NOTE TAKING FOR 1.1 TO 1.

 SECTION 1: COMPUTER FUNDAMENTALS AND

INFORMATION PROCESSING

GENERAL OBJECTIVES

On completion of this Section, students should:

1. develop an understanding of the fundamental hardware and software components

and the interrelationship among them;

2. develop expertise in evaluating computer systems; and,

3. develop an understanding of basic information processing principles.

COMPUTER FUNDAMENTALS

1.1 Explain the Concept of Information Technology

Definition of Information Technology: the study or use of systems (especially computers

and telecommunications) for storing, retrieving, and sending information.

Scope of Information Technology: After completing IT, students can seek jobs like IBM,
Microsoft, Cisco, etc. Here, some of the job profiles served by candidates after
attaining a degree in the IT industry have been highlighted: Computer Programmer.

1.2 Distinguish among the Major Types of Computer Systems in

Terms of Processing Speed, Storage and Portability

(a) Super Computers (for example, Cray).

Processing Speed: 100 to 900 MIPS

Storage: 200-300 gigabytes

Portability: Not portable

(b) Mainframes (for example, IBM Enterprise System)

Processing Speed: 3-4 MIPS to as high as 100 MIPS.

Storage: 32 Megabytes

Portability: Not portable

(c) Desktop systems

Processing Speed: 1.5 GHz

Storage: 300 GB

Portability: Not portable

(d) Mobile device

Laptops Processing Speed: 3.5 GHz to 4.0
GHz

Storage: 500 GB to 1 TB

Portability: Portable

Notebooks Processing Speed: 3.5 GHz to 4.0

GHz

Storage: 1 TB

Portability: Portable
Netbooks Processing Speed: 3.5 GHz to 4.0
GHz

Storage: 20 GB to 120 GB

Portability: Portable
Smartphones Processing Speed: 1.8 GHz to 2.2
GHz

Storage: 32 GB to 128 GB

Portability: Very Portable

Tablets Processing Speed: 1.3 GHz
 Storage: 8 GB to 32 GB

Portability: Portable
Game consoles Processing Speed: 2.0 GHz

Storage: 500 GB

Portability: Portable

(e) Embedded devices special-purpose systems

Controllers in microwaves Processing Speed: 300 MHz

Storage: 32 bytes of RAM

Portability: Not portable

Car ignition systems Processing Speed: 0.7 to 3 seconds

Storage: Not found

Portability: Not portable

Answering Machines Processing Speed: Not found

Storage: Not found

Portability: Portable

1.3 Explain the Functions of the Major Hardware Components of a

Computer System

Hardware (Major Components) Functions

Input To communicate information to a computer or
other sort of information processing
equipment.
Central Processing Unit The electronic circuitry that executes
instructions comprising a computer program.
The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic,
controlling, and input/output (I/O) operations
specified by the instructions in the program.
RAM (Primary Memory) Gives applications a place to store and
access data on a short-term basis. It stores
the information your computer is actively
 using so that it can be accessed quickly.
ROM (Primary Memory) A type of computer storage containing non-
volatile, permanent data that, normally, can
only be read, not written to. ROM contains
the programming that allows a computer to
start up or regenerate each time it is turned
on.
Secondary Storage The long-term retention of data in a computer
system. Unlike primary storage, or what we
refer to as memory, secondary storage is
non-volatile.
Output Converts information into human readable
form. It can be text, graphics, tactile, audio,
and video.

Secondary Storage Devices Functions

Hard disk Stores all of your digital content. Your
documents, pictures, music, videos,
programs, application preferences, and
operating system represent digital content
stored on a hard drive
Magnetic tape Used to capture speech and music, and
magnetic videotape provides a low-cost
medium for recording analog voice and video
signals directly and simultaneously.
Flash drive Used for storage, data back-up and
transferring of computer files.
Memory card Used for storing digital media, such as photos
and videos.
Compact disk/CD (Optical Disk) Used to record, store and play back
audio, video and other data in digital
form.
Digital Versatile disk/DVD (Optical Disk) Used for storing digital data. It is the same
size as a CD, but has a larger storage
capacity.
Blu-Ray (Optical Disk) It is designed to supersede the DVD format,
and capable of storing several hours of high-
definition video.

Units of Storage No. of bits/bytes Functions

Bits 0.125/0,000125 Bits convert the byte at the specified byte
position into an eight character string of ones
and zeros.
Bytes 8/0.008 A byte is the unit most computers use to
represent a character such as a letter,
number or typographic symbol
Kilobytes 8000/8 A kilobyte stores data in binary form, the
language used by most computers to
interpret and synthesize information.
Megabytes 8e+6/1e+6 Megabytes are often used to measure the
size of large files.
Gigabytes 8e+9/1e+9 A gigabyte has been a common unit of
 capacity measurement for data storage
products
Terabytes 8e+12/1e+12 A terabyte (TB) is a unit of digital information
storage used to denote the size of data.

1.4 Explain how the Major Hardware Components of a Computer

System Interrelate

(IPOS) cycle

Input- something entered into a machine or other system, the act of entering data or
other information.

Processing- operate on (data) by means of a program.

Output- a place where power or information leaves a system.

Storage- the retention of retrievable data on a computer or other electronic system.