INTRODUCING

TODAY’S TECHNOLOGY
Living in the Information Technology Era
and Discovering Computers 2016

CSC101 – Spring 2025

Objectives Overview
• Define ICT and trace the evolution of technology,
• Differentiate among laptops, tablets, desktops, and servers
• Describe the purpose and uses of smartphones, digital cameras,
portable and digital media players, e-book readers, wearable devices,
and game devices
• Describe the relationship between data and information
• Briefly explain various input options
• Differentiate the web from the Internet, and describe the relationship
among the web, webpages, websites, and web servers
• Explain the purpose of a browser, a search engine, and an online
social network
Objectives Overview
• Briefly describe digital security risks associated with viruses and other
malware, privacy, your health, and the environment
• Differentiate between an operating system and applications
• Differentiate between wired and wireless technologies, and identify
reasons individuals and businesses use networks
• Discuss how society uses technology in education, government,
finance, retail, entertainment, health care, science, travel, publishing,
and manufacturing
• Identify technology used by home users, small/home office users,
mobile users, power users, and enterprise users
Today’s
Technology
• Because technology changes,
you must keep up with the
changes to remain digitally
literate
• Digital literacy involves having a
current knowledge and
understanding of computers,
mobile devices, the web, and
related technologies
 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
TECHNOLOGY: AN OVERVIEW
• TECHNOLOGY includes advancements in communication and how
information is handled, thus enabling governments, organizations,
industries and ordinary individuals to improve on their decision making,
business processes and everyday living.

• ICT - Information and Communications Technology

• was defined as “related to technologies that facilitate the transfer of
information and various types of electronically mediated
communications” by Colrain Zuppo
COMPUTER
• COMPUTER is an electronic
device that manipulates
information or data. It is an
electronic device, operating
under the control of instructions
stored in its own memory that
can accepts data, process the
data according to specified rules,
produce results and store results
for future use.

• It can be a Laptop, Tablet,

Desktop, and All-in-One Server
What is a computer?

Accepts data Processes data into Produces and stores

Information results
Raw facts, figures & symbols Data that is organized,
meaningful, and useful
 What is a computer?

• What is the information

processing cycle?
• Input
• Process
• Output
• Storage
• Communication
COMPONENTS OF A COMPUTER

•What is an input
device?
 DATA AND INFORMATION
■ A POINTING DEVICE is an input device that allows a user to control a small symbol on
the screen called the POINTER
■ Some mobile devices and computers enable you to speak data instructions using
voice input and to capture live full-motion images using video input
DATA AND INFORMATION

■ MOUSE - lets one select options from on screen menus.

– alternatives to using a mouse: TRACK BALL,
TOUCHPAD/TRACKPAD
■ TRACK BALL – has a ball that can rotate using a finger or a
palm of a hand to move a pointer.
■ TOUCHPAD – is a called a trackpad ; is a touch sensitive pad
that lets the user move the pointer by touching and dragging
his or her finger on the pad. Touch pad are commonly built-in
on laptops
 DATA AND INFORMATION

• A MICROPHONE allows a user to

speak into the computer.
• A WEB CAM is a digital video camera
that allows users to create movies or
take pictures and store them on the
computer instead of on tape or film.
 DATA AND INFORMATION

• A SCANNER is a light-
sensing input device
that converts printed
text and images into a
form the computer
can process and use.
DATA AND INFORMATION

■ An OUTPUT DEVICE is any hardware component that conveys information from a

computer or mobile device to one or more people
■ A PRINTER is an output device that produces text and graphics on a physical
medium, such as paper or other material
■ A 3-D printer can print solid objects, such as clothing, prosthetics, eyewear,
implants, toys, parts, prototypes, and more
TWO TYPES OF PRINTER

■ IMPACT PRINTER – makes contact with

the paper by pressing an inked ribbon
against the paper using a hammer or
pins. Eg dot-matrix printer

■ NON-IMPACT PRINTER – does not use a

striking device to produce characters on
the paper, the printer produces less
noise. Eg inkjet printer & laser printer
DATA AND
INFORMATION
A DISPLAY / MONITOR is an
output device that visually
conveys text, graphics, and
video information
THREE TYPES OF MONITORS

■ CATHODE RAY TUBE (CRT) – is a vacuum tube

containing an electron gun at one end and a
fluorescent screen at the other end. From this
electron gun, a process called thermionic
emission generates a strong beam of electrons.
These electrons travel through a narrow path
within the tube with high speed using various
electromagnetic devices and finally strike the
phosphor points present on the fluorescent
screen, thus creating an image.
THREE TYPES OF MONITORS

■ LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY(LCD) is a flat panel

display that consists of a layer of color or
monochrome pixels arranged schematically
between a couple of transparent electrodes and
two polarizing filters. Optical effect is achieved
by polarizing the light in varied amounts and
making it pass through the liquid crystal layer.
THREE TYPES OF MONITORS

■ LIGHT EMITING DIODE (LED) is a flat panel

display that uses light – emitting diodes for
backlighting. The display is of LCD only but
the backlighting is done by LEDs. LED
monitors are said to use much lesser
power than CRT and LCD. Thus, they are
considered environment-friendly.
DATA AND INFORMATION

■ SPEAKERS allow you to

hear audio such as
music, voice, and other
sounds
– Earbuds
– Headphones
SYSTEM UNIT

■ The SYSTEM UNIT is a case that contains electronic

components of the computer that are used to process data.
■ The circuitry of the system unit usually is part of or is
connected to a circuit board called the MOTHERBOARD.
■ Two main components on the motherboard are THE
PROCESSOR AND MEMORY.
CPU AND MEMORY

■ The PROCESSOR, also called the CPU (central processing

unit); it is the electronic component that interprets and
carries out the basic instructions that operate the
computer.
■ MEMORY consists of electronic components that store
instructions waiting to be executed and data needed by
those instructions. Most memory keeps data and
instructions temporarily, which means its contents are
erased when the computer is shut off.
DATA AND INFORMATION

■ A COMPUTER keeps data, instructions and information on STORAGE MEDIA

■ STORAGE holds data, instructions, and information for future use. For example,
computers can store hundreds or millions of customer names and addresses.
Storage holds these items permanently.
■ A STORAGE DEVICE records (writes) and/or retrieves (reads) items to and from
STORAGE MEDIA. Storage devices often function as a source of input because they
transfer items from storage to memory.
– Examples of storage media are USB flash drives, hard disks, optical discs, and
memory cards.

© 2016 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
DATA AND INFORMATION

Hard Disk Solid-State USB Flash Drive Memory Card

Drive

Optical Disc Cloud Storage

DATA AND INFORMATION

■ A USB FLASH DRIVE is a portable storage device that is small and lightweight
enough to be transported on a keychain or in a pocket
■ A HARD DISK provides much greater storage capacity than a USB flash drive. Hard
disks are enclosed in an airtight, sealed case.
■ PORTABLE HARD DISKS are either external or removable. An external hard disk is a
separate, freestanding unit, whereas you insert and remove a removable hard disk
from the computer, or a device connected to the computer.
DATA AND INFORMATION

■ An OPTICAL DISC is a flat, round, portable metal disc with a plastic coating. CDs,
DVDs, and Blu-ray Discs are three types of optical discs.
■ A CD can hold from 650 million to 1 billion characters. Some DVDs can store two
full-length movies or 17 billion characters. Blu-ray Discs can store about 46 hours of
standard video, or 100 billion characters.
■ Some mobile devices, such as digital cameras, use MEMORY CARDS as the storage
media. You can use a card reader/writer.
WHY COMPUTERS ARE POWERFUL

Computers are powerful for a variety of reasons. They work with remarkable SPEED,
RELIABILITY, CONSISTENCY and ACCURACY. It is also used to store large amount of data
and is used for communication.

■ SPEED – In the system unit, operations get done through electronic circuits. When
data, instructions and information drift along these circuits, they travel at incredibly
fast speeds. Most computers bring out billion of operations in a single second. The
world’s fastest computer can perform trillions of operations in one second.
WHY COMPUTERS ARE POWERFUL

■ RELIABILITY AND CONSISTENCY – The electronic components in a modern

computers are dependable because they have a low failure rate. The high reliability
of components enables the computer to produce consistent results.

■ ACCURACY – Computers process large amounts of data and generate error-free

results, provided the data is inputted correctly and the instructions work properly. If
data is inaccurate, the resulting output is also incorrect. A computing phrase known
as garbage in, garbage out points out that the accuracy of a computer’s output
depends on the accuracy of the input.
WHY COMPUTERS ARE POWERFUL

■ COMMUNICATION – happens between two or more people sending and receiving

messages from one another. The one sending the message is referred to as the sender
while the one receiving the information is known as the receiver.
CLASSIFYING COMPUTERS
Computers can be classified based on size and computing power. The general classifications of
computers are as follows:
■ PERSONAL COMPUTER – a small single – user computer based on a microprocessor, a
personal computer has a keyboard for entering data, monitor for displaying information
and a storage device for saving data.
■ WORKSTATION – powerful, single-user computer. Just like the PC built has more powerful
microprocessor and a higher quality monitor.
■ MINICOMPUTER – multi-user computer capable of supporting from 10 to hundreds of
users simultaneously.
■ MAINFRAME – powerful multi-user computer capable of supporting hundreds or thousands
of users simultaneously.
■ SUPERCOMPUTER – extremely fast computer that can perform millions of instructions per
second.
– Example is NASA’s Pleiades supercomputer that has 245,536 CPU cores and a total
memory of 935TB.
TYPES OF COMPUTERS
Computers are also categorized into several types according to specific use due to the
introduction of mobile devices and proliferation of internet devices. The different types of
computers are as follows:
■ DESKTOP COMPUTERS – designed to be placed on a desk.
■ LAPTOP COMPUTERS – are battery-powered computer devices whose portability makes them
possible to use almost anytime, anywhere.
■ TABLET COMPUTERS – hand-help computers with touch sensitive screen for typing and
navigation.
■ SMARTPHONES – hand-held telephones which can do things that computers can do,
including browsing and searching the internet even playing games.
■ WEARABLES – includes fitness trackers and smartwatches that can be worn throughout the
day.
■ SMART TVs – are the latest television sets that include applications presents in computers;
videos can be streamed from the internet directly onto the TV. It can be used as a computer
monitor and gaming monitor.
 ACTIVITY
• Group 1 DIAL-UP MODEMS Group 6 SCANNERS
• Group 2 PAGER Group 7 ROTARY TELEPHONES
• Group 3 COMPACT DISC (CD) Group 8 VHS
• Group 4 FAX MACHINE Group 9 FLOPPY DISK
• Group 5 FILM CAMERA Group 10 ANSWERING MACHINE

Discuss the use of the device, the frequency of your usage

and your experience in using it. Share your group’s insight
with the class.
Q&A