MIS, 11e

Module 2: Computers and

Their Business Applications

Bidgoli, MIS, 11th Edition. © 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 1
 Module Objectives (1 of 2)

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

• Define a computer system and its components.
• Analyze the impact of the three factors distinguishing the computing
power of computers.
• Summarize the three basic computer operations.
• Discuss the types of input, output, and memory devices.

Bidgoli, MIS, 11th Edition. © 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 2
 Defining a Computer

A computer is a machine that:

• Accepts data as input
• Processes data without human intervention using stored instructions
• Outputs information
The instructions (or a program) are:
• Step-by-step directions for performing a specific task
• Written in a language the computer can understand

Bidgoli, MIS, 11th Edition. © 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 3
Exhibit 2.1 - The Building Blocks of a Computer

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Components of a Computer System (1 of 5)

Main (primary) memory – store data and instructions

Central processing unit (CPU) - heart of a computer
• Arithmetic logic unit (ALU)
− Performs arithmetic operations (+, -, *, /) and
comparison or relational operations (<, >, =)
• Control unit
− Tells the computer what to do

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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 5
Components of a Computer System (2 of 5)

Single processor – One CPU in a single computer

Multiprocessors – Two or more CPUs in a single computer

Bidgoli, MIS, 11th Edition. © 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 6
Components of a Computer System (5 of 5)

Disk drive – Peripheral device for writing and reading data.

CPU case – Chassis or tower; an enclosure for computer components.

Motherboard – Main circuit board to attach CPU, memory, serial and

parallel ports, expansion slots, etc.

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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 7
Exhibit 2.2 - Components of a Computer System

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 The Power of Computers

Three factors:
• Speed
• Accuracy
• Storage and retrieval capabilities

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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 9
 Speed

Computer speed is measured as the number of instructions performed

per fractions of a second.
• Millisecond: 1/1,000 of a second
• Microsecond: 1/1,000,000 of a second
• Nanosecond: 1/1,000,000,000 of a second
• Picosecond: 1/1,000,000,000,000 of a second

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 Accuracy

• Degree of accuracy is critical in many computer applications

• Human vs computer
− Human may round up to 4.0
− Computer will see all decimal points like 4.00000000000000001

Bidgoli, MIS, 11th Edition. © 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 11
 Storage and Retrieval

• Storage: saving data in memory

• Retrieval: accessing data from memory
• Data is stored in bits
− 1 bit = 0 or 1
− 8 bits = 1 byte = size of a character = “a”

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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 12
 Knowledge Check Activity 2-1

How many bytes are in 1 gigabyte of data?

a. 1,000,000,000
b. 1,000
c. 1,000,000
d. 1,000,000,000,000

Bidgoli, MIS, 11th Edition. © 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 13
 Knowledge Check Activity 2-1: Answer

How many bytes are in 1 gigabyte of data?

Answer: 1,000,000,000
1 billion bytes equal 1 gigabyte of data

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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 14
 Input, Output, and Memory Devices

Three major components to using a computer and processing data:

• Input
• Output
• Memory

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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 15
 Input Devices

• Send data and information to the computer

− Keyboard
− Mouse
− Touch screen
− Stylus
− Trackball
− Barcode reader
− Optical character reader (OCR)
− Data tablet
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− Magnetic
publiclyink character
accessible website, in whole recognition
or in part. (MICR) system 16
 Output Devices

• “Soft Copy” displays – displayed on a screen

− CRT, LCD, OLED screens
• “Hard Copy” displays – displayed on print
− Inkjet, Laser printers
• Other output devices include:
− Plotters – to convert output to graphics
− Voice synthesizers – to convert output to voice

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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 17
 Memory Devices

Memory stores data and information

• Main memory
− Usually, volatile - contents are lost when electrical power is turned
off (e.g., RAM)
• Secondary memory
− Nonvolatile - holds data when the computer is off or during course
of a program's operation

Bidgoli, MIS, 11th Edition. © 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 18
 Summary

Now that the lesson has ended, you should be able to:
• Define a computer system and its components.
• Analyze the impact of the three factors distinguishing the computing
power of computers.
• Summarize the three basic computer operations.
• Discuss the types of input, output, and memory devices.

Bidgoli, MIS, 11th Edition. © 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 19