I SEM BCA (SEP - 2024 Onwards)

FUNDAMENTALS OF COMPUTERS
Akshay K
Lecturer
Department of Computer Science
Trisha College of Commerce and Management
Mangaluru

UNIT I

INDEX

Chapter 1 : Computer Basics Chapter 2 : Computer Architecture

 Introduction  Introduction
 Characteristics of Computers  Central Processing Unit
 Evolution of Computers  ALU
 Generation of Computers  Registers
 Classification of Computers  Control Unit
 The Computer System  System Bus
 Application of Computers  Main Memory Unit
 Cache Memory

Chapter 3 : Input Devices Chapter 4 : Output Devices

 Introduction  Types of Output
 Types of Input  Classification of Output Devices
 Keyboard  Printers - Dot Matrix, InkJet,
 Mouse Laser, Hydra, Plotter
 Track Ball  Monitor- CRT, LCD
 Joystick  Differences between LCD and
 Light Pen CRT
 Touch Screen
 Track Pad
 Speech Recognition
 Digital Camera
 Webcam
 Flatbed Scanner

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 CHAPTER 1 : COMPUTER BASICS

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS
o In the beginning of civilization, people used fingers and pebbles for computing
purposes. In fact, the word digitus in Latin actually means finger and calculus
means pebble.

o This gives the clue into the origin of early computing concepts.

o The term computer is derived from the word compute which means to calculate.

o Computer is an electronic machine devised for performing calculations and

controlling operations that can be expressed either in logical or numerical terms.

o In simple words computer is an electronic device that performs diverse operations

with the help of instructions to process the data in order to achieve desired results.

o The application domain of computer covers a huge area of applications including

education, industries, government, medicine, scientific research, law and even
music and arts.

o Computers have left such an impression on modern civilization that we call this
era as the “information age”.

CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPUTERS
Speed:
The computers process data at an extremely fast rate at millions or billions of
instructions per second. The speed of computer is calculated in MHz(Megahertz),
one million instructions per second.

Accuracy:
Computer are very efficient as well as very accurate. The accuracy depends on
the instructions and the type of machines being used.

Diligence:
Computer does not suffer from the human traits of tiredness and lack of
concentration.

Reliability:
It is the measurement of performance of a computer which is measured against
some predetermined standard for operation without any failure.

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 Storage Capability:
Computers can store large amounts of data and can recall the required
information almost instantaneously.

Versatility:
Computers are quite versatile in nature. Means it can perform multiple tasks
simultaneously with equal ease.

Resource Sharing:
In the initial stages of development computers used to be isolated machines. With
the tremendous growth in computer technologies computers today have the
capability of connect with each other for data and information sharing. Even we
can share peripherals(resources) like printers.

LIMITATIONS OF COMPUTER
o A computer can only perform what it is programmed to do.

o The computer needs well-defined instructions to perform any operation.

Hence, computers are unable to give any conclusion without going through
intermediate steps.

o A computer's use is limited in areas where qualitative considerations are

important. For instance, it can make plans based on situations and
information, but it cannot foresee whether they will succeed.

EVOLUTION OF COMPUTERS
 Having the right tool to perform these tasks has always been important for
human beings.

 In their quest(mission) to develop efficient computing devices, humankind

developed many apparatuses.

 However, many centuries elapsed before technology was adequately

advanced to develop computers.

 In the beginning, when the task was simply counting or adding, people used
either their fingers or pebbles along lines in the sand.

 In order to conveniently have the sand and pebbles all the time, people in Asia
Minor built a counting device called abacus.

 This device allowed users to do calculations using a system of sliding beads

arranged on a rack.

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 The abacus was simple to operate and was used worldwide for centuries.

 In fact, it is still used in many countries.

 In 1642, a French mathematician, Blaise Pascal, invented the first functional

automatic calculator.

 This brass rectangular box, also called a Pascaline, used eight movable dials
to add numbers up to eight figures long.

 In 1694, a German mathematician, Gottfried Wilhem von Leibniz, extended

Pascal’s design to perform multiplication, division and to find square root.

 This machine is known as the Stepped Reckoner.

 The only problem with this device was that it lacked mechanical precision in
its construction and was not very reliable.

 The real beginning of computers as we know them today, however, lay with
an English mathematics professor, Charles Babbage.

 In 1822, he proposed a machine to perform differential equations, called

a Difference Engine.

 Powered by steam and as large as a locomotive, the machine would have a

stored program and could perform calculations and print the results
automatically.

 However, Babbage never quite made a fully functional difference engine and
in 1833 he quitted working on this machine to concentrate on the Analytical
Engine.

 The basic design of this engine included input devices in the form of
perforated cards containing operating instructions and a “store” for memory
of 1,000 numbers of up to 50 decimal digits long.

 A punched card or punch card is a piece of stiff paper that can be used to
contain digital data represented by the presence or absence of holes in
predefined positions. Digital data can be for data processing applications or,
in earlier examples, used to directly control automated machinery.

 In 1889, Herman Hollerith, who worked for the US Census Bureau, also
applied Jacquard’s loom concept to computing and developed a machine
called Hollerith’s Tabulator.

 Unlike Babbage’s idea of using perforated(punched) cards to instruct the

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 machine, Hollerith’s method used cards to store the data, which he fed into a
machine that compiled the results mechanically.

 In 1944 in the time of World War II, IBM and Harvard Aiken developed Mark
I. This electronic calculating machine used relays and electromagnetic
components to replace mechanical components.

 In 1946, the University of Pennsylvania developed the Electronic Numerical

Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC).

 This computer used electronic vacuum tubes to make the internal parts of the
computer. It embodied almost all the components and concepts of today’s
high-speed, electronic computers.

 Later on, Eckert and Mauchly proposed the development of Electronic

Discrete Variable Automatic Computer (EDVAC).

 This is the first electronic computer to use the stored program concept
introduced by John Von Neumann.

 In 1949, at Cambridge University a team headed by Maurice Wilkes

developed the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC)
also based on above concept.

 In the 1960s, efforts to design and develop the fastest possible computer with
the greatest capacity reached a turning point with the Livermore Advanced
Research Computer (LARC), which had access time of less than 1 μs (micro
second) and the total capacity of 100,000,000 words.

 The vacuum deposition of transistors became the norm and entire computer
assemblies became available on tiny “chips”.

 In the 1980s, Very Large-Scale Integration (VLSI) design, in which

hundreds of thousands of transistors were placed on a single chip, became
increasingly common.

 The “shrinking” trend continued with the introduction of personal computers

(PCs), which are programmable machines small enough and inexpensive
enough to be purchased and used by individuals.

 Microprocessors equipped with the Read Only Memory (ROM), which stores
constantly used and unchanging programs, performed an increased number of
functions.

 By the late 1980s, some PCs were run by microprocessors that were capable
of handling 32 bits of data at a time and processing about 4,000,000

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 instructions per second.

 By the 1990s, PCs became part of everyday life. This transformation was the
result of the invention of the microprocessor, a processor on a
single integrated circuit (IC) chip.

GENERATIONS OF COMPUTERS
 In computer terminology, the word generation is described as a stage of
technological development or innovation.

 A major technological development that fundamentally changed the way

computers operate, resulting in increasingly smaller, cheaper, more powerful, and
more efficient and reliable devices, characterizes each generation of computers.

 According to the type of “processor” installed in a machine, there are five

generations of computers.

First Generation (1940 to 1956): Vacuum Tubes

 First-generation computers were vacuum tubes/thermionic valve-based
machines.

 These computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for
memory.

 A magnetic drum is a metal cylinder coated with magnetic iron oxide material on
which data and programs can be stored.

 The input was based on punched cards and paper tape, and the output was in the
form of printouts

 First-generation computers relied on binary-coded language also

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 called machine language (language of 0s and 1s) to perform operations and
were able to solve only one problem at a time.

 Each machine was fed with different binary codes and hence, were difficult to
program. This resulted in lack of versatility and speed.

 In addition, to run on different types of computers, instructions must be

rewritten or recompiled.

Characteristics of First-generation Computers:

1. These computers were based on vacuum tube technology.

2. These were the fastest computing devices of their times (computation time
was in milliseconds).

3. These computers were very large and required a lot of space for installation.

4. Since thousands of vacuum tubes were used, they generated a large amount of
heat. Therefore, air conditioning was essential.

5. These were non-portable and very slow equipments.

6. They lacked in versatility and speed.

7. They were very expensive to operate and used a large amount of electricity.

8. These machines were unreliable and prone to frequent hardware failures.

Hence, constant maintenance was required.

9. Since machine language was used, these computers were difficult to program
and use.

10.Each individual component had to be assembled manually. Hence,

commercial appeal of these computers was poor.

Second Generation (1956 to 1963): Transistors

• Second-generation computers used transistors, which were superior to
vacuum tubes.
• A transistor is made up of semiconductor material like germanium and
silicon.
• It usually has three leads and performs electrical functions such as voltage,
current or power amplification with low power requirements.

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 Since a transistor is a small device, the physical size of computers was greatly
reduced.

 Computers became smaller, faster, cheaper, energy efficient and more reliable
than their predecessors.

 In second-generation computers, magnetic cores were used as the primary

memory and magnetic disks as the secondary storage devices.

 However, they still relied on punched cards for the input and printouts for the
output.

 One of the major developments of this generation includes the progress from
machine language to assembly language.

 Assembly language uses mnemonics (abbreviations) for instructions rather than

numbers,

 For example, ADD for addition and MULT for multiplication. As a result,
programming became less cumbersome.

Characteristics of Second-generation Computers:

1. These machines were based on transistor technology.

2. These were smaller as compared to the first-generation computers.

3. The computational time of these computers was reduced to microseconds

from milliseconds.

4. These were more reliable and less prone to hardware failure. Hence, they
required less frequent maintenance.

5. These were more portable and generated less amount of heat.

6. Assembly language was used to program computers. Hence, programming

became more time-efficient and less cumbersome.

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 7. Second-generation computers still required air conditioning.

8. Manual assembly of individual components into a functioning unit was still

required.

Third Generation (1964 to Early 1970s): Integrated Circuits

• The development of the integrated circuit, also called an IC, was the trait
(characteristic) of the third-generation computers.
• An IC consists of a single chip (usually silicon) with many components such
as transistors and resistors fabricated on it.
• ICs replaced several individually wired transistors. This development made
computers smaller in size, reliable and efficient.
• Instead of punched cards and printouts, users interacted with third-generation
computers through keyboards and monitors, and interfaced with the operating
system.
• This allowed the device to run many different applications simultaneously
with a central program that monitored the memory.
• For the first time, computers became accessible to mass audience because
they were smaller and cheaper than their predecessors.

Characteristics of Third-generation Computers

1. These computers were based on IC technology.

2. These were able to reduce the computational time from microseconds to

nanoseconds.

3. These were easily portable and more reliable than the second-generation
computers.

4. These devices consumed less power and generated less heat. In some cases,
air conditioning was still required.

5. The size of these computers was smaller as compared to previous-generation

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 computers.

6. Since hardware rarely failed, the maintenance cost was quite low.

7. Extensive use of high-level languages became possible.

8. Manual assembling of individual components was not required, so it reduced

the large requirement of labor and cost. However, highly sophisticated
technologies were required for the manufacturing of IC chips.

9. Commercial production became easier and cheaper.

Fourth Generation (Early 1970s to Till Date): Microprocessors

• The fourth generation is an extension of third generation technology.
• Although, the technology of this generation is still based on the IC, these have
been made readily available to us because of the development of the
microprocessor (circuits containing millions of transistors).
• The Intel 4004 chip, which was developed in 1971, took the IC one step
further by locating all the components of a computer (CPU, memory and I/O
controls) on a chip.

• A microprocessor is built on to a single piece of silicon, known as chip. It is

about 0.5 cm along one side and no more than 0.05 cm thick.
• The fourth-generation computers led to an era of Large-Scale Integration
(LSI) and VLSI technology.
• LSI technology allowed thousands of transistors to be constructed on one
small slice of silicon material, whereas VLSI squeezed hundreds of thousands
of components on to a single chip.
• Ultra Large-Scale Integration (ULSI) increased that number to the millions.
This way computers became smaller and cheaper than ever before
• The fourth-generation computers became more powerful, compact, reliable
and affordable.
• The other significant development of this era was that these computers could

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 be linked together to form networks, which eventually led to the development
of the Internet.

Characteristics of Fourth-generation Computers

1. These computers are microprocessor-based systems.
2. These are very small in size.
3. These are the cheapest among all the other generation computers.
4. These are portable and quite reliable.
5. These machines generate negligible amount of heat, hence do not require air
conditioning.
6. Hardware failure is negligible so minimum maintenance is required.
7. The production cost is very low.
8. The GUI and pointing devices enabled users to learn to use the computer
quickly.
9. Interconnection of computers led to better communication and resource
sharing.

Fifth Generation (Present and Beyond): Artificial Intelligence

• The dream of creating a human-like computer that would be capable of
reasoning and reaching at a decision through a series of “what-if-then”
analyses has existed since the beginning of computer technology.
• Such a computer would learn from its mistakes and possess the skill of
experts.
• These are the objectives for creating the fifth generation of computers. The
starting point for the fifth generation of computers had been set in the early
1990s.
• The process of developing fifth-generation computers is still in the
development stage.
• However, the expert system concept is already in use. The expert system is
defined as a computer system that attempts to mimic the thought process and
reasoning of experts in specific areas.
• Three characteristics can be identified with the fifth-generation computers.
These are:
1. Mega Chips: Fifth-generation computers will use Super Large Scale
Integrated (SLSI) chips, which will result in the production of
microprocessors having millions of electronic components on a single
chip.
In order to store instructions and information, fifth-generation computers
require a great amount of storage capacity.
Mega chips may enable the computer to approximate the memory capacity
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 of the human mind.

2. Parallel Processing: Computers with one processor access and execute

only one instruction at a time. This is called serial processing.
However, fifth-generation computers will use multiple processors and
perform parallel processing, thereby accessing several instructions at once
and working on them at the same time.

3. Artificial Intelligence (AI):

It refers to a series of related technologies that try to simulate and
reproduce human behavior, including thinking, speaking and reasoning.
AI comprises a group of related technologies: expert systems (ES), natural
language processing (NLP), speech recognition, vision recognition and
robotics.

CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS

These days, computers are available in many sizes and types.

Some computers can fit in the palm of the hand, while some can occupy the entire
room.
Computers also differ based on their data-processing abilities.
Based on the physical size, performance and application areas, we can generally
divide computers into four major categories:

Microcomputers
• The micro-computer is generally the smallest of the computer family.
• Originally, these were designed for individual users only, but nowadays they
have become powerful tools for many businesses that, when networked
together, can serve more than one user.
• A microcomputer is a small, low-cost digital computer, which usually consists
of a microprocessor, a storage unit, an input channel and an output channel,
all of which may be on one chip inserted into one or several PC boards.

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 • The addition of power supply and connecting cables, appropriate peripherals
(keyboard, monitor, printer, disk drives and others), an operating system and
other software programs can provide a complete microcomputer system.

Desktop Computer:
• The desktop computer, also known as the PC, is principally intended for
stand-alone use by an individual.
• These are the most-common type of micro-computers.
• These micro-computers typically consist of a system unit, a display monitor,
a keyboard, an internal hard disk storage and other peripheral devices.
• The main reason behind the importance of the PCs is that they are not very
expensive for the individuals or the small businesses.

Laptop:
• A laptop is a portable computer that a user can carry around.
• Since the laptop resembles a notebook, it is also known as the notebook
computer.
• Laptops are small computers enclosing all the basic features of a normal
desktop computer.
• The biggest advantage of laptops is that they are lightweight and one can use
them anywhere and at anytime, especially when one is travelling.
• Moreover, they do not need any external power supply as a rechargeable
battery is completely self-contained in them.
• However, they are expensive as compared to desktop computers

Hand-held Computer:
• A hand-held computer such as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) is a
portable computer that can conveniently be stored in a pocket and used while
the user is holding it.
• PDAs are essentially small portable computers and are slightly bigger than the
common calculators.
• A PDA user generally uses a pen or electronic stylus, instead of a keyboard
for input.
• The monitor is very small and is the only apparent form of output.

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 • Since these computers can be easily fitted on the top of the palm, they are also
known as palmtop computers.
• Hand-held computers usually have no disk drive; rather, they use small cards
to store programs and data.
• However, they can be connected to a printer or a disk drive to generate output
or store data.
• They have limited memory and are less powerful as compared to desktop
computers.
• Some examples of hand-held computers are Apple Newton, Casio Cassiopeia
and Franklin eBookMan.

Minicomputers

• In the early 1960s, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) started shipping its
PDP series computer, which the press described and referred to as minicomputers.

• A minicomputer is a small digital computer, which normally is able to process

and store less data than a mainframe but more than a microcomputer, while doing
so less rapidly than a mainframe but more rapidly than a microcomputer.

• A minicomputer (sometimes called a mid-range computer) is designed to meet

the computing needs of several people simultaneously in a small-to medium-
sized business environment.

• It is capable of supporting from four to about 200 simultaneous users.

• It serves as a centralized storehouse for a cluster of workstations or as a network
server.

• Minicomputers are usually multi-user systems so these are used in interactive

applications in industries, research organizations, colleges and universities.

• Some of the widely used minicomputers are PDP 11, IBM (8000 series) and VAX
7500.

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Mainframes
• A mainframe is an ultra-high-performance computer made for high-volume,
processor-intensive computing.
• It consists of a high-end computer processor, with related peripheral devices,
capable of supporting large volumes of data processing, high-performance
online transaction processing, and extensive data storage and retrieval.
• Normally, it is able to process and store more data than a minicomputer and
far more than a microcomputer.
• Moreover, it is designed to perform at a faster rate than a minicomputer and
at even faster rate than a microcomputer.
• Mainframes are the second largest (in capability and size) of the computer
family, the largest being the supercomputers.
• However, mainframes can usually execute many programs simultaneously at
a high speed.
• The mainframe allows its users to maintain a large amount of data storage at
a centralized location and to access and process this data from different
computers located at different locations.
• It is typically used by large businesses and for scientific purposes.
• Some examples of the mainframe are IBM's ES000, VAX 8000 and CDC
6600.

Supercomputers
• Supercomputers are the special-purpose machines, which are especially
designed to maximize the numbers of floating-point operations per second
(FLOPS).
• Any computer below one gigaflop per second is not considered a
supercomputer.
• A supercomputer has the highest processing speed at a given time for solving
scientific and engineering problems.
• Essentially, it contains a number of CPUs that operate in parallel to make it
faster.
• Its processing speed lies in the range 400–10,000 MFLOPS (millions of
floating point operations per second).

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 • Due to this feature, supercomputers help in many applications including
information retrieval and computer-aided designing
• A supercomputer can process a great deal of data and make extensive
calculations very quickly.
• It can resolve complex mathematical equations in a few hours, which would
have taken many years when performed using a paper and pencil or using a
hand calculator.
• It is the fastest, costliest and most powerful computer available today.
• Scientists build complex models and simulate them in a supercomputer.
• However, a supercomputer has limited broad-spectrum use because of its price
and limited market.
• The largest commercial uses of supercomputers are in the
entertainment/advertising industry. CRAY-3, Cyber 205 and PARAM are
some well known supercomputers.

THE COMPUTER SYSTEM

• A computer can be viewed as a system, which consists of a number of
interrelated components that work together with the aim of converting data
into information.
• The general perception of people regarding the computer is that it is an
“intelligent thinking machine”. However, this is not true.

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 • Every computer needs to be instructed exactly what to do and how to do.
• The instructions given to computers are called programs.
• Without programs, computers would be useless. The physical parts that make
up a computer (the CPU, input, output and storage unit) are known
as hardware.
• Any hardware device connected to the computer or any part of the computer
outside the CPU and working memory is known as a peripheral.
• Some examples of peripherals are keyboards, mouse and monitors.

Components of a Computer System

A computer system comprises the following components:
 CPU: This unit performs processing of instructions and data inside the
computer.
 Input Unit: This unit accepts instructions and data.
 Output Unit: This unit communicates the results to the user.
 Storage Unit: This unit stores temporary and final results

Central Processing Unit:

o The CPU, also known as a processor, is the brain of the computer system that
processes data (input) and converts it into meaningful information (output).

o It is referred to as the administrative section of the computer system that

interprets the data and instructions, coordinates the operations, and supervises
the instructions.

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 o The CPU works with data in discrete form, that is, either 1 or 0.

o It counts, lists, compares and rearranges the binary digits of data in accordance
with the detailed program instructions stored within the memory.

o Eventually, the results of these operations are translated into characters,

numbers and symbols that can be understood by the user.

The CPU itself has three parts:

o Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
o Control Unit
o Registers

Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)

o This unit performs the arithmetic (add, subtract) and logical operations (and,
or) on the data made available to it.

o Whenever an arithmetic or logical operation is to be performed, the required

data are transferred from the memory unit to the ALU, the operation is
performed and the result is returned to the memory unit.

o Before the completion of the processing, data may need to be transferred back
and forth several times between these two sections.

Control Unit
o This unit checks the correctness of the sequence of operations.

o It fetches the program instructions from the memory unit, interprets them and
ensures correct execution of the program.

o It also controls the I/O devices and directs the overall functioning of the other
units of the computer.

Registers
o These are the special-purpose, high-speed temporary memory units that can
hold varied information such as data, instructions, addresses and intermediate
results of calculations.

o Essentially, they hold the information that the CPU is currently working on.

o The Registers can be considered as the CPU’s working memory, an additional

storage location that provides the advantage of speed.

Input, Output and Storage Unit

o The user must enter instructions and data into the computer system before any

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 operation can be performed on the given data.

o Similarly, after processing the data, the information must go out from the
computer system to the user.

o For this, every computer system incorporates the I/O unit that serves as a
communication medium between the computer system and the user.

o An input unit accepts instructions and data from the user with the help of input
devices such as keyboard, mouse, light pen, etc.

o Since the data and instructions entered through different input devices will be
in different form, the input unit converts them into the form that the computer
can understand.

o After this, the input unit supplies the converted instructions and data to the
computer for further processing.

o The output unit performs just opposite to that of input unit.

o It accepts the output (which is in machine-coded form) produced by the

computer, converts them into the user-understandable form and supplies the
converted results to the user with the help of an output device such as printer,
monitor and plotter.

o A computer system incorporates a storage unit to store the input entered

through the input unit before processing starts and to store the results produced
by the computer before supplying them to the output unit.

The storage unit of a computer comprises two types of memory/storage:

 Primary
 Secondary

o The primary memory, also called the main memory, is the part of a computer
that holds the instructions and data currently being processed by the CPU, the
intermediate results produced during the course of calculations and the
recently processed data.

o While the instructions and data remain in the main memory, the CPU can
access them directly and quickly.

o However, the primary memory is quite expensive and has a limited storage
capacity.

o Due to the limited size of the primary memory, a computer employs the
secondary memory, which is extensively used for storing data and

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 instructions.

o It supplies the stored information to the other units of the computer as and
when required.

o It is less expensive and has higher storage capacity than the primary memory.

o Some commonly used secondary storage devices are floppy disks, hard disks
and tape drives.

How Does a Computer Work?

o A computer performs three basic steps to complete any task: input,
processing and output.
o A task is assigned to a computer in a set of step-by-step instructions, which is
known as a program.
o These instructions tell the computer what to do with the input in order to
produce the required output.

A computer functions in the following manner:

Step 1
o The computer accepts the input.
o “The computer input is whatever entered or fed into a computer system.”
o The input can be supplied by the user (such as by using a keyboard) or by
another computer or device (such as a diskette or CD-ROM).
o Some examples of input include the words and symbols in a document,
numbers for a calculation, instructions for completing a process, and so on.

Step 2
o The computer processes the data.
o During this stage, the computer follows the instructions using the data that
have been input.
o Examples of processing include calculations, sorting lists of words or numbers
and modifying documents according to user instructions.

Step 3
o The computer produces output.
o Computer output is the information that has been produced by a computer.
o Some examples of computer output include reports, documents and graphs.
o Output can be in several formats, such as printouts, or displayed on the screen

APPLICATIONS OF COMPUTERS
o In the last few decades, computer technology has revolutionized the businesses
and other aspects of human life all over the world.

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 o Practically, every company, large or small, is now directly or indirectly
dependent on computers for data processing.
o Computer systems also help in the efficient operation of railway and airway
reservation, hospital records, accounts, electronic banking and so on.
o Computers not only save time, but also save paper work.

Some of the areas where computers are being used are listed below:
o Science: Scientists have been using computers to develop theories, to analyze
and to test the data.
The fast speed and the accuracy of the computer allow different scientific
analyses to be carried out.
They can be used to generate detailed studies of how earthquakes affect
buildings or pollution affects weather pattern.
Satellite-based applications would not have been possible without the use of
computers.
It would also not be possible to get the information of our solar system and the
cosmos without computers.

o Education: Computers have also revolutionized the whole process of

education.
Currently, the classrooms, libraries and museums are utilizing computers to
make the education much more interesting.
Unlike recorded television shows, computer-aided education (CAE) and
computer-based training (CBT) packages are making learning much more
interactive.

o Medicine and Healthcare: There has been an increasing use of computers in

the field of medicine.
Now, doctors are using computers right from diagnosing the illness to
monitoring a patient’s status during complex surgery.
By using automated imaging techniques, doctors are able to look inside a
person’s body and can study each organ in detail , which was not possible few
years ago.

o Engineering/Architecture/Manufacturing: The architects and engineers are

extensively using computers in designing and drawings.
Computers can create objects that can be viewed from all the three dimensions.
By using techniques like virtual reality, architects can explore houses that have
been designed but not built.
Thus, computers help in coordinating the entire manufacturing process.

o Entertainment: Computers are finding greater use in the entertainment

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 industry.
They are used to control the images and sounds. The special effects, which
mesmerize the audience, would not have been possible without the computers.
In addition, computerized animation and colorful graphics have modernized
the film industry.

o Communication: E-mail or electronic mail is one of the communication

media in which computers are used.
Through an e-mail, messages and reports are passed from one person to one or
more persons with the aid of computers and telephone lines.
The advantage of this service is that while transferring the messages it saves
time, avoids wastage of paper, and so on.
Moreover, the person who is receiving the messages can read the messages
whenever he is free and can save it, reply it, forward it or delete it from the
computer.

o Business Application: There are various concerns for which computers are
used such as in business forecasting, to prepare pay bills and personal records,
in banking operations and data storage, in various types of life insurance
business, and as an aid to management.
Businesses are also using the networking of computers, where a number of
computers are connected together to share the data and the information.
Use of an e-mail and the Internet has changed the ways of doing business.

o Publishing: Computers have created a field known as Desktop Publishing

(DTP).
In DTP, with the help of a computer and a laser printer one can perform the
publishing job all by oneself.
Many of the tasks requiring long manual hours, such as making a table of
contents and an index, can be automatically performed using the computers
and DTP software.

o Banking: In the field of banking and finance, computers are extensively used.
People can use the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) services 24 hours a day
in order to deposit and withdraw cash.
When the different branches of the bank are connected through the computer
networks, the inter-branch transactions, such as drawing cheques and making
drafts, can be performed by the computers without any delay

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