuela City

Zero IQ

Another of the limitations of computer systems is that they have zero Intelligence
Quotient (IQ). They are unable to see and think the actions to perform in a
particular situation unless that situation is already programmed into them.

Computers are programmable to complete each and every task, however small it
may be.

Lack of Decision-making
Decision-making is a complicated process involving information, knowledge,
intelligence, wisdom, and ability to judge. The computer system does not have
the ability to make decisions on their own because they do not possess all the
essentials of decision-making.

They can be programmed to take such decisions, which are purely procedure-
oriented. If a computer has not been programmed for a particular decision
situation, it will not take a decision due to lack of wisdom and evaluation
faculties. Human beings, on the other hand, possess this great power of decision-
making.

Materials Free resources:

1. GCF LearnFree:
Computer Basics http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computers/computerbasics/1
2. GCF LearnFree: Basic Parts of a Desktop Computer
https://www.gcflearnfree.org/computerbasics/basic-parts-of-a-computer/1/
3. GCF LearnFree: Buttons and Ports on a Computer
https://www.gcflearnfree.org/computerbasics/buttons-and-ports-on-a-
computer/1/
4. GCF LearnFree: What is a Laptop Computer?
https://www.gcflearnfree.org/computerbasics/laptop-computers/1/
5. GCF LearnFree: What is a Mobile device?
https://www.gcflearnfree.org/computerbasics/mobile-devices/1/
6. GCF LearnFree: Setting up a Computer
https://www.gcflearnfree.org/computerbasics/setting-up-a-computer/1/

UNIT 2 – BASIC COMPUTER CONCEPT