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Module 1 Living with IT ERA

Living in the IT Era (Polytechnic University of the Philippines)

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Module 1: Overview of Information and Communication Technology

Overview:
This module provides an overview about Information Communication Technology,
elements of a computer system and its classifications. It tackles also the classification capabilities
and limitation of Computer. It discuss the history of computing.
Module Objectives:

After successfully completing this module you should be able to:

 Define ICT;
 Contrasts elements of the computer system and its functions;
 Categorizes computer;
 Identify various events/ improvement in the computing world;
 Qualifies the understanding of computer usage;
 Contrasts professions and careers in the computing field;
 Qualifies computing domains, computing disciplins and computing
knowledge areas.

Course Materials:

Information Communication Technology

ICT, or information and communications technology (or technologies), is the infrastructure and
components that enable modern computing. The term is generally accepted to mean all
devices, networking components, applications and systems that combined allow people and
organizations (i.e., businesses, nonprofit agencies, governments and criminal enterprises) to
interact in the digital world.

Diverse set of technological tools and resources used to transmit, store, create, share or exhange
information. These technological tools and resources include computers, the Internet (websites,
blogs and emails), live broadcasting technologies (radio, television and webcasting), recorded
broadcasting technologies (podcasting, audio and video players and storage devices) and
telephony (fixed or mobile, satellite , visio / video-conferencng, etc).

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Elements of the Computer System

1. Hardware:
The physical components of a computer constitute its Hardware. These include keyboard,
mouse, monitor and processor. Hardware consists of input devices and output devices that make
a complete computer system.

a. Input devices are the devices used to enter data.

1. keyboard
2. optical scanner
3. mouse
4. joystick

b. Output devices used to display the information.

1. Monitor
2. Printer
3. Speaker

2. Software
A set of programs that form an interface between the hardware and the user of a computer
system are referred to as Software.

They are of six types:

a. System software is a set of programs to control the internal operations such as reading data
from input devices, giving results to output devices and ensuring proper functioning of
components is called system software.

b. Application software are programs designed by the user to perform a specific function, such
as accounting software, payroll software etc.

c. Operating system is a set of tools and programs to manage the overall working of a computer
using a defined set of hardware components is called an operating system. It is the interface
between the user and the computer system.

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d. Utility software is special purpose programs that are designed to perform a specialized task,
such as functions to copy, cut or paste files in a computer, formatting a disk etc.

e. Language processors is a special software to accept data and interpret it in the form of Machine
/Assembly language understandable by a computer. It also ensures the correctness of language
syntax and errors.

f. Connectivity software:
A set of programs and instructions to connect the computer with the main server to enable sharing
of resources and information with the server and other connected computers.

3. Peopleware
The most important element of a computer system is its users. They are also called live-
ware of the computer system.

The following types of people interact with a computer system:

a. System Analysts are people who design the operation and processing of the system.

b. System Programmers are people who write codes and programs to implement the working of
the system

c. User are persons who operate the system and use it for different purposes. Also called the
end users.

Components of A Computer System:

A computer system mainly has three components viz. Input Unit, Central Processing Unit
and Output Unit. These components are the building blocks of a computer and define its
architecture.

The relationship among these components is well established by the following diagram:

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1. Input Unit:
Input unit is responsible for controlling the various input devices that are used to enter
data into the computer. The commonly used input devices are mouse, keyboard, light pen, optical
scanner etc. While some input devices are designed for special purposes such as Optical
Character Recognition (OCR), Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) and Bar Code Reader
etc, there are other devices that accept input by responding to physical touch and voice such as
ATMs.

2. Central Processing Unit (CPU):

The CPU ensures the flow of data into the system by directing the data to enter the system,
storing it into the memory and retrieving it when needed to produce the output.
It has three parts:
a. Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU):
It performs all the arithmetical calculations and computations like addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division. It is also responsible for logical calculations like
comparisons among data items.
b. Memory Unit:
The data has to be stored in the memory blocks of the computer before it is
retrieved for actual processing.
c. Control Unit:
It controls and coordinates the activities of all the components of the computer
system. It reads data from the memory, decodes the instructions, looks after its execution,
and fetches the next instruction.

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d. Output Unit
It controls various output devices like printer, graphic plotter, speech synthesizer,
monitor (also known as Visual Display Unit or VDU) to produce the desired output and
present it to the user. It ensures the convertibility of output into human readable form
that is understandable by the user.

Classification of Computers

According to purpose, computers are either general purpose or specific purpose. General
purpose computers are designed to perform a range of tasks. They have the ability to store
numerous programs, but lack in speed and efficiency. Specific purpose computers are designed
to handle a specific problem or to perform a specific task. A set of instructions is built into the
machine.

According to data handling, computers are analog, digital or hybrid. Analog computers
work on the principle of measuring, in which the measurements obtained are translated into data.
Modern analog computers usually employ electrical parameters, such as voltages, resistances or
currents, to represent the quantities being manipulated. Such computers do not deal directly with
the numbers. They measure continuous physical magnitudes. Digital computers are those that
operate with information, numerical or otherwise, represented in a digital form. Such computers
process data into a digital value (in 0s and 1s). They give the results with more accuracy and at
a faster rate. Hybrid computers incorporate the measuring feature of an analog computer and
counting feature of a digital computer. For computational purposes, these computers use analog
components and for storage, digital memories are used.

According to functionality, Type of computers are classified as :

1. Analog Computer
An analog computer (spelt analogue in British English) is a form of computer that
uses continuous physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities to
model the problem being solved.

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2. Digital Computer
A computer that performs calculations and logical operations with quantities represented
as digits, usually in the binary number system.

3. Hybrid Computer (Analog + Digital)

A combination of computers those are capable of inputting and outputting in both digital
and analog signals. A hybrid computer system setup offers a cost effective method of performing
complex simulations.

On the basis of Size: Type of Computer

1. Super Computer
The fastest and most powerful type of computer Supercomputers are very expensive and
are employed for specialized applications that require immense amounts of mathematical
calculations. For example, weather forecasting requires a supercomputer. Other uses of
supercomputers include animated graphics, fluid dynamic calculations, nuclear energy research,
and petroleum exploration.The chief difference between a supercomputer and a mainframe is that
a supercomputer channels all its power into executing a few programs as fast as possible,
whereas a mainframe uses its power to execute many programs concurrently.

2. Mainframe Computer
A very large and expensive computer capable of supporting hundreds, or even thousands,
of users simultaneously. In the hierarchy that starts with a simple microprocessor (in watches, for
example) at the bottom and moves to supercomputers at the top, mainframes are just below
supercomputers. In some ways, mainframes are more powerful than supercomputers because
they support more simultaneous programs. But supercomputers can execute a single program
faster than a mainframe.

3. Mini Computer
A midsized computer. In size and power, minicomputers lie between workstations and
mainframes. In the past decade, the distinction between large minicomputers and small
mainframes has blurred, however, as has the distinction between small minicomputers and
workstations. But in general, a minicomputer is a multiprocessing system capable of supporting
from 4 to about 200 users simultaneously.

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4. Micro Computer or Personal Computer

 Desktop Computer: a personal or micro-mini computer sufficient to fit on a desk.
 Laptop Computer: a portable computer complete with an integrated screen and
keyboard. It is generally smaller in size than a desktop computer and larger than a
notebook computer.
 Palmtop Computer/Digital Diary /Notebook /PDAs: a hand-sized computer.
Palmtops have no keyboard but the screen serves both as an input and output device.

5. Workstations
A terminal or desktop computer in a network. In this context, workstation is just a generic
term for a user's machine (client machine) in contrast to a "server" or "mainframe."

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.

1. 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,
humanstake 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.

2. 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.

3. Reliability - 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

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external reasons. 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.

4. Adaptability - 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.
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.

5. Storage - 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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

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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.

Computer cannot operate without the instructions given by humans. It is programmed to work
effectively, fast and accurately .Computer cannot itself and does not have common sense. It is
totally dependent on humans.

History of Computers: A Brief Timeline

The computer was born not for entertainment or email but out of a need to solve a serious
number-crunching crisis. By 1880, the U.S. population had grown so large that it took more than
seven years to tabulate the U.S. Census results. The government sought a faster way to get the
job done, giving rise to punch-card based computers that took up entire rooms.
Today, we carry more computing power on our smartphones than was available in these
early models. The following brief history of computing is a timeline of how computers evolved from
their humble beginnings to the machines of today that surf the Internet, play games and stream
multimedia in addition to crunching numbers.

1801: In France, Joseph Marie Jacquard invents a loom that uses punched wooden cards to
automatically weave fabric designs. Early computers would use similar punch cards.

1822: English mathematician Charles Babbage conceives of a steam-driven calculating machine

that would be able to compute tables of numbers. The project, funded by the English government,
is a failure. More than a century later, however, the world's first computer was actually built.

1890: Herman Hollerith designs a punch card system to calculate the 1880 census, accomplishing
the task in just three years and saving the government $5 million. He establishes a company that
would ultimately become IBM.

1936: Alan Turing presents the notion of a universal machine, later called the Turing machine,
capable of computing anything that is computable. The central concept of the modern computer
was based on his ideas.

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1937: J.V. Atanasoff, a professor of physics and mathematics at Iowa State University, attempts
to build the first computer without gears, cams, belts or shafts.

1939: Hewlett-Packard is founded by David Packard and Bill Hewlett in a Palo Alto, California,
garage, according to the Computer History Museum.

1941: Atanasoff and his graduate student, Clifford Berry, design a computer that can solve 29
equations simultaneously. This marks the first time a computer is able to store information on its
main memory.

1943-1944: Two University of Pennsylvania professors, John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert,
build the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC). Considered the grandfather of
digital computers, it fills a 20-foot by 40-foot room and has 18,000 vacuum tubes.

1946: Mauchly and Presper leave the University of Pennsylvania and receive funding from the
Census Bureau to build the UNIVAC, the first commercial computer for business and government
applications.

1947: William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain of Bell Laboratories invent
the transistor. They discovered how to make an electric switch with solid materials and no need
for a vacuum.

1953: Grace Hopper develops the first computer language, which eventually becomes known as
COBOL. Thomas Johnson Watson Jr., son of IBM CEO Thomas Johnson Watson Sr., conceives
the IBM 701 EDPM to help the United Nations keep tabs on Korea during the war.

1954: The FORTRAN programming language, an acronym for FORmula TRANslation, is

developed by a team of programmers at IBM led by John Backus, according to the University of
Michigan.

1958: Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce unveil the integrated circuit, known as the computer chip.
Kilby was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000 for his work.

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1964: Douglas Engelbart shows a prototype of the modern computer, with a mouse and a
graphical user interface (GUI). This marks the evolution of the computer from a specialized
machine for scientists and mathematicians to technology that is more accessible to the general
public.

1969: A group of developers at Bell Labs produce UNIX, an operating system that addressed
compatibility issues. Written in the C programming language, UNIX was portable across multiple
platforms and became the operating system of choice among mainframes at large companies
and government entities. Due to the slow nature of the system, it never quite gained traction
among home PC users.

1970: The newly formed Intel unveils the Intel 1103, the first Dynamic Access Memory (DRAM)
chip.

1971: Alan Shugart leads a team of IBM engineers who invent the "floppy disk," allowing data to
be shared among computers.

1973: Robert Metcalfe, a member of the research staff for Xerox, develops Ethernet for
connecting multiple computers and other hardware.

1974-1977: A number of personal computers hit the market, including Scelbi & Mark-8 Altair, IBM
5100, Radio Shack's TRS-80 — affectionately known as the "Trash 80" — and the Commodore
PET.

1975: The January issue of Popular Electronics magazine features the Altair 8080, described as
the "world's first minicomputer kit to rival commercial models." Two "computer geeks," Paul Allen
and Bill Gates, offer to write software for the Altair, using the new BASIC language. On April 4,
after the success of this first endeavor, the two childhood friends form their own software
company, Microsoft.

1976: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak start Apple Computers on April Fool's Day and roll out the
Apple I, the first computer with a single-circuit board, according to Stanford University.

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The TRS-80, introduced in 1977, was one of the first machines whose documentation was
intended for non-geeks (Image credit: Radioshack)

1977: Radio Shack's initial production run of the TRS-80 was just 3,000. It sold like crazy. For the
first time, non-geeks could write programs and make a computer do what they wished.

1977: Jobs and Wozniak incorporate Apple and show the Apple II at the first West Coast
Computer Faire. It offers color graphics and incorporates an audio cassette drive for storage.

1978: Accountants rejoice at the introduction of VisiCalc, the first computerized spreadsheet
program.

1979: Word processing becomes a reality as MicroPro International releases WordStar. "The
defining change was to add margins and word wrap," said creator Rob Barnaby in email to Mike
Petrie in 2000. "Additional changes included getting rid of command mode and adding a print
function. I was the technical brains — I figured out how to do it, and did it, and documented it. "

The first IBM personal computer, introduced on Aug. 12, 1981, used the MS-DOS operating
system. (Image credit: IBM)

1981: The first IBM personal computer, code-named "Acorn," is introduced. It uses Microsoft's
MS-DOS operating system. It has an Intel chip, two floppy disks and an optional color monitor.
Sears & Roebuck and Computerland sell the machines, marking the first time a computer is
available through outside distributors. It also popularizes the term PC.

1983: Apple's Lisa is the first personal computer with a GUI. It also features a drop-down menu
and icons. It flops but eventually evolves into the Macintosh. The Gavilan SC is the first portable
computer with the familiar flip form factor and the first to be marketed as a "laptop."

1985: Microsoft announces Windows, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. This was the
company's response to Apple's GUI. Commodore unveils the Amiga 1000, which features
advanced audio and video capabilities.

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1985: The first dot-com domain name is registered on March 15, years before the World Wide
Web would mark the formal beginning of Internet history. The Symbolics Computer Company, a
small Massachusetts computer manufacturer, registers Symbolics.com. More than two years
later, only 100 dot-coms had been registered.

1986: Compaq brings the Deskpro 386 to market. Its 32-bit architecture provides as speed
comparable to mainframes.

1990: Tim Berners-Lee, a researcher at CERN, the high-energy physics laboratory in Geneva,
develops HyperText Markup Language (HTML), giving rise to the World Wide Web.

1993: The Pentium microprocessor advances the use of graphics and music on PCs.

1994: PCs become gaming machines as "Command & Conquer," "Alone in the Dark 2," "Theme
Park," "Magic Carpet," "Descent" and "Little Big Adventure" are among the games to hit the
market.

1996: Sergey Brin and Larry Page develop the Google search engine at Stanford University.

1997: Microsoft invests $150 million in Apple, which was struggling at the time, ending Apple's
court case against Microsoft in which it alleged that Microsoft copied the "look and feel" of its
operating system.

1999: The term Wi-Fi becomes part of the computing language and users begin connecting to the
Internet without wires.

2001: Apple unveils the Mac OS X operating system, which provides protected memory
architecture and pre-emptive multi-tasking, among other benefits. Not to be outdone, Microsoft
rolls out Windows XP, which has a significantly redesigned GUI.

2003: The first 64-bit processor, AMD's Athlon 64, becomes available to the consumer market.

2004: Mozilla's Firefox 1.0 challenges Microsoft's Internet Explorer, the dominant Web browser.
Facebook, a social networking site, launches.

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2005: YouTube, a video sharing service, is founded. Google acquires Android, a Linux-based
mobile phone operating system.

2006: Apple introduces the MacBook Pro, its first Intel-based, dual-core mobile computer, as well
as an Intel-based iMac. Nintendo's Wii game console hits the market.

2007: The iPhone brings many computer functions to the smartphone.

2009: Microsoft launches Windows 7, which offers the ability to pin applications to the taskbar
and advances in touch and handwriting recognition, among other features.

2010: Apple unveils the iPad, changing the way consumers view media and jumpstarting the
dormant tablet computer segment.

2011: Google releases the Chromebook, a laptop that runs the Google Chrome OS.

2012: Facebook gains 1 billion users on October 4.

2015: Apple releases the Apple Watch. Microsoft releases Windows 10.

2016: The first reprogrammable quantum computer was created. "Until now, there hasn't been
any quantum-computing platform that had the capability to program new algorithms into their
system. They're usually each tailored to attack a particular algorithm," said study lead author
Shantanu Debnath, a quantum physicist and optical engineer at the University of Maryland,
College Park.

2017: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing a new
"Molecular Informatics" program that uses molecules as computers. "Chemistry offers a rich set
of properties that we may be able to harness for rapid, scalable information storage and
processing," Anne Fischer, program manager in DARPA's Defense Sciences Office, said in a
statement. "Millions of molecules exist, and each molecule has a unique three-dimensional atomic
structure as well as variables such as shape, size, or even color. This richness provides a vast
design space for exploring novel and multi-value ways to encode and process data beyond the

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0s and 1s of current logic-based, digital architectures." [Computers of the Future May Be

Minuscule Molecular Machines]

VIDEOS TO WATCH:

1.1. Viewing of videos showing about Information Communication Technology

a. Information Communication Technology
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PDQKu2-bAc
b. Elements of the Computer System
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1JzpptGrKQ
c. Classification of Computers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgWlKK62YRg
d. Capabilities and Limitations of Computers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBbK6dzBlPQ
e. History of Computing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5nskjZ_GoI
1.2 Read :
a. Information Communication Technology
http://aims.fao.org/information-and-communication-technologies-ict
b. Elements of the Computer System
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167564808701369#:~:text=It%20
is%20generally%20composed%20of,that%20became%20operational%20in%20194
4.
c. Classification of Computers
https://www.vskills.in/certification/tutorial/it-support/classification-of-computers-2/
d. Capabilities and Limitations of Computers
http://abarientoskeene.weebly.com/capabilities-and-limitations-of-computer.html
e. History of Computing
https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/computers/

Activities / Assessment:
1. Writing term papers on the following topics:
1.1 Information Communication Technology definition
1.2 Write an essay about the elements of the computer system

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1.3 Classification of Computers

1.4 Capabilities aand Limitations of Computer
1.5 Make a timeline of History of Computer, note the important events
2. Design the futuristic computer for 2050. Name your computer and list down its
capabilities.
3. Online Examination using Google Forms, Quizziz (Course Google Classroom)

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References:
(https://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/ICT-information-and-communications-technology-or-
technologies)
http://uis.unesco.org/en/glossary-term/information-and-communication-technologies-ict
https://ecomputernotes.com/fundamental/introduction-to-computer/write-a-detailed-note-on-
classification-of-
computers#:~:text=Computers%20differ%20based%20on%20their,purpose%2C%20data%20h
andling%20and%20functionality.&text=According%20to%20data%20handling%2C%20compute
rs%20are%20analog%2C%20digital%20or%20hybrid.
https://www.toppr.com/guides/accountancy/application-of-computers-in-accounting/capabilities-
and-limitations-of-computer-
systems/#:~:text=Answer%3A%20The%20capabilities%20of%20a,get%20tired%2C%20bored
%20or%20fatigued.
https://www.livescience.com/20718-computer-history.html

(https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/accounting/computerized-accounting/computer-system-
elements-and-components-with-diagram/63263)

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