CHAPTER 19 BASICS OF COMPUTERS

COMMUNICATING THROUGH COMPUTERS Computers are much more widely used now Taken for granted Virtually everywhere in all parts of life

SPEED OF COMMUNICATION Computers are expensive in the beginning, but pay for themselves Time saved Increased productivity Businesses find more and more uses for computers Track appointments, telephone numbers Track all records of a business Record data and use to make decisions

TYPES OF COMPUTERS Laptops, cell phones, pagers used to be separate Personal Data Assistant (PDA)/Smart Phone – handheld computer with internet capabilities Voice recorder, calendar, appointment book Can also now combine with phone and MP4 iPAD, iPhone, Blackberry, Android

New Technologies Syncing phones/computers DO NOT SYNC your phone with D150 computers!!! Anything you do online at D150 is tracked---wired or wireless Private vs open browsing Deny Logs-

COMPUTER TYPES (cont.) Desktop computer – most common Linked together in one of two ways Mainframe Network computing system Allows workers to share files, data, and resources within the company

COMPUTER TYPES (cont.) Computerized cash registers Bar code readers at UPS, Post Office, airport luggage routers Scanners – laser or infrared optic device to read bar codes Diagnostic computers for cars Editing computers for movies and special effects

PARTS OF A COMPUTER All computers controlled by instructions Four main parts Software People Data Hardware

COMPUTER PARTS (cont.) Software – tells the computer what to do Takes the data and turns it into information however the user (human) tells it to Data can be letters, sound, graphics, or numbers Hardware – the physical parts of a computer Includes processor, memory, input & output devices and storage devices

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PROCESSORS Brain of computer Carries out instructions, calculations, and logical comparisons at high speeds Millions of instructions per second Located in Central Processing Unit (CPU) and consists of small silicon chips

MEMORY Called Random Access Memory (RAM) Loads all instructions for computer to carry out functions you need RAM is active as long as computer is on Measured in bytes Chart on Page 302 Megabyte (MB) is 1 million bytes

INPUT & OUTPUT DEVICES Computer is useless without these Only way to get data into or out of a computer Input – anything that puts data into a computer Output – anything that gets data out of a computer

STORAGE DEVICES Save and hold information Take data from RAM and put them into permanent storage The “file cabinet” of the computer Some are portable – flash drives, floppy disks, CD-ROM drives, ZIP drives Software transferred from computer to computer via storage devices

TYPES OF SOFTWARE Word Processing Programs – Microsoft Word, Corel Word Perfect Spreadsheet Programs – Lotus 1-2-3 and Microsoft Excel Accounting Programs – Peachtree and Quickbooks Database Programs – Microsoft Access, Corel Paradox

MORE TYPES Graphics and Presentation Programs – PowerPoint and Harvard Graphics Communications Programs – Microsoft Outlook, Snapchat, Twitter Groupware – Lotus Notes Web Page Programs – Macromedia Dreamweaver, Microsoft FrontPage Desktop publishing: InDesign/Photoshop Video Editing: Imovie, Final Cut

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WORD PROCESSING Most common use of computer for business Change way document looks as you make it Can combine with desktop publishing Desktop publishing makes newsletters, graphical handouts, magazines, brochures, programs for sport events

SPREADSHEETS Computerized worksheet Can create different business scenarios, change them with the click of one button and have all the values change Possibly most powerful of all software programs

ACCOUNTING Businesses buying software to do their own accounting Keep track of all payments and cash received for business Can even write checks on computer Modified database and spreadsheet combination

DATABASES Collection of data that relates to other data in some way to create information Group data in ways that mean something to business Absolutely necessary to understand databases in business

GRAPHICS AND PRESENTATIONS Make professional presentations Adding graphics to emphasize points Special effects and colors make presentations more enjoyable and effective

COMMUNICATIONS Any software that allows you to communicate using the computer E-mail, chatting While distracting and time wasting, are also effective ways to communicate within an office Some can even fax to/from the computer (no paper)

GROUPWARE Also called project management software Makes it easier for team members to work together on same project Keeps all team members informed at once Instant updates on progress, costs, etc.

WEB PAGE Making data available on the internet Shares your data with other businesses Gets your information to customers