Introduction To Computers

Lisa is the first commercial personal computer with a graphical user interface . It was thus an important milestone in computing as soon Microsoft Windows and the Apple Macintosh would soon adopt the GUI as their user interface, making it the new paradigm for personal computing. The Lisa ran on a Motorola microprocessor and came equipped with 1 MB of RAM, a 12-inch black-and-white monitor, dual 5.25-inch floppy disk drives and a 5 MB “Profile” hard drive.

Used for science and engineering as well as simple data processing, the LGP-30 was a “bargain” at less than $50,000 and an early example of a ‘personal computer,’ that is, a computer made for a single user. The first practical stored-program computer to provide a regular computing service, EDSAC is built at Cambridge University using vacuum tubes and mercury delay lines for memory. The EDSAC project was led by Cambridge professor and director of the Cambridge Computation Laboratory, Maurice Wilkes. Wilkes' ideas grew out of the Moore School lectures he had attended three years earlier. One major advance in programming was Wilkes' use of a library of short programs, called “subroutines,” stored on punched paper tapes and used for performing common repetitive calculations within a lager program.

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Many large organizations pay programmers to write custom software, software that is specifically tailored to their needs. We will use several forms of system software (e.g. Windows 2000, MacOS) and several application software programs (e.g. Word, Excel, PowerPoint) in this course. They range in price from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars while providing more computing power than mainframes of the 1970s that filled entire rooms. A PC usually comes with a tower that holds the main circuit boards and disk drives of the computer, and a collection of peripherals, such as a keyboard, mouse, and monitor. Desktop computers are designed to be placed on a desk, and they're typically made up of a few different parts, including the computer case, monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

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You can input data to a computer in many other interesting ways, including writing, speaking, pointing, or even by just looking at the data. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. Where he writes how-to guides around Computer fundamental , computer software, Computer programming, and web apps. Input is the raw information entered into a computer from the input devices. The First mechanical computer designed by Charles Babbage was called Analytical Engine.

With a screen resolution of up to 400 pixels-per-inch , Retina displays approached the limit of pixel visibility to the human eye. The display also used In Plane Switching technology, which allowed for a wider viewing angle and improved color accuracy. The Retina display became standard on most of the iPad, iPhone, MacBook, and Apple Watch product lines. Named in honor of the space shuttle which broke-up on re-entry, the Columbia supercomputer is an important part of NASA's return to manned spaceflight after the 2003 disaster. Columbia was used in space vehicle analysis, including studying the Columbia disaster, but also in astrophysics, weather and ocean modeling.

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For example, whenever you use the Internet, you're looking at something that's stored on a server. Many businesses also use local file servers to store and share files internally. The second type of computer you may be familiar with is a laptop computer, commonly called a laptop.

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Mainframe computers were characterized by having large storage capabilities, fast components, and powerful computational abilities. They were highly reliable, and, because they frequently served vital needs in an organization, they were sometimes designed with redundant components that let them survive partial failures. Because they were complex systems, they were operated by a staff of systems programmers, who alone had access to the computer. Other users submitted “batch jobs” to be run one at a time on the mainframe.

Review the fundamentals of digital data representation, computer components, internet protocols, programming skills, algorithms, and data analysis. While laptops aren't as readily upgradable as PCs, they make up for this with their easy portability. Some laptops often match or rival desktops in terms of power, memory, and capabilities, all in one small, lightweight package. If you regularly work outside of the office, a quality laptop gives you the power of a desktop in a compact footprint.

Apple had initially included a handle in their Macintosh computers to encourage users to take their Macs on the go, though not until five years after the initial introduction does Apple introduce a true portable computer. The Macintosh Portable was heavy, weighing sixteen pounds, and expensive (US$6,500). Sales were weaker than projected, despite being widely praised by the press for its active matrix display, removable trackball, and high performance. Based around the Texas Instruments TMS 9900 microprocessor running at 3 MHz, the TI 99/4 has one of the fastest CPUs available in a home computer. The TI99/4 had a wide variety of expansion boards, with an especially popular speech synthesis system that could also be used with TI's Speak & Spell educational game. Tailored for online transaction processing, the Tandem-16 is one of the first commercial fault-tolerant computers.

From USB connectors to motherboards, the HowStuffWorks Computer Hardware Channel will help you find explanations, reviews, videos and prices for the parts you need. Download our free ebook The Basics of User Experience Designto learn about core concepts of UX design. — John M. Carroll, author and a founder of the field of human-computer interaction.