Introduction to the Computer

The computer has had a greater impact on our society than any other device in the second half of the
twentieth century. As late as the mid-1970s, relatively few people used computers. For many people today,
computers are as much a part of a daily life as automobiles, telephones, and electric lights.
In business, computers track and process inventory, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and payroll.
They are used in education to schedule classes, train students, and record grades. In the medical
profession, computers diagnose and monitor patients. Scientists use computers to analyze the solar system,
forecast weather patterns, and conduct experiments.
Of all the computer types, the microcomputer has been most helpful in improving our ability to control
information and solve problems. The microcomputer is used by Fortune 500 companies and small
businesses alike to file information, produce documents and correspondence, and perform time-consuming
financial calculations and projections. It has boosted the productivity of workers at all organizational
levels, from the mail room to the board room. Because it has a tireless capacity to perform practice
exercises and simulations, the microcomputer is also an excellent teaching tool for primary- and
secondary-school students.
What Is a Computer?
A computer is a general-purpose electronic device that performs high-speed arithmetic and logical
operations according to internal instructions that are executed without human intervention. The key terms
and implications of this definition are examined below.
Electronic. Electricity is the computer's lifeblood. In a high-speed computer, electricity pulses at half the
speed of light through the intricate silicon-chip circuits that serve as the machine's brain cells.
Arithmetic Operations. Computers add, subtract, multiply, and divide.
Logical Operations. Computers compare one datum with another. This allows the computer operator to
determine if the datum is less than, equal to, or greater than another datum.
Internally Contained Instructions. Computers store the instructions that manipulate data. A complete set
of instructions for performing some type of operation is called a program. For example, a payroll program
enables a computer to calculate an organization's payroll, taking into account a variety of factors such as
salary levels, overtime hours, and part-time employment.
Internal Storage. A program requires some internal storage capability in order to manipulate data. Like its
human counterpart, this storage system is called memory. Memory holds the computer's operating system,
the program being executed, the data operated on, and any intermediate results that are created by the
program.
General Purpose. By retrieving a variety of programs from memory and executing them, computers
perform an almost limitless number of tasks--from calculating a business's monthly expenses to drawing
architectural blueprints.