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INTRODUCTION
1
to INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY: The Future Now
Chapter Topics & Key Questions

UNIT 1A: The Mobile World, Information Technology, & Your Life
1.1 Information Technology & Your Life: The Future Now What is information
technology, and how does it affect education, health, money, leisure, government,
and careers?
1.2 Information Technology Is Pervasive: Cellphones, Email, the Internet,
& the E-World How does information technology facilitate email, networks, and
the use of the Internet and the web; what is the meaning of the term cyberspace?

UNIT 1B: The Basics of Information Technology

1.3 The Practical User: How Becoming Tech Smart Benefits You What does
being tech smart mean, and what are its practical payoffs?

1.4 The “All-Purpose Machine”: The Varieties of Computers What are the dif-
ferent sizes of computers, and what are clients and servers?

1.5 Understanding Your Computer What four basic operations do all computers
use, and what are some of the devices associated with each operation? How does
communications affect these operations?

1.6 Where Is Information Technology Headed? What are three directions of

computer development and three directions of communications development?

Download the free

UIT 11e App for key
term flash cards
quizzes and a game,
Over the Edge

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CHAPTER FORECAST In this chapter we begin by discussing how

computing and the Internet affect your life. We then discuss smartphones, the
Internet, the World Wide Web, and other aspects of the electronic world (e-world).
Next we describe how being smart about information technology can benefit you,
and then we cover the varieties of computers. We then explain three key concepts
behind how a computer works and what goes into a personal computer, both
hardware and software. We conclude by describing three directions of computer
development and three directions of communications development. All these
concepts are discussed in greater detail in subsequent chapters.

UNIT 1A: The Mobile World, Information

Technology, & Your Life
“Mobile computing . . . will be the catalyst that brings society the most
dramatic changes of the Information Revolution.”

So writes Michael Saylor, author of The Mobile Wave.1 The information revolution that
began with writing on clay tablets, then continued through the invention of the print-
ing press, radio and TV, and room-size and desktop computers, is now at a “tipping
point,” he asserts. Now mobile devices such as smartphones—cellphones with built-in
applications, multimedia capability, and Internet access—and tablet computers—
wireless portable computers primarily operated by a touch screen—are changing
nearly everything we do.
Consider the example below, the first in a number of “mini-cases,” business related and
otherwise, that we present in this book:

 TECH TALES The Rise of Mobile Computing: The Getting-Smarter

Smartphone
While growing up, Nick Bilton noticed that as his father aged, his wallet
expanded as he added new credit cards, membership cards, family photos,
stamps, tickets, and other things—until it became so large that he would
pull it out of his back pocket when he sat down, “dropping it on the table
like a brick,” Bilton says.2
However, for Bilton, a New York Times technology columnist, it’s been the
reverse experience: Each year his wallet has become slimmer. “Things that
once belonged there have been [taken over] by my smartphone,” he reports,
to the point where “I realized I didn’t need to carry a wallet anymore. My
smartphone had replaced almost everything in it.”
Today Bilton’s address books, calendars, maps, music players, and photos
have all been absorbed into his smartphone. So have most identification
cards—customer cards, gym membership ID, insurance cards, and so on—
which now exist as photos carried in the phone. Movie tickets, coupons, and
airline boarding passes also can be stored as replicas.
The only two non–mobile phone items Bilton carries are his driver’s license
and a bank debit card (instead of cash). “But I’m confident,” he says, “that
Chapter 1

those, too, will disappear someday” and become part of the smartphone. 
It would be simplistic, however, to predict that we’ll be doing all our computing
on just smartphones and tablets anytime soon. As one writer points out, “Heavier pro-
ductivity tasks—like, you know, typing—are still much easier to pull off on standard
2
laptops and desktops.”3 Moreover, the uses of smartphones and other portable devices

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cannot be truly mastered without understanding their huge

supporting infrastructure of computing and communications
technologies—the subjects of the rest of this book.
Even so, people ages 16 to 39, members of the “Millennial
Generation,” who generally spend eight hours a day or more
looking at various screens—on cellphones, on computers, on
TVs—generally have a head start on computer technology.4
They are, as one anthropologist called them, “digital natives” or
computer-technology natives, constantly busy with text messag-
ing, email, and the Internet, the global “network of networks,”
and its most well-known feature, the multimedia World Wide
Web—the “Web” or “web,” with its massive collection of web-
sites, or related collections of files.5 Indeed, among college
students, 98% are Internet users and 92% are wireless (laptop or “Well, I keep busy.” Multiple electronic devices allow
cellphone) users.6 While their parents continue to shop in retail people to multitask, or do multiple tasks simultaneously—
stores (often using clipped-out paper coupons), Millennials are sometimes too many tasks.
more likely than older shoppers (by 50% vs. 21%7) to check out
brands on social networks—sites on the World Wide Web such as Facebook and Twitter
that (as we’ll describe) allow users to interact and develop communities around similar
interests—and use mobile devices to research products and compare prices.
In addition, Millennials are 2½ times more likely than older generations to be early
adopters of technology.8 This is a good thing, because we live in what Tom Peters, author
of In Search of Excellence, calls discontinuous times, or “a brawl with no rules,” where
dealing with change is an ongoing challenge.9 Others speak of the “disruptive” effect of
computers and their software that “is going to eat not just the technology industry but
every industry systematically.”10
What are the developments that have led to these turbulent times? The answer is infor-
mation technology. Information technology (IT) is a general term that describes any
technology that helps produce, manipulate, store, communicate, and/or disseminate
information. Of the top 30 innovations from 1969 to 2009, according to a panel of profes-
sionals at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, most were related to information
technology.11 (• See Panel 1.1.) Among the first items on their list, for example, are (1) the
Internet, broadband, and the World Wide Web; (2) PC and laptop computers; (3) mobile
phones (cellphones); and (4) email. Indeed, the Internet, along with semiconductors

1. Internet, broadband, World Wide Web 16. Media file compression panel 1.1
2. PC and laptop computers 17. Microfinance
Top innovations in recent
3. Mobile phones 18. Photovoltaic solar energy years
4. Email 19. Large-scale wind turbines The majority (23 of the
5. DNA testing and sequencing 20. Internet social networking 30) are in the field of

Introduction to Information Technology

6. Magnetic resonance imaging 21. Graphic user interface information technology.
7. Microprocessors 22. Digital photography
8. Fiber optics 23. RFID and applications
9. Office software 24. Genetically modified plants
10. Laser/robotic surgery 25. Biofuels
11. Open-source software 26. Barcodes and scanners
12. Light-emitting diodes 27. ATMs
13. Liquid crystal display 28. Stents
14. GPS devices 29. SRAM flash memory
15. E-commerce and auctions 30. Antiretroviral treatment for AIDS

To be more than just a new invention, an event was defined as an innovation if it created more opportunities
for growth and development and if it had problem-solving value.
Source: Adapted from “A World Transformed: What Are the Top 30 Innovations of the Last 30 Years?”
Knowledge@Wharton, February 18, 2009, http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid52163
(accessed May 10, 2013). 3

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(processors), is said to rank among the 15 greatest innovations in all history, as important
as the invention of the number zero, money, printing, and participatory democracy.12
Unlike previous generations, you live in a world of pervasive computing or ubiquitous
computing—computing is everywhere. The basis for this phenomenon is the Internet, the
“Net” or “net,” that sprawling global connection of smaller computer networks that enable
data transmission at high speeds. Everything that presently exists on a personal computer,
experts suggest, will move onto the Internet, giving us greater mobility and involving the
Internet even more closely in our lives.13 Already, in fact, the United States has more devices
connecting to the Internet than it has people—425 million smartphones, tablets, personal
computers, and gaming consoles divided among the USA’s 311.5 million residents.14

1.1 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & YOUR LIFE:

The Future Now
Information technology affects almost all aspects of our lives,
including education, health, finance, recreation and entertainment,
government, jobs and careers, and your personal life.
This book is about computers, of course. But not just about computers. It is also about
the way computers communicate with one another. When computer and communications
technologies are combined, the result is information technology, or “infotech.” Information
technology (IT), we said, is a general term that describes any technology that helps pro-
duce, manipulate, store, communicate, and/or disseminate information. IT merges comput-
ing with high-speed communications links carrying data, sound, and video. Examples of
information technology include personal computers but also various forms of handheld
devices, televisions, appliances, and other machines.

Two Parts of IT: Computers & Communications

Information technology comprises both computer technology and
communications technology.
Note that there are two important parts to information technology—computers and
communications.

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY You likely know what a computer is, but to get to a formal
definition: a computer is a programmable, multiuse machine that accepts data—raw
facts and figures—and processes, or manipulates, it into information we can use,
such as summaries, totals, or reports. Its main purpose is to speed up problem solving and
increase productivity.

COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY Communications technology, also called tele-

communications technology, consists of electromagnetic devices and systems for com-
municating over any distance. The principal examples are telephone, radio, satellite,
broadcast television, and cable TV. We also have communication among computers—
which is what happens when people “go online” on the Internet. Online means using a
computer or some other information device, connected through a network, to access
information and services from another computer or information device. A network
is a communications system connecting two or more computers; the Internet is the
largest such network.
Information technology is already affecting your life in multiple ways, of course, and
will do so even more in the future. Let’s consider how.

Education: The Promise of More Interactive

Chapter 1

& Individualized Learning

Education has become heavily involved in information technology.

4
Education pays, with recent college graduates having lower rates of unemployment,
higher earnings, and better career prospects than their lesser educated peers.15 At every

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level, the education system benefits from information technology, whether it’s online sys-
tems allowing families to track their elementary students’ grades, high schools enabling Sur v i v al T i p
use of smartphones for students to get help on assignments, or colleges offering free
Online Colleges and
online education.16 Accreditation
For-profit institutions are
 TECH TALES Technology in Education: Adjusting Instructor Presentations not accredited by the same
to the Students standards as traditional not-
for-profit universities. Often
In her physics classes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the course work in these pro-
Professor Gabriella Sciolla’s high-tech classroom has whiteboards and prietary schools is not eligible
huge display screens instead of blackboards. The professor can make for transfer into traditional
schools. For more information
brief presentations of general principles and then throw out multiple-choice
on how schools are accredited:
questions that students “vote” on, using wireless “personal response
www2.ed.gov/admins/finaid/
clickers.” accred/index.html

These devices transmit the answers to a computer monitored by the http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/

professor, helping her gauge the level of understanding in the room. “You www.guidetoonlineschools.com/
online-schools
know where they are,” she says. She can then adjust, slow down, or engage
http://chronicle.com/article/
students in guided discussions of their answers.17 Online-Programs-Face-
In her mathematics classes at Hillcrest High School in Greenville, South New/129608/

Carolina, teacher Jennifer Southers has flipped education upside-down. www.prweb.com/releases/2012/

non-profit/prweb9090071.htm
Instead of coming to school and listening to a lecture in class and then
http://distancelearn.about.com/od/
going home to try out what they learned, her students first listen to an onlinecourses/a/Are-For-Profit-
online video lecture at home before class and then come to class where Online-Colleges-A-Rip-Off.htm
they can apply their knowledge with their teacher there to help them.
“The level of frustration has almost disappeared completely on those
lessons when we do that,” says Southers.18 

THE USES OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN COLLEGE When properly integrated more

into the curriculum and the classroom, information technology can (1) allow students to
info!
personalize their education, (2) automate many tedious and rote tasks of teaching and man- From now on, whenever you
aging classes, and (3) reduce the teacher’s workload per student, so that the teacher can see the more info! icon in the
spend more time on reaching individual students.19 For instance, email, or “electronic margin, you’ll find information
about Internet sites to visit and
mail,” messages transmitted over a computer network, most often the Internet, are how to search for terms related
used by students to set up appointments with professors (62%), discuss grades (58%), or to the topic just discussed.
get clarification of an assignment (75%).20
Besides using the Internet to help in teaching, today’s college instructors also use
presentation graphics software such as PowerPoint to show their lecture outlines and
other materials on classroom screens (as we discuss
in Chapter 3). In addition, they use Blackboard, It’s
Learning, Inc., and other course-management soft-
ware (CMS) (or learning management systems) for
administering online assignments, individual learn-

Introduction to Information Technology

ing plans, schedules, examinations, and grades.

ONLINE LEARNING One of the most signifi-

cant developments in education at all levels is the
rise of distance learning, or online learning, or
e-learning, the names given to online education
programs, which at the college level counted over
6.7 million students taking at least one online course
in 2012.21 A relatively recent development was the
appearance of free online courses called massive
open online courses, or MOOCs.22 Examples are
courses offered by companies such as Coursera,
edX, Udacity, and Udemy, which feature offerings Interactive education. Interactive whiteboard math class. A whiteboard is
from Princeton, Stanford, Brown, Duke, Columbia, a white surface with multitouch, multiuser, and pen/stylus functionalities
and other universities. that also displays the contents of a computer screen. A projector projects
E-learning has also propelled the rise of for- the computer’s desktop onto the board’s surface. The board is typically
5
profit institutions, such as Colorado Technical mounted to a wall or floor stand.

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Avatar. The simulated depictions of humans are a staple not only of videogames but also of computerized training
programs. (What culture does “avatar” come from? See www.answers.com/topic/avatar?cat5technology.)

Institute, Kaplan University, Strayer University, and the University of Phoenix. More
than a third of institutions of higher education—and 97% of public universities—offer
more info! online courses, and many have attracted on-campus students, who say they like the
flexibility of not having to attend their classes at a set time.23
Online Colleges E-learning has been put to such varied uses as bringing career and technical courses to
The following websites provide high school students in remote prairie towns, pairing gifted science students with master
detailed information about get- teachers in other parts of the country, and helping busy professionals obtain further cre-
ting college degrees online: dentials outside business hours.
www.onlinecollegedegrees.net/
www.earnmydegree.com/index. TUTORING, SIMULATION, & AVATARS But the reach of information technology into
html education has only begun. “Intelligent tutoring systems” software is now available that
www.classesusa.com/indexall/?ca gives students individualized instruction when personal attention is scarce—such as
mpusType5online
the software Cognitive Tutor, which not only helps high school students to improve
www.guidetoonlineschools.com/
their performance in math but also sparks them to enjoy a subject they might have once
www.usdla.org/
disliked.
http://distancelearn.about.com/
(includes information about bad In colleges, more students may use interactive simulation games, such as McGraw-
programs, called diploma mills) Hill’s Business Strategy Game, to apply their knowledge to real-world kinds of prob-
www.distancelearning.com/ lems. And employees in company training programs may find themselves engaged in
www.elearners.com/resources/ mock conversations with avatars—computer depictions of humans, as are often found
in online videogames—that represent imaginary customers and coworkers, combining
the best parts of computer-based learning with face-to-face interaction. An avatar is also
part of your online representation of yourself; it gives other users a “face” to go with
your username (“online name”).
more info!
Health: High Tech for Wellness
Carnegie Learning’s
Cognitive Tutor
Computers are now often used in the fields of health and medicine.
Software “Digital technology—on phones and tablets, in electronic record keeping, and in a host of
www.carnegielearning.com/specs/ clinical innovations—is transforming medicine in virtually every way,” says one account.
cognitive-tutor-overview/ “Not the least of the changes is the shifting relationship between doctors and patients.”24
(For now we use the word digital to mean “computer-based.”)

TELEMEDICINE Telemedicine—medical care delivered via telecommunications—has

been around for some time. For example, physicians in rural areas lacking local access to
Chapter 1

radiologists have used “teleradiology” to exchange computerized images such as X-rays

via telephone-linked networks with expert physicians in metropolitan areas. Now telemed-
icine is moving to an exciting new level, as the use of digital cameras and sound, in effect,
moves patients to doctors rather than the reverse.
6

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PRACTICAL ACTION
How to Be a Successful Online Student

1. Familiarize yourself with the computer and software. time. You may feel that taking
Be comfortable with the computer, Internet, email, web an online course will free up your
browser, and search engine software. Use tutorials to time for other tasks. If you are feeling
become familiar with the software used by your online overwhelmed by other responsibilities, such as work
school. or family obligations, then perhaps you had better
Take advantage of technology. Learn the various postpone your involvement. Online courses require as
ways of communicating on the web. Blogging, podcast- much and often more personal preparation time than
ing, videoconferencing, and chatting (discussed later on-campus courses. Everything that you would normally
in the book) are tools that will help you with online communicate by speech in class must be typed in an
studying. online course.
2. Do you have regular access to the Internet? Do you 7. You will need good written communication skills. Remem-
have your own email account? It is necessary to maintain ber, your primary means of communication is through
regular communication with the instructor with whom you writing. Being able to send well-structured messages
are taking the course. You must be able to answer your and essays will help with the communication process.
email quickly during the school week, which means within 8. Pay attention to detail, particularly when following
24 hours after receipt. And you should be able to suc- written directions. Assignments, projects, and so on
cessfully send and receive email with attachments. Stu- are posted in written form. Grades are drawn from work
dents must have a reliable Internet service provider (ISP) accomplished as directed. When grading assignments,
and email account before the start of class. (Students the instructor will look for competence in the work
are often required to use a school email account.) submitted. This means that all the required steps were
3. Read every document within your syllabus within the followed and presented in a professional manner.
first five days of your online course. This is usually the 9. Create a private study area. This will help you to focus
time to begin introducing yourself to your classmates on your studies without distractions and ensure that
and instructor and to start asking questions concerning others do not to disturb you while you are in your study
the expectations described in the syllabus. You need to area. Keep all your study materials here, so you know
know what is expected of you. where to look for them.
Know how to find assignments and course material,
as well as be able to participate in and post to discus- 10. Interact with your peers. Contribute and exchange
sions and send emails with attachments. your ideas, perspective, and comments with your
online classmates. Join online student communities
4. Are you comfortable working on your own? Are you and blogs.
self-motivated? You will have flexible use of the time to
spend on course work. Due dates are set by the instruc- 11. Interact with your faculty. Constantly stay in touch with
tor. Flexibility and independence are agreeable to some, your professors. Consult them if you have technical diffi-
but for others it is difficult to self-start. Be honest with culties or problems in understanding something related
yourself about your capabilities. to the course. Since your professors cannot see you,

Introduction to Information Technology

It is the student’s responsibility to take the course you must be absolutely clear in expressing your ideas
seriously and to be able to budget time to receive a suc- and needs.
cessful grade. Make a schedule and stick to it. 12. Evaluate and test yourself. Take tests after thor-
5. Can you make deadlines? Your instructor is counting ough preparation. Don’t hurry to take the tests; time
on you to finish your work on time. Your communication them carefully. Have your work evaluated by fellow
may be virtual (online), but your tasks and assigned classmates.
deadlines are not. 13. Netiquette: Remember the dos and don’ts. When you
Be consistent in the amount of time you take to read are online, be careful of netiquette (online etiquette).
and study. Every week you will be expected to read sec- Both the real world and the virtual world are inhabited
tions in your textbook. by people, so the same rules apply. Never be rude or
Try not to get behind in your class work; try to stay disrespectful. Respect the privacy of other people.
on course or ahead. Some online learning programs
move at an advanced rate; missing one week is like Source: Adapted from www.olhcc.edu/Documents/academics/
missing two in a traditional classroom. 1%20Online%20Courses%20Are%20You%20Ready.pdf; www
6. Is this the right time for you to take an online class? .brighthub.com/education/online-learning/articles/26877.aspx;
You should be confident that you can set aside enough and www.onlinedegreedirect.com/onlinedegreedirect-articles/10-
time for your online course assignments and study Easy-Ways-to-Become-a-Good-Online-Student.htm. 7

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High-tech medicine. (left) Screenshot of the visual patient record software

pioneered at Thy-Mors hospital. This patient has had a fracture of the femur in
the right leg. This computer-based image shows a close-up view of the treated
area. A click on the arrow on the highlighted femur would show the pertinent
medical information from the record on the right panel. The tool allows doctors
to easily zoom in and out on a particular body region or part and choose
between many different views. (top right) Open heart surgery is seen on a
computer monitor as an Israeli medical team repairs a congenital defect in a
boy’s heart at the Wolfson Medical Center in Tel Aviv. (bottom right) Ultralight
Anthropomorphic Hand compared with a human hand. This artificial hand
is for use as a prosthetic or as an attachment on a humanoid robot. Unlike
conventional alternatives, it performs human-like movements and can grasp a
wide range of objects. The hand uses hydraulic fluid actuators, positioned in
the fingers and wrist. These allow flexibility of movement and are also self-adapting, ensuring that the hand’s grasp is never too hard
or soft. The actuators also ensure that the hand is lightweight and inexpensive to produce. The surface of the hand is soft to the
touch, making it feel more natural. It was developed at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany.

 TECH TALES New Telemedicine: The Doctor Will See You Now—Right Now

more info! New York technology writer Michael Wolff had a rotten cold and his regular
doctor was on vacation. So he used a program called ZocDoc. “I entered my
particulars: my ZIP code, my malady, my insurance,” he wrote. “And bingo, I
Health Websites had my choice of doctors in the vicinity and available appointments that day.
Some reliable sources: I chose an ear-nose-and-throat man a 10-minute walk from my house.”25
www.medlineplus.gov Similarly, Anna Keyes, an employee of a Houston-based Caterpillar dealer,
www.nimh.nih.gov who couldn’t shake chest congestion, walked down the office hallway and,
www.womenshealth.gov/ with the help of a clinical paramedic, connected to a physician 20 minutes
www.mayoclinic.com away, who examined her with an Internet-linked stethoscope and a handheld
www.nationalhealthcouncil.org video camera. In 20 minutes, she was back at her desk with the diagnosis
www.yourdiseaserisk.wustl.edu/ of an allergy and a prescription to cope with it.26 
Image transfer technology allows radiologic images such as CT scans and MRIs to be
immediately transmitted to electronic charts and physicians’ offices.27 Patients in intensive
care, who are usually monitored by nurses during off-times, can also be watched over by
doctors in remote “control towers” miles away. Recent telemedicine innovations include
use of smartphones to enable doctors to take an electrocardiogram almost anywhere and to
help patients track for signs of skin cancer.28
Chapter 1

Electronic medical records and other computerized tools enable heart attack patients to
get follow-up drug treatment and diabetics to have their blood sugar measured. Software
can compute a woman’s breast cancer risk.

8
ROBOT MEDICINE Various robots—automatic devices that perform functions
ordinarily performed by human beings, with names such as ROBO DOC, RoboCart,

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Robots. (top left) A humanoid robot, HRP-2 Promet, developed by the

National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and
Kawada Industries, Inc. Five feet tall, it performs traditional Japanese
dancing. Priced at $365,000, the robot can help workers at construction
sites and also drive a car. (top right) Lexie Kinder, 9, who was born with
a chronic heart disease that makes attending school risky, smiles in
class through a robot called a VGo, at Alice Drive Elementary School in
Sumter, S.C. A robot takes the place of a sick student in the classroom.
(bottom right) Humanoid robot KOBIAN displays an emotion of sadness
during a demonstration at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. KOBIAN,
which can express seven programmed emotions by using its entire body,
including facial expressions, has been developed by researchers at
Waseda’s Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering.

TUG, and HelpMate—help free medical workers for more critical tasks. The four-
armed da Vinci Si surgical robot, for instance, can do the smallest incisions and stitches
for complex surgery deep inside the body, so that surgery is less traumatic and recov-
ery time faster.29 Hydraulics and computers are being used to help artificial limbs get
“smarter,”30 and pressure-sensitive artificial skin made of tiny circuits is expected to

Introduction to Information Technology

improve limbs’ effectiveness.31 An international team of researchers at of Tel Aviv
University is working on a biomimetic computer chip for brain stimulation that is pro-
grammable, responsive to neural activity, and capable of bridging broken connections
in the brain. This device could be used to replace diseased or damaged brain tissue,
restore brain functions lost to aging, and even treat epilepsy, chronic pain, and Parkin-
son’s disease.32 more info!
HEALTH SELF-HELP Want to calculate the odds on how long you will live? Go to www. Crowdfunding
livingto100.com, an online calculator developed by longevity researchers at Harvard Some information on success-
Medical School and Boston Medical Center. Want to gather your family health history to ful crowdfunding:
see if you’re at risk for particular inherited diseases? Go to www.hhs.gov/familyhistory www.cfpa.org/
to find out how. http://mashable.com/category/
One in three Americans has also gone online to figure out a medical condition, and crowdfunding/
59% of adults say they have looked online for health information in the past year.33 (How- www.startupexemption.
com/crowdfunding-
ever, some online health information can be misleading and even dangerous.) Some cancer 101#axzz2NR6m7NJa/
patients have created fund-raising sites on the web to raise money to pay for their out-of-
9
pocket costs, an activity known as crowdfunding.34

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Money & Business: Toward the Cashless Society

more info! Information technology is reducing the use of traditional money.
“The future of money is increasingly digital, likely virtual, and possibly universal,” says
Financial Information one writer.35 Virtual means that something is created, simulated, or carried on by
The Internet contains lots of means of a computer or a computer network but also that it seems almost real. We
financial information. Some of certainly have come a long way toward becoming a cashless—and virtual money—society.
the better sources:
Besides currency, paper checks, and credit and debit cards, the things that serve as “money”
http://financialsoft.about.com/ include cash-value cards (such as subway fare cards), automatic transfers (such as direct-
od/morefinancialsoftware/tp/
Online_Software_List.htm
deposit paychecks), and digital money (“electronic wallet” accounts such as PayPal).
www.financialcalculators.com/
www.finance.yahoo.com SMARTPHONES & SHOPPING Consumers have long been able to do online buying and
www.fool.com selling via computers, ordering products and having them delivered by UPS or FedEx, but the
www.ragingbull.com popularity of smartphones is altering the shopping experience even more. For instance, as you
www.usatoday.com/money/default. enter a shopping mall, your phone might start buzzing with alerts for coupons at nearby stores,
htm information on traffic patterns, or advice on gifts.36 Or as you check the price on a camera at
Best Buy, your phone might tell you that Target is responding by aggressively cutting the price
on the same product, and as other retailers scan their competition on the Internet, prices might
change several times even within the space of a day.37 Some retailers, you may discover, may
vary the price of the same product depending on the ZIP code you live in and how close you
are to a rival’s store.38 Many of these efforts are traditional retailers’ response to the phenome-
more info! non known as showrooming—the practice of customers examining merchandise in traditional
brick-and-mortar retail store without buying it and then shopping online to find a lower price,
Showrooming Articles which 75% of respondents to one survey acknowledged having done.39
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.
Your phone may also be used as a payment system, so that, for instance, at Starbucks you
com/2013/02/27/more-retailers- can pay for your coffee at the register by displaying a code (bar code) on your mobile device,
at-risk-of-amazon-showrooming/ using a feature called Square Wallet.40 Or you can pay using the Starbucks Card app. Compa-
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/ nies such as Square and PayPal also offer mobile credit-card swiping devices that cab drivers
monica-guzman/2013/05/04/
and small merchants can attach to their smartphones to accept credit cards from customers.41
smart-shopping-or-petty-
theft-caught-in-the-act-of-
showrooming/ USING DIGITAL TOOLS TO EARN MONEY “As communication and information tech-
www.forbes.com/sites/ nologies advance,” says a Census Bureau analyst, “we are seeing that workers are increas-
abrambrown/2013/04/04/a-new- ingly able to perform work at home.”42 Indeed, the share of telecommuters, or people who
move-by-best-buy-to-eliminate-
showrooming-trap/
work from home at least one day a week, jumped from 7.8% to 9.5% of all workers during
the years 2005–2010.43
Among the home-based or “micro-jobs” that people hoping to pick up extra cash can
do are these:44

• Selling art, crafts, or collectibles online—those you’ve created, such as jewelry or

pottery, or those you found at garage sales. (See Artbreak, Etsy.com, or Redbubble.)
• Licensing your photos to microstock photo agencies. (See iStockphoto, Shutterstock,
or Dreamstime.)
• Taking on quick tasks, such as doing odd jobs or quick fieldwork assignments.
(See Gigwalk, EasyShift, or TaskRabbit.)
• Putting your experience to work as a tutor. (See Smartthinking or Tutor.)

Government & Electronic Democracy: Participating

in the Civic Realm
Information technology is helping governments to deliver services
and affecting political activism.
Chapter 1

The Internet and other information technology have helped government deliver better ser-
vices and have paved the way for making governmental operations more transparent to the
public. They have also changed the nature of politics.

IMPROVING GOVERNMENT SERVICES In Boston, the next time your car hits
10 a pothole, you can use a feature (called Street Bump) to report it to someone in city

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Electronic voting. Voting using

computer technology and a
touch screen

government who can do something about it. Boston also has a smartphone feature
with which you can adopt a fire hydrant, keeping it snowfree and making sure there’s
access.45 In 2012, Redwood City, California, became the first city in the nation to allow
residents to chat with a police officer online via voice, text, or video.46 In Seattle, San
Diego, and Oakland, police departments use social media such as Twitter and Facebook
to provide residents with moment-to-moment crime reports.47 In Chicago, police are
fighting back against shootings and murders by building a database, a computer sys-
tem with a collection of interrelated files, to track the social connections of the city’s
dozens of street gangs and their myriad factions.48 Some city officials, such as former
Newark, New Jersey, mayor Cory Booker, use social media such as Twitter to make
major announcements and to communicate more quickly with constituents than tradi-
more info!
tional channels, such as radio and TV, allow.49
The federal government, as you might expect, is also a big user of information technology. Online Government
The U.S. State Department has a “DipNote” blog read by more than 2 million readers, and it Help
holds press conferences on YouTube. Congress has a publicly searchable site on the web for all You can gain access to U.S.
federal contracts and grants over $25,000, and a growing number of states are putting every- government (federal, state, and
local) agencies through the fol-
thing from budgets to contracts to travel expenses online for the public to look at. The White lowing websites:
House also has its own site (www.whitehouse.gov), with its Open Government Dialogue blog.
www.usa.gov
www.govspot.com
CHANGING POLITICS Online voting is on the rise, with voters in the tiny East European
www.info.gov
nation of Estonia, for instance, being able to vote in the comfort of their homes via the

Introduction to Information Technology

www.statelocalgov.net/
Internet. Security is preserved with the help of a special electronic ID card.50 In the United www.globalcomputing.com/states.
States, however, where voting is regulated at the state level and secure IDs are problematic, html
only overseas and military personnel can cast ballots via email, and only under certain
Foreign governments’ websites:
conditions.51 Still, in 12 states, systems have been launched that allow citizens to register
http://libguides.northwestern.edu/
online to vote, which has the effect of increasing voter registration.52
ForeignGovernmentList
The Internet is also changing the nature of politics, enabling political candidates and
political interest groups to connect with voters in new ways, to raise money from multiple
small donors instead of just wealthy groups, and (using cellphones and text messaging) to
organize protests.53 Yet information technology also has its downside, as computers have
helped incumbent legislators to design (gerrymander) voting districts that make it nearly
impossible for them to be dislodged.54 Electronic tools have also made it easier for politi-
cal parties to skirt campaign laws, and computerized voting machines still don’t always
count votes as they are supposed to.55 Still, many users of the web have become important
watchdogs on government. The site E-Democracy (http://forums.e-democracy.org/), for
instance, can help citizens dig up government conflicts of interest, and sites such as Project
Vote Smart (www.votesmart.org/) outline candidates’ positions. 11

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Jobs & Careers

more info! People now use computers to post résumés and find jobs.
Whether ordinary jobs in which computers are used as ordinary tools or specialized jobs
2013 Best Computer involving advanced computer and professional training, almost every occupation today
Careers Comparisons requires computer skills of some sort.
& Reviews (Tech Among the top 12 occupations with a promising future and requiring at least a bach-
Media network) elor’s degree are five in information technology: programmer, software developer, systems
http://computer-careers-review. analyst, network and computer systems administrator, and information security analyst/
toptenreviews.com/ web developer/computer network architect.56 Other top-paying jobs also require good
computer skills: accounting, market research, human resources, specialized sales, mechan-
ical engineering, industrial engineering, and financial analysis.57 The average starting sala-
ries for jobs most college graduates are apt to consider are shown below. (• See Panel 1.2.)
“Most jobs today require a working knowledge of certain computer skills,” says one
analyst. “Employers seek and reward employees with the skills and knowledge to send
messages across the country via email; use a spreadsheet to create a graph and paste it into
a report; add and edit data in a database; understand the implications of file sizes, memory
limitations, and network arrangements; and recognize the function and features of modern
computer components. Any job candidate who already possesses these skills will stand
above those who do not” (University of Central Florida Continuing Education; www.ce.ucf
.edu/Program/3121/Computer-Skills-For-The-Workplace/).

STARTING UP YOUR OWN VENTURE So pervasive have computers and the Internet
become that now is a fantastic time to “find new [career] routes into the uncharted wilder-
ness of the 21st-century economy,” writes Bard College professor Walter Russell Mead.58
Start-up costs for new ventures are incredibly low. “A decent computer and an Internet
connection gives a business startup the kind of information and access that only large

Discipline (bachelor's degree) Current Average Starting Salary

panel 1.2
Family practice physician ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| $176,183
The job market Management information (IT) systems ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| $115,780
Average 2012 salaries Chemical engineer |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| $109,195
Computer science professor ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| $99,102
Lead video game designer ||||||||||||||||||||||||| $90,000
Source: Data from Database manager ||||||||||||||||||||||||| $90,000
National Association of Website developer |||||||||||||||||||||||| $87,946
Colleges and Employers; Entry-level attorney |||||||||||||||||||||||| $86,068
TheProfessionalEngineer.com; English professor ||||||||||||||||||||||| $81,099
SalaryExpert.com; MySalary.com;
Software development engineer |||||||||||||||||||||| $80,000
www.cnn.com.
Marketing manager |||||||||||||||||||||| $80,000
Financial analyst |||||||||||||||||||| $74,389
Computer programmer |||||||||||||||||||| $74,354
Registered nurse ||||||||||||||||||| $71,692
Assoc. professor of biology |||||||||||||||||| $67,131
Mechanical engineer ||||||||||||||||| $60,721
Graphic designer |||||||||||||||| $58,370
Crime lab analyst ||||||||||||||| $55,660
Computer technician (III) ||||||||||||||| $55,241
High school teacher |||||||||||||| $54,902
Accountant ||||||||||||| $45,339
Special education teacher |||||||||||| $43,500
Bookkeeper ||||||||||| $37,369
Preschool (daycare) teacher |||||||| $27,000

Discipline (bachelor's degree) Average Starting Salaries for Selected Majors

Marketing |||||||||||||||||| $59–61,000

Computer science ||||||||||||||||| $47–49,000
Chemistry |||||||||||||||| $44,500
Political science ||||||||||||||| $40,400
Chapter 1

Biology ||||||||||||||| $40,100

Criminal justice |||||||||||||| $38–40,000
English |||||||||||||| $38,900
Psychology ||||||||||||| $35,200
Physics |||||||||||| $33,600
Communications (not IT) |||||||||||| $31–33,000
12 Elementary education ||||||||||| $29–31,000

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 Final PDF to printer

corporations used to be able to afford,” he says. “You don’t need nearly as much money to
start up a business as you used to—and there are many businesses that a recent college grad Sur v i v al T i p
can launch with little more equipment than that old college computer.”
Some Basic Computer
Among the possibilities are photography, home design, travel, food preparation and Skills Needed for Office
delivery, fashion, financial planning, tutoring, educational counseling services, fitness Jobs
training, child care, or any number of other activities. The best method is to consider the Keyboarding (typing)
needs and problems of your friends and neighbors and build a small business around sat- Microsoft Word
isfying those needs. In particular, look toward solving the problem of bottling the “hose Microsoft Excel
of the Internet,” filtering, organizing, and customizing the torrent of information so people Internet browser and email
can benefit from it. The life you build that way will probably be more satisfying, says (communications both on the
Mead, “and may well be substantially more remunerative than anything a traditional, Internet and within a business
environment)
off-the-shelf career has to offer.”
File sharing

WAYS FOR YOU TO FIND EMPLOYERS To have a chance of succeeding in today’s job
market, you need to combine a traditional education with training in computer skills. You
also need to be smart about job searching, résumé writing, interviewing, and postings of
employment opportunities. Advice about careers and job hunting is available at Career-
Builder.com, Career Advice Blogs, Working World, National Careers Service, and other
sites on the web.
As you might expect, the first to use cyberspace as a job bazaar were companies seeking
people with technical backgrounds, such as computer programmers. Now, however, online
job exchanges have broadened to include openings for forest rangers in Idaho, physical

Careers. (left) Front-desk workers at many hotels use computers to check in guests. (right) A technician cycles in the Large
Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in the French village of Cessy near Geneva in
Switzerland. As hundreds of engineers and workers start two years of work to fit out the giant LHC particle collider to reach deep
into unknown realms of nature, CERN physicists look to the vast machine to unveil by the end of the decade the nature of the
mysterious dark matter that makes up a quarter of the universe and perhaps find new dimensions of space.

Introduction to Information Technology

Police work. Syracuse, New
York: An Onondaga County
sheriff’s deputy enters
information into a laptop in his
squad car as he issues a ticket
for an uninspected vehicle.

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Beyond.com: www.beyond.com Indeed.com: www.indeed.com

CareerBuilder: www.careeronestop.org Yahoo! Careers: http://us.careers.yahoo.com
CareerOneStop: www.careeronestop.org Jobs.com: www.jobs.com
CollegeGrad: Job Hunter: www.collegegrad.com JobsOnline: www.jobsonline.com
Dice: www. dice.com MonsterCollege: http://college.monster.com/?wt.mc_n=monstertrak
FedWorld (U.S. government jobs): www.fedworld.gov Monster: www.monster.com
FindTheRightJob: www.findtherightjob.com Simply Hired: www.simplyhired.com
NationJob Network: www.nationjob.com U.S. Dept. of Labor: www.bls.gov/oco/

therapists in Atlanta, models in Florida, and English teachers in China. Most online job
panel 1.3 boards—Monster, Craigslist, CareerBuilder, and others—are free to job seekers, although
many require that you fill out an online registration form. (• See Panel 1.3.) More com-
Some websites that post
panies are also turning to social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, and the professional
job listings
site LinkedIn as a way to broadcast job openings.59 Facebook, for instance, offers a fea-
tured called the Social Jobs App for a central hub for members to find postings to about
1.7 million open jobs in the United States.60

WAYS FOR EMPLOYERS TO FIND YOU Posting your résumé online for prospective employ-
more info! ers to see has to be done with some care. Besides featuring a succinct summary of your top
achievements and related skills, it should also include links or web addresses to social-media
profiles and online portfolios (as of projects you have done). If you’re applying for a specific
Computer Basic Skills
job, your résumé should include applicable keywords from the employer’s job description.61
Test
Indeed, some companies now use tracking programs to scan résumés for keywords, former
A computer basic skills test is employers, years of experience, and schools attended to identify candidates of likely interest.62
usually a prerequisite for a job
or for placement companies:
Some companies are even ditching résumés and the conventional job interview process
for “Twitterviews”—interviews on Twitter.63 Indeed, says one account, some “recruiters are
www.cvtips.com/interview/
computer-basic-skills-test-job-
filling openings faster by relying on new tools that scour social networks and target work-
interview-tips.html ers who aren’t necessarily looking for jobs,” one example being Recruiter by LinkedIn.64
Obviously, if you want to be found, you need to make yourself visible. Thus, some experts
suggest you need to set up a Facebook page that allows you to interact with others on a
professional level, to participate in Twitter, and to write comments (posts) on other people’s
online journals—their blogs (weblogs), frequently updated sites on the World Wide
Web intended for public consumption that contain a writer’s observations, opinions,
images, and links to other websites.65 Also, your personal Facebook page should be pro-
fessional, because companies now do searches to examine a job candidate’s web presence
(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443759504577631410093879278.html).

Your Personal Life

Computers are playing important roles in our personal lives.
Celebrating Thanksgiving away from home? No matter. You may join the festivities through
a laptop set on the family table in your usual spot, connected by high-definition TV cam-
era and a communication service such as Skype or Google Hangout.66 Or you might post
photos of the dinner you’re enjoying to show to your family and close friends on Facebook,
send a general Thanksgiving cheer to your Twitter followers, and post images of the most
interesting dishes on an online photo-sharing service such as Instagram.67
Technology has affected our personal lives in ways that were almost unimaginable
15 years ago. Two examples:

ONLINE RELATIONSHIP SITES Online relationship sites, or online dating sites,

Chapter 1

provide electronic forums that people may join in the hope of meeting compatible
companions or mates. There are over 1,000 such sites, the biggest and best-known being
the mainstream sites Match.com, PlentyOfFish, Zoosk, eHarmony, and Singles.net. Then
there are niche sites, such as those for people of the same ethnicity (LatinAmerican Cupid,
Black People Meet, Asian People Meet), religion (ChristianMingle, JDate for Jewish
14 daters), occupations (FarmersOnly.com), and over 50 (Senior Friend Finder).68 There are
also niche sites for smokers, vegetarians, dog lovers, and so on. One website, Find Your

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 Final PDF to printer

FaceMate, uses facial recognition to match couples who look alike.69 Of course, other
websites help people to find new friends, not potential mates, such as, for women, Social-
Jane.com and GirlFriendCircles.
Social-networking websites are not specifically designed for finding dates, but that is
how they are being used. Facebook, Twitter, and others let users build personal sites to
express their interests and display their personality. Facebook’s Graph Search extends
searches for singles on the network to friends of friends.70 Many online matchmakers are,
of course, accessible on smartphones.

OTHER AREAS OF PERSONAL LIFE “As we sit here,” says the head of consulting firm
Creative Strategies, “digital is embedded into the fiber of every aspect of our culture and
our personal lives.”71 Worried about walking across campus at night? Armed Safety Button
is a smartphone feature that, once activated, will track your location, set off an alarm, take
a series of photos of an assailant, project a blinding light, and place a call to 911.72 Need
more exercise or want to lose weight? There’s a Nike Training Club iPad feature that you
can use in your living room. There’s also an electronic fork, the HAPIfork, that monitors
eating speed and, through use of vibrations, encourages the user to slow down.73 New baby
in the family? A subscription to Diapers.com might be just the ticket.74 There seems to be
technology for every phase of life—and even beyond it, including memorial websites that
celebrate the lives of those who have departed.75

1.2 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IS PERVASIVE:

Cellphones, Email, the Internet, & the E-World
Email, network, Internet, web, smartphone, text, tweet, and cyber-
space are now common terms in many languages.
One of the first computers, the outcome of military-related research, was delivered to the
U.S. Army in 1946. ENIAC (short for Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator)
weighed 30 tons, and was 80 feet long, and 2 stories high, but it could multiply a pair of
numbers in the then-remarkable time of three-thousandths of a second. (• See Panel 1.4.)
This was the first general-purpose, programmable electronic computer, the grandparent of
today’s lightweight handheld machines—including the smartphone. Some of the principal
historical developments are shown in the timeline on the next page. (• See Panel 1.5.)

The Phone Grows Up

The telephone is not what it used to be.
Cellphone mania has swept the world. All across the globe, people have acquired the
portable gift of gab, with some users making over 45 calls and writing more than 90
texts a day. By the end of 2013, overall mobile penetration rates will probably have
reached 96% globally; and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said

Introduction to Information Technology

panel 1.4
Grandparent and offspring:
ENIAC (left) is the grandpar-
ent of today’s iPad (right).

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Smartphones. (left) Apple

5G iPhone; (middle) Android
Samsung Galaxy III smartphone; mobile subscriber numbers may top 7 billion in 2014 (about the total population of
(right) Nexus smartphone the planet).76 About 88% of Americans 18 and older owned a cellphone in 2012.77 It
has taken more than 100 years for the telephone to get to this point—getting smaller,
acquiring push buttons, and losing its cord connection. In 1964, the * and # keys were
added to the keypad. In 1973, the first cellphone call was processed.
In its most basic form the telephone is still so simply designed that even a young child can
use it. However, as a smartphone, it is now becoming more versatile and complex—a way
of connecting to the Internet and the World Wide Web and
allowing you not only to make voice calls but also to send
and receive email and text messages, take and send photos
and videos, get map directions, and obtain news, research,
music, photos, movies, and TV programs.

“You’ve Got Mail!” Email’s Mass Impact

Email revolutionized communication, and
has many benefits, but in many areas it is
being supplanted by texting.
It took the telephone 40 years to reach 10 million custom-
ers, and fax machines 20 years. Personal computers made
it into that many American homes 5 years after they were
introduced. Email, which appeared in 1981, became pop-
ular far more quickly, reaching 10 million users in little
more than a year.78 No technology has ever become so
universal so fast.
Until 1998 hand-delivered mail was still the main
means of correspondence. But in that year the volume
of email in the United States surpassed the volume of

4000–1200 BCE 3500 BCE–2900 BCE 3000 BCE 1270 BCE 900 BCE 530 BCE 100 CE

Inhabitants of Phoenicians develop Abacus is invented First First Greeks First

the first known an alphabet; in Babylonia encyclopedia postal start bound
civilization in Sumerians develop (Syria) service the first books
Sumer keep cuneiform writing; (China) library
records of Egyptians develop
commercial hieroglyphic writing
Chapter 1

transactions on clay
tablets

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hand-delivered mail. In 2013 there were reportedly 2.2 billion

email users worldwide, and global email traffic reached 144 billion
messages a day.79
Using electronic mail clearly is different from calling on a tele-
phone or writing a conventional letter. As one writer puts it, email
“occupies a psychological space all its own. It’s almost as imme-
diate as a phone call, but if you need to, you can think about what
you’re going to say for days and reply when it’s convenient.”80
Email has been popular, points out another writer, not because it
gives us more immediacy but because it gives us less. “The new
appeal of email is the old appeal of print,” he says. “It isn’t instant;
it isn’t immediate; it isn’t in your face.” Email has succeeded for
the same reason that the videophone—which allows callers to see
each other while talking—has been so slow to catch on: because Always on. Most of today’s students have never
“what we actually want from our exchanges is the minimum experienced life without cyberspace.
human contact commensurate with the need to connect with other
people.”81
Young people are more apt to send instant messages and to do texting, or text messaging—
sending and receiving short written messages between mobile phones or other portable
or fixed devices.82
What is interesting, though, is that in these times, when images often seem to overwhelm
words, email is actually reactionary. “The Internet is the first new medium to move decisively
backward,” points out one writer, because it essentially involves writing. Twenty years ago,
“even the most literate of us wrote maybe a half a dozen letters a year; the rest of our lives
took place on the telephone.”83 Email has changed all that—and has put pressure on busi-
nesspeople in particular to sharpen their writing skills. (A countertrend, unfortunately, is that
the informal style of electronic messages, especially texting, is showing up in schoolwork.)84

The Internet, the World Wide Web, & the “Plumbing

of Cyberspace”
The net, the web, and cyberspace are not the same things. panel 1.5
As the success of the smartphone shows, communications has extended into every nook Timeline
and cranny of civilization (with poorer nations actually the leaders in cellphone growth), Overview of some of the
a development called the “plumbing of cyberspace.” The term cyberspace was coined by historical developments
William Gibson in his novel Neuromancer (1984) to describe a futuristic computer net- in information technology.
work into which users plug their brains. (Cyber comes from “cybernetics,” a term coined in In upcoming chapters
1948 to apply to the comparative study of automatic control systems, such as the brain and we modify the timelines
the nervous system and mechanical-electrical communication systems.) In everyday use, to show you more
this term has a rather different meaning. about the people and
Today many people equate cyberspace with the Internet. But it is much more than that. advances contributing
Cyberspace includes not only the web, chat rooms, online diaries and articles (blogs), and social to developments in

Introduction to Information Technology

networking—all features we explain in this book—but also such things as conference calls and information technology.
automated teller machines (ATMs). We may say, then, that cyberspace encompasses not only
the online world and the Internet in particular but also the whole wired and wireless

700–800 1049 1450 1455 1621 1642 1666

Arabic First movable Newspapers Printing press Slide rule First First
numbers type (clay) invented appear in (J. Gutenberg, invented mechanical mechanical
introduced in China Europe Germany) (Edmund adding calculator
to Europe Gunther) machine that can add
(Blaise and subtract
Pascal) (Samuel
Morland)

17

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 Final PDF to printer

PRACTICAL ACTION
Managing Email

D
espite the popularity of texting and social network- messages come in or at times
ing, email is still the preferred way for people to com- when you can’t really send a reply.
municate at work. Some people receive as many Incidentally, research has shown that stu-
as 300 emails a day—with perhaps 200 being junk dents who engage in very high email usage also often show
email (spam), unwanted email (“social spam,” such as alerts depressive symptoms.88 Conversely, other research finds
from social networks), bad jokes, or irrelevant memos (the that people who do not look at email frequently at work
“cc” or “courtesy copy”). One study found that the average were less stressed and more productive than others.89
knowledge worker spends 28% of the workweek writing, read- • Avoid using “Reply All”: People hate getting all those
ing, or responding to email.85 “thanks” and “appreciated” emails, as well as the deluge
Shayne Hughes, CEO at Learning for Leadership, man- of “reply alls” with messages of only minimal interest to
dated the unthinkable—forcing his workers to communicate them. Avoid using this feature unless your message is
for one week the old-fashioned way, face to face, which actu- really important.90
ally boosted productivity. Hughes believes dealing with email
• Don’t send long attachments: Attachments—computer
distracts employees from strategic thinking and discussions.
files of long documents or images attached to an email—
He also argues that “there’s a feeling senders get when
are supposed to be a convenience, but large files often
emailing someone with a problem or issue—a misplaced feel-
just clog the mail system.
ing of relief.” He adds, “It’s as if that person is simply detail-
ing the problem, clicking send, and all of sudden that problem • Don’t open attachments you don’t recognize: Some
is now someone else’s.”86 dangerous computer viruses—renegade programs that
Some tips:87 can damage your computer—have been spread by email
attachments that automatically activate the virus when
• Send less email, and send better email: The more email they are opened.
you send, the more you’ll get. Put short messages in the • Be aware that anyone might read the emails you
subject line so that recipients don’t have to open the send: Don’t send a message electronically you would
email to read the note. Make one point per email. Don’t be ashamed of if a third party read it. Email messages
reply to every email message you get. Don’t “cc” (copy to) are not written with disappearing ink; they remain in
people unless absolutely necessary. Don’t send chain let- a computer system long after they have been sent.
ters or lists of jokes. Don’t overuse the high-priority flag. “Delete” removes the email from the visible list, but
• Don’t waste time constantly checking email: Process the messages remain on your hard disk and some serv-
email for 5 to 10 minutes each hour rather than as ers and can be retrieved by experts. (Special software,

1714 1801 1820 1829 1833 1843

First patent A linked The first William Babbage’s World’s
for a typewriter sequence of mass- Austin difference first computer
(England) punched produced patents engine programmer,
cards controls calculator, the first (automatic Ada Lovelace,
the weaving the Thomas workable calculator) publishes
patterns in Arithnometer typewriter her notes
Jacquard’s in America
loom
Chapter 1

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 Final PDF to printer

such as Spytech Eradicator and Revo, can completely convey emotional nuances. Avoid criticism and sarcasm
erase email from the hard disk, as we discuss later.) in electronic messaging. Nevertheless, you can use email
• Make sure emails to bosses, coworkers, and custom- to provide quick praise, even though doing it in person will
ers are literate: It’s okay to be informal when emailing take on greater significance.
friends, but employers and customers expect a higher • Be aware that email you receive at work is the prop-
standard. Pay attention to spelling and grammar. erty of your employer: Be careful of what you save,
• Don’t use email to express criticism and sarcasm: send, and back up.
Because email carries no tone or inflection, it’s hard to

world of communications in general—the nonphysical terrain created by computer and com-

munications systems. Cyberspace is where you go when you go online with your computer.
more info!
THE NET & WEB DEFINED The two most important aspects of cyberspace are the
Internet and that part of the Internet known as the World Wide Web. To give them formal Apple Cloze
definition: Cloze, a free Apple iPhone app,
functions as an inbox-analyzing
expert. Cloze studies emails
• The Internet—the heart of the Information Age: Called “the mother of all net- and other social-network
works,” the Internet (the “Net” or “net”) is a worldwide computer network that interactions, sorts messages
connects hundreds of thousands of smaller networks. These networks link educa- according to who sent them,
tional, commercial, nonprofit, and military entities, as well as individuals. and prioritizes those from
people it thinks matter most
• The World Wide Web—the multimedia part of the Internet: The Internet has to you.
been around for more than 40 years. But what made it popular, apart from email, was http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10
the development in the early 1990s of the World Wide Web, often called simply 0014241278873243386045783281
90148068924.html
the “Web” or the “web”—an interconnected system of Internet computers
(called servers) that support specially formatted documents in multimedia form.
The word multimedia, from “multiple media,” refers to technology that presents
information in more than one medium, such as text, still images, moving images, and
sound. In other words, the web provides information in more than one way.

THE INTERNET’S INFLUENCE: LIKE A “SECOND SKIN” There is no doubt that the
influence of the net and the web is tremendous. At present, about 82% of U.S. adults (94%
of ages 19–29) use the Internet, according to Pew Internet.91 But just how revolutionary is
the Internet? Is it equivalent to the invention of television, as some technologists say? Or
is it even more important—equivalent to the invention of the printing press? “Television
turned out to be a powerful force that changed a lot about society,” says technology writer

Introduction to Information Technology

1844 1854 1876 1890 1895 1907 1920–1921
Samuel Morse George Boole Alexander Electricity used for First First The word
sends a publishes “An Graham first time in a data- radio regular robot,
telegraph Investigation Bell processing project— signal radio derived
message from on the Laws patents the Hollerith’s automatic transmitted broadcasts, from
Washington of Thought,” telephone census-tabulating from the Czech
to Baltimore a system machine (used New York word for
for symbolic punched compulsory
and logical cards) labor, is
reasoning that first used
will become to mean a
the basis for humanlike
computer machine
design

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 Final PDF to printer

Kevin Maney. “But the printing press changed everything—religion, government, science,
global distribution of wealth, and much more. If the Internet equals the printing press, no
more info! amount of hype could possibly overdo it.”92
Unquestionably, however, for most of us the Internet and information technology have
Brief History of the become like a second skin—an extension of our intellects and even emotions, creating
Internet almost a parallel universe of “digital selves.”
We cover the Internet in more
detail in the next chapter, but if
you would like a brief history of
the Internet now, go to: UNIT 1B: The Basics of Information
www.isoc.org/internet/history/ Technology
brief.shtml
Perhaps you have been using computers a long time and in a multitude of ways. Or perhaps
not. In either case, this book aims to deliver important practical rewards by helping you
become “computer streetwise”—that is, tech smart.

1.3 THE PRACTICAL USER: How Becoming Tech

Smart Benefits You
Being informed about information technology has practical payoffs.
Being tech smart means knowing what information technology can do and what it can’t,
knowing how it can benefit you and how it can harm you, and knowing when you can solve
computer problems and when you have to call for help.
Among the practical payoffs are these: You will know how to . . .

MAKE BETTER BUYING DECISIONS No matter how much prices on computers and
portable devices come down, you will always have to make judgments about quality and
usefulness when buying services, equipment, and software, including apps—short for
“applications,” small, specialized programs downloaded onto mobile devices.
Incidentally, downloading is defined as transferring data from a remote computer
to one’s own computer or mobile device. Uploading is the reverse—transferring data
from your own device to a remote computer.

 TECH TALES What Apps Do You Really Need?

When you acquire a new smartphone, you may find that it comes with many
apps already preinstalled, with millions of others available on the Internet
for free or very reasonable prices. The challenge: Deciding which apps
are really useful, since having too many apps can drain the power from
the battery on your phone, use too much memory, and possibly introduce
security risks (which we discuss in a later chapter).
A frequent traveler, for instance, may find an app such as HotelTonight
(showing last-minute hotel rooms available in a particular city) or Airbnb
(which lets people rent their homes to travelers) practical, but a college

1924 1927 1941 1942 1944 1945

T.J. Watson First Konrad Zuse First electronic First programmable John von
renames demonstration (Germany) produces digital computer electromechanical Neumann
Hollerith’s of television the first fully functional (but non- computer (Mark I) introduces
machine in USA programmable digital programmable) (owned by the the concept
company, computer, the Z3 (ran developed by U.S. government) of a stored
founded in by perforated celluloid John Atanasoff program
Chapter 1

1896, to strips) and Clifford Berry

International
Business
Machines
(IBM)
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student may have no use for them. Students will, however, probably benefit
from adding the following free or low-cost apps to their smartphones or
tablets:93
 Swype, SwiftKey 3, Path Input Pro: Make typing on a smartphone or
touch-screen tablet faster and more accurate; some of these even make
corrections as you type.
 Skype, FaceTime: Allow you to video chat for free with others throughout
the world, using your device’s front- or rear-facing cameras.
 Evernote: Write, type, or speak your ideas to Evernote, which helps you to
stay organized.
 Google Earth: Lets you explore the world through satellite and ground-
level photos.
 Pocket: Lets you save content you like, so you can read it later.
 Snapguide: Provides user-created how-to guides. 

FIX ORDINARY COMPUTER PROBLEMS Whether it’s replacing a printer cartridge,

obtaining a software improvement (“patch” or “upgrade”), or pulling photos from your digi-
tal camera or smartphone’s camera, we hope this book gives you the confidence to deal with
the continual challenges that arise with computers—and know when and how to call for help.

UPGRADE YOUR EQUIPMENT & INTEGRATE NEW TECHNOLOGY New gadgetry and
software are constantly being developed. A knowledgeable user learns under what conditions
to upgrade, how to do so, and when to start over by buying a new machine or mobile device.

USE THE INTERNET EFFECTIVELY The sea of data

that exists on the Internet and other online sources is so
great that finding what’s best or what’s really needed can
be a hugely time-consuming activity. We hope to show
you the most workable ways to approach this problem.

PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST ONLINE DANGERS

The online world poses real risks to your time, your
privacy, your finances, and your peace of mind—
spammers, hackers, virus developers, identity thieves,
and companies and agencies constructing giant data-
bases of personal profiles—as we will explain. This
book aims to make you streetwise about these threats.

KNOW WHAT KINDS OF TECHNOLOGICAL USES

CAN ADVANCE YOUR CAREER Top executives use

Introduction to Information Technology

technological devices, as do people in careers ranging Tech smart. To be able to choose a computer system or the
from police work to politics, from medicine to music, components to build one, you need to be tech smart.

1946 1947 1951 1952 1958 1962 1969

First Invention Computers are UNIVAC Integrated The first ARPANET
programmable of the transistor first sold computer circuit; first computer established
electronic (enabled commercially correctly modem game is by U.S.
computer miniaturization predicts invented Advanced
in United of electronic election of (Spacewar) Research
States (ENIAC) devices) Eisenhower Projects
as U.S. Agency;
president leads to
Internet

21

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from retail to recreation. We hope you will come away from this book with ideas about
how the technology can benefit you in whatever work you choose.

Along the way—in the Experience Boxes, Practical Action boxes, Survival Tips, and
More Info! features—we offer many kinds of practical advice that we hope will help you
to become truly computer smart in a variety of ways, large and small.

1.4 THE “ALL-PURPOSE MACHINE”: The Varieties

of Computers
Computers come in different sizes; they also function as clients
and/or servers.
When the ★alarm blasts you awake, you leap out of bed and head for the kitchen, where
you check the ★coffee maker. You probably also check your ★smartphone. After using
your ★electronic toothbrush and showering and dressing, you stick a bagel in the ★micro-
wave, and then pick up the ★TV remote and click on the ★TV to catch the weather fore-
cast. Later, after putting dishes in the ★dishwasher, you may go out and start up the ★car
and head toward campus or work. Pausing en route at a ★traffic light, you turn on your
★iPod to listen to some music.
You haven’t yet touched a PC, a personal computer, but you’ve already dealt with at least
11 computers—as you probably guessed from the ★s. All these familiar appliances rely
on tiny “computers on chips” called microprocessors. Maybe, then, the name “computer”
is inadequate. As computer pioneer John von Neumann has said, the device should not be
called the computer but rather the “all-purpose machine.” It is not, after all, just a machine for
doing calculations. The most striking thing about it is that it can be put to any number of uses.
What are the various types of computers? Let’s take a look.

All Computers, Great & Small: The Categories of Machines

There are five basic computer sizes.
At one time, the idea of having your own computer was almost like having your own personal
nuclear reactor. In those days, in the 1950s and 1960s, computers were enormous machines
affordable only by large institutions. Now they come in a variety of shapes and sizes, which

1970 1972 1975 1976 1978 1981 1982

Micro- First video- First micro- Apple I 5 14" IBM Portable
processor game computer computer floppy disk; introduces computers
chips come (Pong) (MIT’s (first personal Atari home personal
into use; Altair computer sold videogame; computer;
floppy disk 8800) in assembled first spam email mouse
Chapter 1

introduced form) sent becomes

for storing regular
data; first part of a
dynamic computer
RAM chip
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1. Titan 17.6–20 petaflops U.S.A. panel 1.6

2. Sequoia 16.32 petaflops U.S.A.
Top five supercomputers
3. K-Computer 10.51 petaflops Japan
4. Mira 10.1 petaflops U.S.A.
5. Juqueen 5 petaflops Germany

Source: From CNN Money, “The 5 Fastest Supercomputers,” http://money.cnn.com/gallery/technology/

enterprise/2012/11/12/fastest-supercomputer/index.html, July 21, 2013.
more info!
Flops
can be generally classified according to their processing power: supercomputers, mainframe In computing, FLOPS is an
abbreviation of Floating-point
computers, workstations, microcomputers, and microcontrollers. We also consider servers. Operations Per Second. Flops
is used as a measure of a
Supercomputers computer’s performance,
especially in fields of scientific
Supercomputers are used in very special situations. calculations. With floating-
point encoding, extremely
Typically priced from $1 million to more than $350 million, supercomputers are high-capacity long numbers can be handled
machines with thousands of processors that can perform more than several quadrillion relatively easily. Computers
operate in the trillions of flops;
calculations per second. These are the most expensive and fastest computers available. for comparison, any response
“Supers,” as they are called, have been used for tasks requiring the processing of enormous time below 0.1 second is expe-
volumes of data, such as doing the U.S. census count, forecasting weather, designing aircraft, rienced as instantaneous by a
human operator, so a simple
modeling molecules, and breaking encryption codes. More recently they have been employed
pocket calculator could be said
for business purposes—for instance, sifting demographic marketing information—and for film to operate at about 10 flops.
animation. The fastest computer in the world, costing $100 million to build and with roughly Humans are even worse float-
the computing power of .5 million of today’s most powerful laptops, is the Titan supercomputer, ing-point processors. If it takes
a person a quarter of an hour
capable of 17.6–20 petaflops (17.6–20 quadrillion calculations per second), located at the Oak to carry out a pencil-and-paper
Ridge National Laboratory in the Tennessee Valley. (• See Panel 1.6.) This almost unimagina- long division with 10 significant
ble computational capability is about equal to 7 billion people solving 3 million math problems digits, that person would be cal-
per second. It would take 60,000 years for 1,000 people working at a rate of one calculation per culating in the milliflops range.
second to complete the number of calculations that Titan can process in a single second.94
The cost of electricity for the Titan is more than was $9 million a year. “The sound of
20 quadrillion calculations happening every second is danger-
ously loud”; “anyone spending more than 15 minutes in the
same room with the Titan supercomputer must wear earplugs or
risk permanent hearing damage. The din in the room [does] not
come from the computer’s 40,000 whirring processors, but from
the fans and water pipes cooling them.”95
Supercomputers are still the most powerful computers, but
a new generation may be coming that relies on nanotechnol-
ogy, in which molecule-size nanostructures are used to cre-
ate tiny machines for holding data or performing tasks.

Introduction to Information Technology

(Nano means “one-billionth.”) Computers the size of a pencil
eraser could become available that work 10 times faster than
today’s fastest supercomputer. Eventually nanotech could
show up in every device and appliance in your life. The Titan. This is the world’s fastest supercomputer.

1984 1990 1994 1998 2000 2001 2002 2003

Apple Laptops Apple and IBM PayPal is The “Y2K” Dell computers Friendster Facebook;
Macintosh; become introduce PCs founded nonproblem; becomes the MySpace
first very with full-motion the first U.S. largest PC maker
personal popular video built presidential
laser in; wireless data webcast
printer transmission for
small portable
computers; first
web browser
invented
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Mainframe Computers
Mainframe computers are used in many large businesses.
The only type of computer available until the late 1960s, mainframes are water- or air-
cooled computers that cost $5,000–$5 million and vary in size from small, to medium, to
large, depending on their use. Small mainframes ($5,000–$200,000) are often called midsize
computers; they used to be called minicomputers, although today the term is seldom used.
Mainframes are used by large organizations—such as banks, airlines, insurance companies, and
colleges—for processing millions of transactions. Often users access a mainframe by means of
a terminal, which has a display screen and a keyboard and can input and output data but
cannot by itself process data. Mainframes process billions of instructions per second.

Workstations
Workstations are used for graphics, special effects, and certain
IBM zEnterprise mainframe
professional applications.
computer
Introduced in the early 1980s, workstations are expensive, powerful personal
computers usually used for complex scientific, mathematical, and engi-
neering calculations and for computer-aided design and computer-aided
manufacturing; they are usually connected to a network. Providing many
capabilities comparable to those of midsize mainframes, workstations are used
for such tasks as designing airplane fuselages, developing prescription drugs,
and creating movie special effects. Workstations have caught the eye of the
public mainly for their graphics capabilities, which are used to breathe three-
dimensional life into movies such as Avatar, Harry Potter, Iron Man, and Lord
Workstation of the Rings. The capabilities of low-end workstations overlap those of high-end
desktop microcomputers.

Microcomputers
Microcomputers are used by individuals as well as businesses, and
they can be connected to networks of larger computers. There are
many types of microcomputers.
Microcomputers, also called personal computers (PCs), which cost $500 to over
$5,000, can fit next to a desk or on a desktop or can be carried around. They either
are stand-alone machines or are connected to a computer network, such as a local area
network. A local area network (LAN) connects, usually by special cable and also
Desktop PC wirelessly, a group of desktop PCs and other devices, such as printers, in an office
or a building.
Microcomputers are of several types: desktop PCs, tower PCs, notebooks (laptops) and
netbooks, tablets, mobile devices, and personal digital assistants—handheld computers or
palmtops. Also, some microcomputers are powerful enough be used as workstations.

DESKTOP PCS Desktop PCs are the original style of microcomputers whose case
or main housing sits on a desk, with keyboard in front and monitor (screen) often
on top.

TOWER PCS Tower PCs are microcomputers whose case sits as a “tower,” often on
the floor beside a desk, thus freeing up desk space. Some desktop computers, such as
Tower PC (with speakers, Apple’s iMac, no longer have a boxy housing; most of the computer components are built
keyboard, and mouse) into the back of the flat-panel display screen.
Chapter 1

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2010 2015 2017 2030–2045

IBM PC sold You Twitter Skype; Netbooks Apple Foldable Teleportation?; The
to Lenovo Tube; Apple become releases computers self-aware Singularity
Group; Wii introduces popular iPad machine
24 Flickr iPhone intelligence

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NOTEBOOKS AND NETBOOKS Notebook comput-

ers, also called laptop computers, are lightweight
portable computers with built-in monitor, key-
board, hard-disk drive, CD/DVD drive, battery,
and AC adapter that can be plugged into an electric
outlet; they weigh anywhere from 1.8 to 12 pounds.
Netbooks are mini-notebooks—low-cost, light-
weight, small computers with functions designed
for basic tasks, such as web searching, email, and
word processing. They weigh anywhere from 2.25
to 3.2 pounds, cost generally between $200 and
Small! The Mac Mini has the $400, have less processing power than notebooks,
smallest desktop microcomputer and have screens between 7 and 10 inches wide diag-
case, just 6.5 inches square and onally. Netbooks are being used less now in favor of
1.25 inches tall. tablets and smaller laptops, such as Chromebooks.

TABLET COMPUTERS Computers such as those in Apple’s iPad line, Google’s Nexus,
the Kindle Fire, and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab are examples of a tablet computer, a wireless
portable computer that uses a touch screen (or a kind of pen called a stylus) to access Laptop computers: MacBook
information. The touch screen is a 7- to 10-inch screen on which you can manipulate words, Air and Chromebook
images, and commands directly with your finger. Tablets are rapidly eroding sales of note-
book and netbook computers.96 Tablets might soon be replaced by phablets—tablets that are
also smartphones.97
Tablets. Hewlett-Packard
Touchsmart touch screen and
Apple iPad tablet

MOBILE DEVICES & PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSIS-

TANTS Smaller than notebook and netbook comput-
ers and tablets, mobile devices are small, handheld
multimedia devices for consumers and business pro-
fessionals. Fully Internet integrated, they are highly
compatible with desktop microcomputers and notebooks.
Personal digital assistants (PDAs) are handheld comput-
ers that combine personal organization tools—schedule
planners, address books,

Introduction to Information Technology

to-do lists—with the abil-
ity in some cases to send
Mobile devices email and faxes. Some
PDAs have touch-sensitive screens. Some also connect to
desktop computers for sending or receiving information.

E-READERS Produced by Amazon (the Kindle) and by

Barnes & Noble (the Nook), e-readers, or e-book read-
ers, are electronic devices that can download e-books—
digital versions of regular books, articles, and magazines
from various suppliers. E-readers are generally book-size
and can easily be put in a purse or a pocket.

The range of handheld wireless devices, such as smart-

phones, has surged in recent years, and we consider these
later in the book (Chapters 6 and 7). Kindle Paperwhite 2 and Nook Simple Touch 25

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Microcontroller.
(left) Various
microcontrollers in a
car. (right) Injection
of a VeriChip, which,
when implanted in a
person’s forearm or
shoulder, can provide
medical and identity
information when
scanned.

Microcontrollers
Many personal and household gadgets contain
microcontrollers.
Microcontrollers, also called embedded computers, are the tiny, spe-
cialized microprocessors installed in “smart” appliances and auto-
mobiles. These microcontrollers enable microwave ovens, for example,
to store data about how long to cook your potatoes and at what power
setting. Microcontrollers have been used to develop a new universe of
experimental electronic appliances—e-pliances. For example, they are
behind single-function products such as digital cameras and digital music
players, which have been developed into hybrid forms such as gadgets
that store photos and videos as well as music. They also help run tiny
machines embedded in clothing, jewelry, and such household appliances
as refrigerators. In addition, microcontrollers are used in blood-pressure
monitors, air bag sensors, gas and chemical sensors for water and air, and
vibration sensors.

Servers
Servers are computers having special software dedicated
Servers. (top) Lead technician to providing services to other computers.
services different companies’
Internet servers at Switch The word server describes not a size of computer but rather a particular way in which
and Data PAIX in Palo Alto, a computer is used. Nevertheless, because servers have become so important to tele-
California. Switch and Data PAIX communications, especially with the rise of the Internet and the web, they deserve
is one of the primary Internet mention here.
exchange points in North A server, or network server, is a central computer that holds collections of data
America, serving hundreds of (databases) and programs for connecting or supplying services to PCs, worksta-
businesses servers. (bottom) A tions, and other devices, which are called clients. These clients are linked by a wired
group of networked servers that or wireless network. The entire network is called a client-server network. In small
are housed in one location is organizations, servers can store files, provide printing stations, and transmit email. In
Chapter 1

called a server farm or a server large organizations, servers may also house enormous libraries of financial, sales, and
cluster. product information.
You may never lay eyes on a supercomputer or mainframe or even a tiny microcon-
troller. But most readers of this book already have seen and used a personal computer. We
26 consider this machine next.

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1.5 UNDERSTANDING YOUR COMPUTER

All computers use four basic operations and can be connected to
various types of devices.
Perhaps you know how to drive a car. But do you know what to do when it runs badly?
And you’ve probably been using a personal computer. But do you know what to do when it
doesn’t act right—when, for example, it suddenly crashes (shuts down)?
Cars are now so complicated that professional mechanics are often required for even
the smallest problems. With personal computers, however, there are still many things you
can do yourself—and should learn to do, so that, as we’ve suggested, you can be effective,
efficient, and employable. To do so, you first need to know how computers work.

How Computers Work: Three Key Concepts

All computer users must understand three basic principles: (1) Data
is turned into information; (2) hardware and software have their
own specific functions; and (3) all computers involve input, process-
ing, storage, and output, plus communications.
Do you always have to buy an off-the-shelf computer? No. Could you customize your own
personal computer? Yes. Many ordinary users order their own customized PCs. Let’s con-
sider how you might do this.
We’re not going to ask you to actually order a PC—just to pretend to do so. The purpose
of this exercise is to give you a basic overview of how a computer works. This information
will help you when you go shopping for a new system. It will also help you understand
how your existing system works, if you have one.
Before you begin, you need to understand three key concepts.

1. PURPOSE OF A COMPUTER: TURNING DATA INTO INFORMATION. Very

simply, the purpose of a computer is to process data into information.

• Data: Data consists of the raw facts and figures that are processed into
information—for example, the votes for different candidates being elected to student-
government office.
• Information: Information is data that has been summarized or otherwise
transformed for use in decision making—for example, the total votes for each
candidate, which are used to decide who won.

2. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HARDWARE & SOFTWARE. What is the difference

between hardware and software?

• Hardware: Hardware consists of all the machinery and equipment in a computer

system. The hardware includes, among other devices, the keyboard, the screen, the

Introduction to Information Technology

printer, and the “box”—the computer or processing device itself. Hardware is useless
without software.
• Software: Software, or programs, consists of all the electronic instructions that
tell the computer how to perform a task. These instructions come from a software
developer in a form (such as a CD, or compact disk, or an Internet download) that will
be accepted by the computer. Examples are Microsoft Windows 7 and Windows 8,
Microsoft Office 2013, and Apple Mac OS X Mountain Lion and Mavericks.

3. THE BASIC OPERATIONS OF A COMPUTER. Regardless of type and size, all

computers use the same four basic operations: (1) input, (2) processing, (3) storage, and
(4) output. To this we add (5) communications.
Sur v i v al T i p
• Input operation: Input is whatever is put in (“input”) to a computer system. Input
can be nearly any kind of data—letters, numbers, symbols, shapes, colors, temperatures, Input is covered in detail in
Chapter 5.
sounds, pressure, light beams, or whatever raw material needs processing. When you
type some words or numbers on a keyboard, those words are considered input data. 27

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 Final PDF to printer

• Processing operation: Processing is the manipulation a computer does to

S u r vi v a l T ip transform data into information. When the computer adds 2 1 2 to get 4, that is the
act of processing. The processing is done by the central processing unit—frequently
Processing is covered in detail
in Chapter 4.
called the CPU—a chip device consisting of electronic circuitry that executes
instructions to process data.

• Storage operation: Storage is of two types—temporary (primary) storage and

permanent (secondary) storage. Primary storage, or memory, is the internal
S u r vi v a l T ip computer circuitry (chips) that temporarily holds data waiting to be processed.
Storage is covered in detail in Secondary storage, simply called storage, refers to the devices and media that
Chapter 4. store data or information permanently. A hard disk or CD/DVD is an example of
this kind of storage. (Storage also holds the software—the computer programs.)

• Output operation: Output is whatever is output from (“put out of”) the
S u r vi v a l T ip computer system—the results of processing, usually information. Examples of
output are numbers or pictures displayed on a screen, words printed on paper by a
Output is covered in detail in printer, digital files stored on a CD, and music piped over loudspeakers.
Chapter 5.
• Communications operation: These days, most (though not all) computers have
communications ability, which offers an extension capability—in other words, it extends
the power of the computer. With wired or wireless communications connections, data
S u r vi v a l T ip may be input from afar, processed in a remote area, stored in several different locations,
and output in yet other places. However, you don’t need communications ability to write
Communications are covered in letters, do calculations, or perform many other computer tasks.
detail in Chapters 2, 6, and 7.

These five operations are summarized in the illustration at right. (• See Panel 1.7.)

Customizing a Desktop Computer: Basic Knowledge of How

a Computer Works
Customizing a computer is not as hard as you might think.
Now let’s see how you would order a custom-built desktop PC. Remember, the purpose
S u r vi v a l T ip of this is to help you to understand the internal workings of a computer so that you’ll be
knowledgeable about buying one and using it.
Hardware Info
Note: All the system components you or anyone else chooses must be compatible—in
For a listing of most types of
hardware, their descriptions, other words, each brand must work with other brands. If you work with one company—
ratings, and prices, and the such as Dell or Hewlett-Packard (HP) or Apple or Asus—to customize your system, you
names of sellers, go to: won’t have to worry about compatibility. If you choose all the components yourself—for
http://reviews.cnet.com/ example, by going to a computer-parts seller such as ComputerGeeks.com (www.geeks
www.juggle.com/computers/ .com)—you will have to check on compatibility as you choose each component. And
hardware-and-software/
you’ll have to make sure each component comes with any necessary cables, instructions,
www.pcmag.com/
and component-specific software (called a driver) that allows the component to run (the
software “drives” the device).
This section of the chapter gives you a brief overview of the components, which are all
covered in detail in Chapters 2–6. We describe them in the following order: (1) input hard-
ware (keyboard and mouse); (2) processing and memory hardware; (3) storage hardware
(disk drives); (4) output hardware (video and sound cards, monitor, speakers, and printer);
(5) communications hardware (the modem); and (6) software (system and application).

Input Hardware: Keyboard & Mouse

The two principal input devices are the keyboard and the mouse.
Input hardware consists of devices that allow people to put
data into the computer in a form that the computer can use.
Chapter 1

For most computers used at school and in offices, at a mini-

mum you will need two things: a keyboard and a mouse.

KEYBOARD On a microcomputer, a keyboard is the primary

28 Keyboard input device. A keyboard is an input device that converts

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CD/DVD drive
2
Processing: Once in the computer,
data can be processed—numbers
compared or sorted, text formatted, hard-disk drive (hidden)
images or sounds edited.

system unit

1
Input: You input data into the
computer, using a keyboard, mouse,
or other device (such as a scanner, 3
microphone, still camera, or video Storage: Data and programs
camera). The input data may be text, not currently being used are
numbers, images, and/or sounds. held in storage. Primary storage
is computer circuitry. Secondary
storage is usually some kind of
mouse disk (such as hard disk or
CD/DVD) or tape.

keyboard

5
Communications: Often data
or information can be transmitted
by modem to or from other 4 Output: Processed information is
computers, as via email or output on a monitor, speakers,
posting to a website. printer, or other device.

modem
(This one is external
and wireless. monitor
Modems are usually
internal—on a circuit card
inside the system unit.)

letters, numbers, and other

characters into electrical signals
readable by the processor. A microcomputer key- speakers
board looks like a typewriter keyboard, but besides having

Introduction to Information Technology

keys for letters and numbers, it has several keys (such as F keys and printer
Ctrl, Alt, and Del keys) intended for computer-specific tasks. After other com-
ponents are assembled, the keyboard will be plugged into the back of the computer in a
socket intended for that purpose. (Cordless keyboards work differently, as, of course, do panel 1.7
smartphone keypads.) Basic operations of a
computer. (Many more
MOUSE A mouse is a nonkeyboard input device (“pointing device”) that is used components can be
to manipulate objects viewed on the computer display screen. The mouse cord is added; these operations
plugged into the back of the computer or into the back of the are illustrated in more
keyboard after the other components are assembled. Cordless detail in Chapters 4, 5,
mice are also available. and 6.)
In the next few years, it’s possible the mouse will be made
obsolete by the touch-screen interface, as with the Asus Vivo-
Book laptop and Lenovo’s ThinkPad Twist, and even the gesture
interface, with our hands, moving through the air, sending com-
Mouse mands to the computer.98 (We discuss this further in Chapter 5.) 29

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Processing & Memory Hardware: Inside the System Cabinet

A computer’s processing and memory devices are inside the com-
puter case on the main circuit board, called the motherboard.
The brains of the computer are the processing and memory devices, which are installed in
the case, also called the system cabinet or system unit.

CASE & POWER SUPPLY Also known as the system unit, the case or system cabinet
is the box that houses the processor chip (CPU), the memory chips, the motherboard
(main circuit board), the power supply, and some secondary-storage devices—hard-
disk drive and CD or DVD drive, as we will explain. The case generally comes in desktop
or tower models. It includes a power supply unit and a fan to keep the circuitry from
overheating.

Case PROCESSOR CHIP It may be small and not look like much,
but it could be the most expensive hardware component of
a build-it-yourself PC—and doubtless the most important.
A processor chip (CPU, for central processing unit) is a
tiny piece of silicon that contains millions of miniature
electronic circuits. The speed at which a chip processes
information is expressed in megahertz (MHz), millions of
processing cycles per second, or gigahertz (GHz), billions
of processing cycles per second. The faster the processor, the
more expensive it is.
Processor chip

MEMORY CHIPS These chips are also small. Memory chips, also
Memory chip known as RAM (random access memory) chips, represent primary
(RAM chip) storage, or temporary, storage; they hold data before processing
and information after processing, before it is sent along to an out-
put or storage device. You’ll want enough memory chips to hold at
least 2–5 gigabytes, or roughly 2–5 billion characters, of data, which
is adequate for most student purposes. Students into heavy graphics
Memory chips mounted use and game playing will need more memory. (We will explain the
on module numbers used to measure storage capacities in a moment.)
Connecting strip that
plugs into a socket in MOTHERBOARD Also called the system board, the motherboard
the motherboard is the main circuit board in the computer. This is the big (usually)
Memory chip green circuit board to which everything else—such as the keyboard,
mouse, and printer—attaches through connections (called ports) in the back of the com-
puter. The processor chip and memory chips are also installed on the motherboard.
The motherboard has expansion slots—for expanding the PC’s capabilities—which
give you places to plug in additional or upgraded circuit boards, such as those for
video, sound, and communications (modem). (• See Panel 1.8.)

PUTTING THE COMPONENTS TOGETHER Now the components can be put together.
As the illustration at right shows, ❶ the memory chips are plugged into the motherboard.
Then ❷ the processor chip is plugged into the motherboard. Now ❸ the motherboard is
attached to the system cabinet. Then ❹ the power supply unit is connected to the system
cabinet. Finally, ❺ the wire for the power switch, which turns the computer on and off, is
connected to the motherboard.

Storage Hardware: Hard Drive & CD/DVD Drive

Chapter 1

Computers can have several types of storage devices.

With the motherboard in the system cabinet, the next step is installation of the storage
hardware. Whereas memory chips deal only with temporary storage, secondary storage, or
30 permanent storage, stores your data for as long as you want.

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Motherboard

Expansion
slots
2 Plug microprocessor
chip into motherboard
BIOS chip

Built-in fan to cool

the microprocessor
1 Plug memory
chips into CD/DVD
motherboard drive

Power
switch
5 Connect wire to
3 Attach power switch
motherboard
to system
cabinet System cabinet

4 Connect power
supply unit
(includes fan)

Hard-disk
drive
Keyboard Mouse

panel 1.8
For today’s student purposes, you’ll need a hard drive and a CD/DVD drive. These stor-
age devices slide into the system cabinet from the front and are secured with screws. Each Putting the components
drive is attached to the motherboard by a cable. Also, each drive must be hooked up to a together
plug extending from the power supply.

Introduction to Information Technology

A computer system’s data/information storage capacity is represented by bytes, kilo-
bytes, megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes, petabytes, exabytes, and zettabytes, as follows:

1 byte 5 1 character of data (A character can be alphabetic—A, B, or C—or

numeric—1, 2, or 3—or a special character—!, ?, *, $, %.)
1 kilobyte 5 1,024 characters (about ½ page of text)
1 megabyte 5 1,048,576 characters (about 500 pages of text)
1 gigabyte 5 more than 1 billion characters (about 500,000 pages of text)
1 terabyte 5 more than 1 trillion characters (about 1 million thick books)
1 petabye 5 about 1 quadrillion characters (about 180 Libraries of Congress)
1 exabyte 5 about 1 quintillion characters (about 180,000 Libraries of Congress)
1 zettabyte 5 about 1 sextillion characters (180 million Libraries of Congress
Source: www.wisegeek.org/how-much-text-is-in-a-kilobyte-or-
megabyte.htm). 31

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 Final PDF to printer

HARD-DISK DRIVE A hard-disk drive is a device that stores billions of characters of

data on a nonremovable disk platter. With 500 gigabytes of storage, you should be able
to handle most student needs. (Many hard-disk drives store up to 4 terabytes of data.)

CD/DVD DRIVE A CD (compact CD/DVD disk

disk) drive, or its more recent variant,
a DVD (digital video disk) drive, is a
CD/DVD drive
storage device that uses laser technol- (inside system
ogy to read data from optical disks. unit)
Today new software is generally sup-
plied on CDs or downloaded via the
Internet. (Note that “disk” is sometimes
spelled “disc.”)
The system cabinet has lights on the front that indicate when these drives are in use.
(You must not remove a disk from the optical drive until its light goes off, or else you risk
damage to both disk and drive.)

Output Hardware: Video & Sound Cards, Monitor, Speakers,

& Printer
Output hardware provides users with the information they need.
Hard-disk drive (goes inside the
computer case) Output hardware consists of devices that translate information processed by the computer
into a form that humans can understand—print, sound, graphics, or video, for example.
Now a video card and a sound card need to be installed in the system cabinet. Next the
monitor, speakers, and a printer are plugged in.
This is a good place to introduce the term peripheral device. A peripheral device is any
component or piece of equipment that expands a computer’s input, storage, or output
capabilities. In other words, a peripheral device does not necessarily contribute to the com-
puter’s primary function (computing). Peripheral devices can be inside the computer case
or connected to it from the outside. Examples include printers, monitors, and disk drives.

VIDEO CARD You will certainly want your moni-

tor to display images. Your system cabinet will
therefore need to have a device to make this pos-
sible. A video card converts the processor’s out-
put information into a video signal that can be
sent through a cable to the monitor. Remember
Slot on the expansion slots we mentioned? The video card
motherboard is plugged into one of these on the motherboard.

SOUND CARD To listen to music and sound effects on your PC, you’ll need a sound card,
which enhances the computer’s sound-generating capabilities by allowing sound to
be output through speakers, either built into the computer or connected externally. This
card, too, would be plugged into an expansion slot on the motherboard. With the CD drive
connected to the card, you can listen to music CDs.

MONITOR As with television sets, the inch dimension on monitors is measured diago-
Monitor nally corner to corner. The monitor is the display device that takes the electrical signals
from the video card and forms an image using points of colored light on the screen.
Later, after the system cabinet has been closed up, the monitor will be connected by means
of a cable to the back of the computer, using the clearly marked connector. The power cord
for the monitor will be plugged into a wall plug
Chapter 1

SPEAKERS Speakers are the devices that play sounds transmitted as electrical
signals from the sound card. They may not be very sophisticated, but unless you’re
into high-fidelity recordings they’re probably good enough. The speakers are either
built into the computer or connected to a single wire that is plugged into the back of
32 External speakers the computer.

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 Final PDF to printer

PRINTER Especially for student work, you certainly need a printer, an output device
that produces text and graphics on paper. There are various types of printers, as we dis-
cuss later. The printer has two connections. One, which relays signals from the computer,
goes to the back of the PC, where it connects with the motherboard. (Wireless printers are
also available.) The other is a power cord that goes to a wall plug. Color printers are more
expensive than black-and-white printers, and fast printers cost more than slow ones.

Communications Hardware: Modem

Computers often need some kind of modem in order to
communicate and become part of a network.
Printer
Computers can be stand-alone machines, unconnected to anything else. If all you’re doing
is word processing to write term papers, you can do it with a stand-alone system. As we
have seen, however, the communications component of the computer system vastly extends
the range of a PC. Thus, while the system cabinet is still open, there is one more piece of
hardware to install.

MODEM A standard modem is a device that sends and receives data

over telephone lines, or wirelessly via a network, to and from comput-
ers. The modem is sometimes mounted on an expansion card, which is fitted
into an expansion slot on the motherboard; sometimes the modem is wired
directly into the motherboard. (Other types of computer communications
connections are discussed in Chapters 2 and 6.)
Now the system cabinet is closed up. The person building or custom-
izing the system will plug in all the input and output devices and turn
Modem expansion card
on the power “on” button. Your microcomputer system will look similar
to the one shown below. (• See Panel 1.9.) Are you now ready to roll?
Not quite.

Software
Computers use two basic types of software: system software
and application software.
After the computer has been assembled, it will be tested. But first the software, the electron-
ically encoded instructions that tell the computer hardware what to do, must be installed.
(Installation is the process of copying software programs from a main secondary-storage

Processor, memory, Hard-disk drive

Monitor
panel 1.9
hard-disk drive, video card, CD/DVD drive Speaker
sound card, and modem are Completely assembled
Storage basic PC hardware
inside the system cabinet
Output system (Some of the

Introduction to Information Technology

Output components will be
without wires—that
is, will be connected
wirelessly.)

Processing
Output Memory Input Input
Communications

Printer System unit Keyboard Mouse 33

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 Final PDF to printer

source onto the system’s hard disk and some special chips, so that
you can have direct access to your hardware.)
Software is what makes the computer worthwhile, what makes
it functional for the user. There are two types—system software
and application software.

SYSTEM SOFTWARE System software enables the computer

to perform essential operating tasks and makes it possible for
application software to run. System software consists of several
electronically coded programs. The most important is the operating
system, the master control program that runs the computer. Examples
System software. A version of Apple’s OS X system of operating system (OS) software for the PC are various Microsoft
software programs (such as Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8), Unix, and Linux.
The Apple Macintosh microcomputer has its own software, as we explain in Chapter 3.
After the system software is installed, setup software for the hard drive, the video and
sound cards, and the modem must be installed. These setup programs (drivers, discussed in
Chapter 3) often come on CDs and can also be downloaded from the Internet.

APPLICATION SOFTWARE Now we’re finally getting somewhere! After the application
software has been installed, the computer can be used for various activities. Application
software enables you to perform specific tasks—solve problems, perform work, or
entertain yourself. For example, when you prepare a term paper on your computer, you
will use a word processing program. (Microsoft Word and Apple’s Pages are two brands.)
Application software is specific to the system software you use. If you want to run Micro-
soft Word for the PC, for instance, you’ll need to first have Microsoft Windows system
software on your system, not Unix or Linux or certain versions of Apple OS X.
Application software comes on CDs packaged in boxes that include instructions, or it
can be downloaded from manufacturers’ websites on the Internet.
We discuss software in more detail in Chapter 3.
System software for the PC. A
version of Microsoft Windows 7
1.6 WHERE IS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
HEADED?
Computers are headed in three basic directions—miniaturization,
faster speeds, and greater affordability—and communications are
improving connectivity, interactivity, and support of multimedia.
How far we have come. At the beginning of the 20th century, most people thought they
would live the same life their parents did. Today most people aren’t surprised by the pre-
diction that the Information Age will probably transform their lives beyond recognition.
Let’s consider the trends in the development of computers and communications and, most
exciting, the area where they intersect.

Computers: Miniaturization, Speed, & Affordability

Application software. Adobe Computers are becoming smaller, faster, and cheaper.
Creative Suite, which, among
Since the days of ENIAC, computers have developed in three directions—and are continu-
other things, is used to create
ing to do so.
art, manipulate photos, and
build websites
MINIATURIZATION Everything has become smaller. ENIAC’s old-fashioned radio-style
vacuum tubes gave way after 1947 to the smaller, faster, more reliable transistor. A transis-
tor is a small device used as a gateway to transfer electrical signals along predetermined
paths (circuits).
Chapter 1

The next step was the development of tiny integrated circuits. Integrated circuits are
entire collections of electric circuits or pathways that are now etched on tiny squares
(chips) of silicon half the size of your thumbnail. Silicon is a natural element found in
sand. In its pure form, it is the base material for computer processing devices. (All these
34 items are discussed in detail in Chapter 4.)

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Miniaturization. (left) Worker

wearing Golden-i headset.
The Golden-i unit is operated
by voice commands and
head movements and allows
the wearer to access vital
information without using
his or her hands. The device
also offers the ability to see
through walls, thanks to infrared
technology. (right) M2A Imaging
Capsule, a miniature camera
The miniaturized processor, or microprocessor, in a personal desktop computer today
and transmitter that can be
can perform calculations that once required a computer filling an entire room. And with
swallowed by a patient to give
nanotechnology, the trend can only continue.99
physicians a wireless real-time
view of the patient’s digestive
SPEED Thanks to miniaturization and new material used in making processors, computer
tract. The capsule transmits
makers can cram more hardware components into their machines, providing faster pro-
the images to a device, worn
cessing speeds and more data storage capacity.
on the patient’s belt, which can
be downloaded into a specially
AFFORDABILITY Processor costs today are only a fraction of what they were 15 years
configured computer.
ago. A state-of-the-art processor costing less than $1,000 provides the same processing
power as a huge 1980s computer costing more than $1 million.

These are the three major trends in computers. What about communications?

Communications: Connectivity, Interactivity, & Multimedia

Information technology systems are becoming more connected and
interactive, and they support more and more kinds of multimedia.
Once upon a time, we had the voice telephone system—a one-to-one medium. You could
talk to your Uncle Joe, he could talk to you, and with special arrangements (conference
calls) more than two people could talk with one another. We also had radio and television
systems—one-to-many media (or mass media). News announcers could talk to you on a
single medium such as television, but you couldn’t talk to them.
Three recent developments in communications include:

CONNECTIVITY Connectivity refers to the connection of computers to one another by

a communications line in order to provide online information access and/or the shar-
ing of peripheral devices. The connectivity resulting from the expansion of computer net-
works has made possible email and online shopping, for example.

Introduction to Information Technology

INTERACTIVITY Interactivity refers to two-way communica-
tion; the user can respond to information he or she receives and
modify what a computer is doing. That is, there is an exchange
or dialogue between the user and the computer, and the computer
responds to user requests. A noninteractive program, once started,
continues without requiring human contact, or interaction. The
ability to interact means users can be active rather than passive
participants in the technological process. On the television net-
works MSNBC or CNN, for example, you can immediately go on
the Internet and respond to news from broadcast anchors. Today,
most application software is interactive. We already have cars that
have computers built into the dashboard that can respond to voice
commands.
Interactivity. A dashboard touch-screen computer allows
MULTIMEDIA Radio is a single-dimensional medium (sound), drivers to request information about the car’s operation,
as is most email (mainly text). As mentioned earlier, multimedia their location, and any nearby services. 35

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refers to technology that presents information in more than one medium—such as

text, pictures, video, sound, and animation—in a single integrated communication.
The development of the World Wide Web expanded the Internet to include pictures, sound,
music, and so on, as well as text.

Exciting as these developments are, truly mind-boggling possibilities have emerged as

computers and communications have cross-pollinated.

When Computers & Communications Converge:

Portability, Personalization, Collaboration, Cloud
Computing, & Artificial Intelligence
Information technology systems have moved away from stand-alone
personal hardware to more extensive networks and smaller devices,
as well as use of massive online storage.
Sometime in the 1990s computers and communications started to converge, beginning
a new era within the Information Age. Convergence describes the combining of several
industries through various devices that exchange data in the format used by computers.
The industries are computers, communications, consumer electronics, entertainment, and
mass media. Convergence has led to electronic products that perform multiple functions,
such as TVs with Internet access, cellphones that are also digital cameras, and a refrigera-
tor that allows you to send email.
Convergence has led to five additional developments:

PORTABILITY In the 1980s portability, or mobility, meant trading off computing power
and convenience in return for smaller size and weight. Today, however, we are at the point
where we don’t have to give up anything. As a result, experts have predicted that small,
powerful, wireless personal electronic devices will transform our lives far more than the
personal computer has done so far. “The new generation of machines will be truly personal
computers, designed for our mobile lives,” wrote one journalist two decades ago. “We
will read office memos between strokes on the golf course and answer messages from our
children in the middle of business meetings.”100 Today, of course, smartphones and tablets
make such activities commonplace.

PERSONALIZATION Personalization is the creation of information tailored to your

preferences—for instance, programs that will automatically cull recent news and informa-
tion from the Internet on just those topics you have designated. Companies can send you
messages about forthcoming products based on your pattern of purchases, usage, and other
criteria. Or they will build products (cars, computers, clothing) customized to suit your tastes.

COLLABORATION A more recent trend is mass collaboration. Says technology writer John
Markoff, “A remarkable array of software systems makes it simple to share anything instantly,
and sometimes enhance it along the way.”101 Another writer observed that the huge numbers of
people “online worldwide—along with their shared knowledge, social contacts, online reputa-
tions, computing power, and more—are rapidly becoming a collective force of unprecedented
power.”102 Examples are file-sharing, photo-sharing websites, calendar-sharing services,
group-edited informational (encyclopedic) sites called wikis, social-networking services, and
so-called citizen-journalism sites, in which average people write their own news items on the
Internet and comment on what other people post—an interactive, democratic form of mass
media.103 Pooled ratings, for instance, enable people to create personalized Internet music
radio stations or Amazon.com’s millions of customer-generated product reviews.
Chapter 1

CLOUD COMPUTING: THE GLOBAL COMPUTER Previously called on-demand

computing, grid computing, or software as a service, cloud computing basically
means that instead of storing your software and/or data on your own PC or your
own company’s computers, you store it on servers on the Internet.104 You don’t

36

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Cloud computing involves delivering

services over the Internet. The name
cloud computing was inspired by the more info!
cloud symbol that’s often used to
represent the Internet in professional More on Cloud
diagrams. Cloud services are usually Computing
sold on demand, typically by the
www.20thingsilearned.com/
minute or the hour; users can have as
cloud-computing/1/
much or as little of a service as they
http://searchcloudcomputing.
want at any given time; and the service techtarget.com/definition/
is fully managed by the provider (the cloud-computing/
consumer/user needs nothing but a www.wikinvest.com/concept/
personal computer/mobile device and Cloud_Computing/

Internet access). A “cloud” (the server www.youtube.com/

watch?v5uYGQcmZUTaw
business connected to the Internet)
can be private or public.

care where the servers are located; they’re out there somewhere—
“in the cloud”—run by special cloud-service businesses, such as
Amazon Web Services, Rackspace, Google, and Microsoft. The
idea here is that companies can tap into computers/servers as they
are needed, just as they do now with the electric power grid, split-
ting their computing workload among data centers in different
parts of the world. The expectation of technology experts is that
companies will find cloud computing cheaper and easier than man-
aging their own microcomputers, servers, and software (although
security is a worry).105 Google, says one technology writer, is bet-
ting that its touch-screen Chromebook laptop will “propel the shift
toward a computing model where most of our applications and data
live online” in the cloud.106

“BIG DATA” & ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Ninety percent of the

data in the world today was created in just the last two years, accord-
ing to an IBM source. “This data comes from everywhere: sensors
used to gather climate information, posts to social media sites, digital
pictures and videos, purchase transaction records, and cellphone . . .
signals, to name a few. This data is Big Data.”107
More formally, Big Data is data that is so large and complex
that it cannot be processed using conventional methods, such as
ordinary database management software. The data may consist of not
only traditional sources for the study of words, such as books, news

Introduction to Information Technology

articles, and academic journals, but also websites, Twitter messages,
and blog posts.108 With companies doing computing “in the cloud” According to inventor and futurist Raymond Kurzweil,
and providing tools for mobile users, the economics of processing technological change will become so rapid and so
huge amounts of data or providing access for millions of users has profound that human bodies and brains will merge
become considerably cheaper.109 with machines.
The combination of cloud-computing storage of Big Data, along
with the tremendous processing power of supercomputers, takes us into a world of
machine learning, in which computers can derive meaning and make predictions from
things like language, intentions, and behavior—something that Microsoft, for instance,
is doing with a cloud-computing system called Azure.110 Machine learning is a branch
of artificial intelligence (AI), a group of related technologies used for developing
machines to emulate human qualities, such as learning, reasoning, communicating,
seeing, and hearing. Much of AI is based on the use of algorithms, formulas or sets of
steps for solving particular problems.

37

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 TECH TALES Artificial Intelligence: The Use of Algorithms to Create

S u r vi v a l T ip a Hit Song
Be Ethical about In 2004, guitarist-songwriter New Zealander Ben Novak, hoping to land a
Disposing of Old record deal, came across a website that claimed, for $50, to provide an
Computer Equipment algorithm that would find hit songs. The algorithm, which compared the
Just got a new computer? structure of his song with those of the past, gave his song, “Turn Your Car
Where to donate or recycle
Around,” a high rating for hit potential—on a level with such standards as the
your old one? Check with
schools, after-school programs, Eagles’ “Take It Easy” and Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild.” The algorithm’s
churches, and the following owner, Mike McCready, connected Novak with a record label, and the song
websites: eventually ended up near the top of the European popular music charts.
www.crc.org/
The same algorithm, incidentally, predicted the success of the band Maroon
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.
com/geopedia/E-Waste 5 and the artist Norah Jones before they became stars.111 
http://earth911.com/recycling/ There are several fields of AI, among them the following. Pattern recognition identi-
electronics/computers/
fies recurring patterns and recognizes the connections between the patterns and similar
www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/
materials/ecycling/ patterns stored in a database, as was the case with the McReady algorithm. Virtual reality
www.recycles.org/ is computer-generated artificial reality that projects a person into a sensation of three-
http://ww1.pcdisposal.com/ dimensional space. Robotics is the development and study of machines that can perform
www.computerhope.com/disposal. work that is normally done by people. Natural language processing is the study of ways
htm for computers to recognize and understand human language.

“E” Also Stands for Ethics

Many important ethical issues are involved in the use of informa-
ethics tion technology.
Every computer user will have to wrestle with ethical issues related to the use of informa-
tion technology. Ethics is defined as a set of moral values or principles that govern the
conduct of an individual or a group. Because ethical questions arise so often in connec-
more info! tion with information technology, we will note them, wherever they appear in this book,
with the symbol shown at left. Below, for example, are some important ethical concerns
The 10 Commandments pointed out by Tom Forester and Perry Morrison in their book Computer Ethics.112 These
of Computer Ethics considerations are only a few of many; we’ll discuss others in subsequent chapters.

The Computer Ethics Institute SPEED & SCALE Great amounts of information can be stored, retrieved, and transmitted
says:
at a speed and on a scale not possible before, especially now in the era of cloud comput-
1. Thou shalt not use a com- ing and Big Data. Despite the benefits, this has serious implications “for data security and
puter to harm other people.
2. Thou shalt not interfere with
personal privacy,” as well as employment, Forester and Morrison say, because information
other people’s computer work. technology can never be considered totally secure against unauthorized access.
3. Thou shalt not snoop around
in other people’s computer files. UNPREDICTABILITY Computers and communications are pervasive, touching nearly
4. Thou shalt not use a com-
puter to steal.
every aspect of our lives. However, at this point, compared to other pervasive technologies—
5. Thou shalt not use a com- such as electricity, television, and automobiles—information technology seems a lot less
puter to bear false witness. predictable and reliable.
6. Thou shalt not copy or use
proprietary software for which
you have not paid.
COMPLEXITY Computer systems are often incredibly complex—some so complex that
7. Thou shalt not use other they are not always understood even by their creators. “This,” say Forester and Morrison,
people’s computer resources “often makes them completely unmanageable,” producing massive foul-ups or spectacu-
without authorization or proper larly out-of-control costs.
compensation.
8. Thou shalt not appropriate
other people’s intellectual output. Ethics and security can often be talked about in the same breath, since secure computer
9. Thou shalt think about the
social consequences of the
systems obviously go a long way toward keeping people ethical and honest. When we
program you are writing or the discuss security, you will see the icon below.
system you are designing.
Chapter 1

10. Thou shalt always use a

computer in ways that ensure SECURITY
consideration and respect for
your fellow humans.
Source: http://computerethics-
38 institute.org/images/ The Ten
Commandments Of Computer
Ethics.pdf.

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EXPERIENCE BOX
Better Organization & Time Management:
Dealing with the Information Deluge in
College—& in Life

A
n Experience Box appears at the end of each chapter. Devote the First 1½ Hours of Your Day
Each box offers you the opportunity to acquire useful to Your Most Important Task. Writing a
experience that directly applies to the Digital Age. This paper? Studying a hard subject? Make it your first task
first box illustrates skills that will benefit you in college, of the day, and concentrate on it for 90 minutes. After
in this course and others. (Students reading the first 10 edi- that, your brain will probably need a rest, and you can
tions of our book have told us they received substantial benefit answer email, return phone calls, and so on. But until
from these suggestions.) that first break, don’t do anything else, because it can
take the brain 20 minutes to refocus.
“How on earth am I going to be able to keep up with what’s
required of me?” you may ask yourself. “How am I going to
handle the information glut?” The answer is by learning how
Improving Your Memory Ability
to learn. By building your skills as a learner, you certainly help Memorizing is, of course, one of the principal requirements
yourself do better in college, and you also train yourself to be for succeeding in college. And it’s a great help for success in
an information manager in the future. life afterward. Some suggestions:

Space Your Studying, Rather Than Cramming. Cramming—

Using Your “Prime Study Time” making a frantic, last-minute attempt to memorize massive
Each of us has a different energy cycle. The trick is to use it amounts of material—is probably the least effective means
effectively. That way, your hours of best performance will coin- of absorbing information. Research shows that it’s best
cide with your heaviest academic demands. For example, if to space out your studying of a subject over successive
your energy level is high during the evenings, you should plan days. A series of study sessions over several days is
to do your studying then. preferable to trying to do it all during the same number of
To capitalize on your prime study time, take the following hours on one day. It is repetition that helps to move infor-
steps: (1) Make a study schedule for the entire term, and mation into your long-term memory bank.
indicate the times each day during which you plan to study.
Review Information Repeatedly—Even “Overlearn”
(2) Find some good places to study—places where you can
It. By repeatedly reviewing information—known as
avoid distractions. (3) Avoid time wasters, but give yourself
“rehearsing”—you can improve both your retention and
frequent rewards for studying, such as a TV show, a favorite
your understanding of it. Overlearning is continuing to
piece of music, or a conversation with a friend.
review material even after you appear to have absorbed it.
Also, recent research studies show that taking a test after
Learning to Focus reading a block of material improves recall of the mate-
Multitasking is shifting focus from one task to another in rapid rial, even a week later. This method seems to work better
succession. When you read this textbook while listening to than simple reading, reading the block in segments, and
music and watching TV, you may think you’re simultaneously concept mapping (creating a diagram of the concepts

Introduction to Information Technology

doing three separate tasks, but you’re really not. “It’s like playing after one has finished reading the block of material).117
tennis with three balls,” says one expert.113 Today multitasking
Use Memorizing Tricks. There are several ways to orga-
is easy and focus is hard because of all the things demanding
nize information so that you can retain it better. For exam-
our attention—phone calls, email, text messages, music, radio,
ple, you can make drawings or diagrams (as of the parts
TV, Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, various blogs and websites.
of a computer system). Some methods of establishing
“You can drive yourself crazy trying to multitask and answer
associations between items you want to remember are
every email message instantly,” says one writer. “Or you can rec-
given on the next page. (• See Panel 1.10.)
ognize your brain’s finite capacity for processing information.”114
Here are some tips on learning to concentrate:115
Improving Your Reading Ability: The SQ3R Method
Choose What to Focus On. “People don’t realize that SQ3R stands for “survey, question, read, recite, and review.”118
attention is a finite resource, like money,” one expert The strategy behind the method is to break down a reading
says. “Do you want to invest your cognitive cash on end- assignment into small segments and master each before
less Twittering or Net surfing or couch potatoing [watching moving on. The five steps of the SQ3R method are as follows:
TV]?” She adds, “Where did the idea come from that any-
one who wants to contact you can do so at any time? You 1. Survey the chapter before you read it: Get an overview
need to take charge of what you pay attention to instead of the chapter before you begin reading it. If you have a
of responding to the latest stimuli.”116 For example, to sense of what the material is about before you begin read- 39
block out noise, you can wear earplugs while reading. ing it, you can predict where it is going. In this text, we

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 Final PDF to printer

• Mental and physical imagery: Use your visual and other senses to construct a personal image of what you
want to remember. Indeed, it helps to make the image humorous, action-filled, or outrageous in order to establish
a personal connection. Example: To remember the name of the 21st president of the United States, Chester
Arthur, you might visualize an author writing the number “21” on a wooden chest. This mental image helps you
associate chest (Chester), author (Arthur), and 21 (21st president).
• Acronyms and acrostics: An acronym is a word created from the first letters of items in a list. For instance,
Roy G. Biv helps you remember the colors of the rainbow in order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
An acrostic is a phrase or sentence created from the first letters of items on a list. For example, Every Good Boy
Does Fine helps you remember that the order of musical notes on the treble staff is E-G-B-D-F.
• Location: Location memory occurs when you associate a concept with a place or imaginary place. For example,
you could learn the parts of a computer system by imagining a walk across campus. Each building you pass could
be associated with a part of the computer system.
• Word games: Jingles and rhymes are devices frequently used by advertisers to get people to remember their
products. You may recall the spelling rule “I before E except after C or when sounded like A as in neighbor or
weigh.” You can also use narrative methods, such as making up a story.

panel 1.10
Some memorizing tricks

offer on the first page of every chapter a list of the main Clearly the SQ3R method takes longer than simply reading
headings and accompanying key questions. At the end of with a rapidly moving color marker or underlining pencil. How-
each chapter we offer a review of terms and explanations. ever, the technique is far more effective because it requires
2. Question the segment in the chapter before you read it: your involvement and understanding. These are the keys to all
This step is easy to do, and the point, again, is to get you effective learning.
involved in the material. After surveying the entire chapter,
go to the first segment—whether a whole section, a sub-
Learning from Lectures
section, or even just a paragraph, depending on the level of Does attending lectures really make a difference? Research
difficulty and density of information. Look at the topic head- concludes that students with grades of B or above were more
ing of that segment (or first sentence of a very difficult para- apt to have better class attendance than students with grades
graph). In your mind, restate the heading as a question. of C– or below.119
Some tips for getting the most out of lectures:
After you have formulated the question, go to steps
3 and 4 (read and recite). Then proceed to the next Take Effective Notes by Listening Actively. Research
segment of the chapter, and restate the heading there shows that good test performance is related to good note
as a question, and so on. taking.120 And good note taking requires that you listen
3. Read the segment about which you asked the question: actively—that is, participate in the lecture process. Here
When you read the segment you asked the question are some ways to take good lecture notes:
about, read with purpose, to answer the question you
• Read ahead and anticipate the lecturer: Try to antici-
formulated. Underline or color-mark sentences that you
pate what the instructor is going to say, based on
think are important, if they help you to answer the ques-
your previous reading. Having background knowledge
tion. Read this portion of the text more than once, if
makes learning more efficient.
necessary, until you can answer the question. In addition,
determine whether the segment covers any other signifi- • Listen for signal words: Instructors use key phrases
cant questions, and formulate answers to these too. After such as, “The most important point is . . . ,” “There
you have read the segment, proceed to step 4. (Perhaps are four reasons for . . . ,” “The chief reason . . . ,” “Of
you can see where this is all leading. If you read in terms special importance . . . ,” “Consequently. . . .” When you
of questions and answers, you will be better prepared hear such signal phrases, mark your notes with a ! or *.
when you see exam questions about the material later.) • Take notes in your own words: Instead of just being a
4. Recite the main points of the segment: Recite means stenographer, try to restate the lecturer’s thoughts in
“say aloud.” Thus, you should speak out loud (or softly) your own words, which will make you pay attention more.
the answer to the principal question or questions about • Ask questions: By asking questions during the lecture,
Chapter 1

the segment and any other main points. you necessarily participate in it and increase your
5. Review the entire chapter by repeating questions: After understanding.
you have read the chapter, go back through it and review Review Your Notes Regularly. Make it a point to review
the main points. Then, without looking at the book, test your notes regularly—perhaps on the afternoon after the
your memory by repeating the questions and answers lecture, or once or twice a week. We cannot emphasize
40
you formulated. enough the importance of this kind of reviewing.

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TERMS & EXPLANATIONS

algorithm (p. 37) Formula, procedure, or set of steps for solving cloud computing (p. 36) Method of storing your software and/
a particular problem. Why it’s important: Algorithms are essen- or data not on your own PC or company’s computers but rather
tially the foundation, the building blocks, of computer science. on servers on the Internet. Why it’s important: Users could tap
Much of AI is based on the use of algorithms, as is software code. into computers as they are needed, distributing computing work-
load among data centers in different parts of the world, perhaps
application software (p. 34) Software that enables you to per- making computing cheaper and more reliable.
form specific tasks—solve problems, perform work, or entertain
yourself. Why it’s important: Application software such as word communications technology (p. 4) Also called telecommunica-
processing, spreadsheet, database management, graphics, and tions technology; consists of electromagnetic devices and sys-
communications packages are commonly used tools for increas- tems for communicating over any distance. Why it’s important:
ing people’s productivity. (Apps is short for “applications.”) Communications systems using electronic connections have helped
expand human communication beyond face-to-face meetings.
artificial intelligence (AI) (p. 37) Group of related technologies
used for developing machines to emulate human qualities, such computer (p. 4) Programmable, multiuse machine that accepts
as learning, reasoning, communicating, seeing, and hearing. data—raw facts and figures—and processes (manipulates) it
Why it’s important: Given the potential of artificial intelligence, into useful information, such as summaries and totals. Why
it will likely have far-reaching effects on human life in the years it’s important: Computers greatly speed up problem solving and
to come; the studies of the creation of intelligence involve a con- other tasks, increasing users’ productivity.
tinual process to eventually solve many problems.
connectivity (p. 35) Ability to connect computers to one
avatar (p. 6) Computer depiction of a human, often found in another by communications lines to provide online informa-
online videogames. Why it’s important: Avatars can be helpful in tion access and/or the sharing of peripheral devices. Why it’s
training, such as by representing imaginary customers. important: Connectivity is the foundation of the advances in the
Information Age. It provides online access to countless types of
Big Data (p. 37) Data that is so large and complex that it cannot information and services. The connectivity resulting from the
be processed using conventional methods. Why it’s important: The expansion of computer networks has made possible email and
amount of data in our world has been exploding, and analyzing online shopping, for example.
large data sets—Big Data—has become a key basis of business
competition, productivity growth, and innovation. Managing Big
cyberspace (p. 17) Area that includes not only the online world
Data has also become critical to the functioning of government.
and the Internet in particular but also the whole wired and wire-
less world of communications in general. Why it’s important:
blogs (weblogs) (p. 14) Frequently updated sites on the World
More and more human activities take place in cyberspace.
Wide Web intended for public consumption that contain a
writer’s observations, opinions, images, and links to other web-
data (p. 27) Raw facts and figures that are processed into
sites. Why it’s important: Blogs are used, for example, for low-
information. Why it’s important: Users need data to create useful
cost marketing, improving writing skills, trying out new ideas with
information.
people, getting experience in certain areas before looking for a
job, satisfying one’s need for creativity, and for putting something
interesting out into the world. database (p. 11) Computer system with a collection of inter-
related files that is designed and built for a specific purpose;
case (p. 30) Also known as the system unit or system cabinet; technology for pulling together facts that allows the slicing and
the box that houses the processor chip (CPU), the memory dicing and mixing and matching of data. Why it’s important:

Introduction to Information Technology

chips, the motherboard, the power supply, and storage devices— Businesses and organizations build databases to help them
hard-disk drive and CD or DVD drive. Why it’s important: The case to track and manage their affairs. In addition, online database
protects many important processing and storage components. services put enormous research resources at the user’s disposal.

CD (compact disk) drive (p. 32) Storage device that uses laser desktop PC (p. 24) Microcomputer unit that sits on a desk,
technology to read data from optical disk. Why it’s important: with the keyboard in front and the monitor often on top. Why it’s
New software is often supplied on CDs, in addition to being down- important: Desktop PCs and tower PCs are the most commonly
loaded from websites. The newest version is called DVD (digital used types of microcomputer.
video disk). The DVD format stores more data than the CD format.
distance learning (p. 5) Also known as e-learning and online
central processing unit (CPU) See processor chip. learning; name given to online education programs. Why it’s
important: Provides students increased flexibility because they do
chip See processor chip. not have to be in an actual classroom. Online classes are becom-
ing increasingly popular.
clients (p. 26) Computers and other devices connected to a
server, a central computer. Why it’s important: Client-server downloading (p. 20) Transferring data from a remote computer
networks are used in many organizations for sharing databases, to one’s own computer. Why it’s important: Allows text, music,
41
devices, and programs. and images to be transferred quickly by telecommunications.

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 Final PDF to printer

DVD (digital video disk) drive See CD (compact disk) drive. keyboard (p. 28) Input device that uses keys to convert letters,
numbers, and other characters into electrical signals readable
e-learning See distance learning. by the processor. Why it’s important: Keyboards are the most
common kind of input device.
email (electronic mail) (p. 5) Messages transmitted over a
computer network, most often the Internet. Why it’s important: local area network (LAN) (p. 24) Network that connects, usu-
Email has become universal and is heavily used in business and ally by special cable and also wirelessly, a group of desktop PCs
professional work. and other devices, such as printers, in an office or a building.
Why it’s important: LANs have replaced mainframes for many
e-readers (e-book readers) (p. 25) Electronic devices that can functions and are considerably less expensive.
download e-books—digital versions of regular books, articles,
and magazines from various suppliers. Why it’s important: mainframe (p. 24) Second-largest computer available, after the
E-books are cheaper than print books, and e-readers can easily supercomputer; capable of great processing speeds and data
be put in a purse or a pocket. They can download books via a storage. Small mainframes are often called midsize computers.
wireless network almost anywhere or from a computer and are Why it’s important: Mainframes are used by large organizations
relatively inexpensive. (banks, airlines, insurance companies, universities) that need to
process millions of transactions.
ethics (p. 38) Set of moral values or principles that govern the
conduct of an individual or a group. Why it’s important: Ethical memory chip (p. 30) Also known as RAM (for “random access
questions arise often in connection with information technology. memory”) chip; primary (temporary) storage. Why it’s important:
Holds data before processing and information after processing,
expansion slots (p. 30) Internal “plugs” used to expand the before it is sent along to an output or storage device.
PC’s capabilities. Why it’s important: Expansion slots give you
places to plug in additional circuit boards, such as those for microcomputer (p. 24) Also called personal computer (PC);
video, sound, and communications (modem). small computer that fits on or next to a desk or can be carried
around. Why it’s important: The microcomputer reduced the reli-
hard-disk drive (p. 32) Device that stores billions of characters ance on mainframes and has provided more ordinary users with
of data on a nonremovable disk platter usually inside the com- access to computers. It can be used as a stand-alone machine or
puter case. Why it’s important: Hard disks have a very large stor- connected to a network and is essential in many businesses and
age capacity. Nearly all microcomputers use hard disks as their professions.
principal secondary-storage medium.
microcontroller (p. 26) Also called an embedded computer; the
hardware (p. 27) All the machinery and equipment in a com- smallest category of computer. Why it’s important: Microcon-
puter system. Why it’s important: Hardware runs under the trollers are the tiny, specialized microprocessors built into “smart”
control of software and is useless without it. However, hardware electronic devices, such as appliances and automobiles.
contains the circuitry that allows processing.
mobile device (p. 25) Fully Internet-integrated, handheld multi-
information (p. 27) Data that has been summarized or other- media computer highly compatible with desktop microcomputers
wise transformed for use in decision making. Why it’s important: and laptops. Why it’s important: Some mobile devices are too
The whole purpose of a computer (and communications) system small to adequately view images on screen, but viewers still want
is to produce (and transmit) usable information. more pocket-size portability than is possible with a laptop.

information technology (IT) (p. 3) Technology that helps pro- modem (p. 33) Device that sends and receives data over tele-
duce, manipulate, store, communicate, and/or disseminate phone lines or cable lines, or wirelessly over a network, to and
information. Why it’s important: Information technology is bring- from computers. Why it’s important: A modem enables users to
ing about the fusion of several important industries dealing with transmit data from one computer to another.
computers, telephones, televisions, and various handheld devices.
monitor (p. 32) Display device that takes the electrical signals
input (p. 27) Whatever is put in (“input”) to a computer system. from the video card and forms an image using points of colored
Input devices include the keyboard, the touch screen, and the light on the screen. Why it’s important: Monitors enable users to
mouse. Why it’s important: Useful information cannot be pro- view output without printing it out.
duced without input data.
motherboard (p. 30) Also called the system board; main circuit
interactivity (p. 35) Two-way communication; a user can respond board in the computer. Why it’s important: This is the big green
to information he or she receives and modify the process. Why circuit board to which everything else—such as the keyboard,
it’s important: Interactive devices allow the user to actively partici- mouse, and printer—is attached. The processor chip and memory
pate in a technological process instead of just reacting to it. chips are also installed on the motherboard.
Chapter 1

Internet (the “Net” or “net”) (p. 19) Worldwide computer net- mouse (p. 29) Nonkeyboard input device, called a “pointing
work that connects hundreds of thousands of smaller networks device,” used to manipulate objects viewed on the computer
linking computers at academic, scientific, and commercial insti- display screen. Why it’s important: For many purposes, a
tutions, as well as individuals. Why it’s important: Thanks to the mouse is easier to use than a keyboard for inputting com-
Internet, millions of people around the world can share all types mands. Also, the mouse is used extensively in many graphics
42
of information and services. programs.

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 Final PDF to printer

multimedia (p. 35) From “multiple media”; technology that Why it’s important: By holding data, primary storage enables the
presents information in more than one medium—including text, processor to process.
graphics, animation, video, and sound—in a single integrated
communication. Why it’s important: Multimedia is used increas- printer (p. 33) Output device that produces text and graphics
ingly in business, the professions, and education to improve the on paper. Why it’s important: Printers provide one of the principal
way information is communicated. forms of computer output.

nanotechnology (p. 23) Technology whereby molecule-size processing (p. 28) The manipulation a computer does to trans-
nanostructures are used to create tiny machines for holding form data into information. Why it’s important: Processing is the
data or performing tasks. Why it’s important: Could result in essence of the computer, and the processor is the computer’s
tremendous computer power in molecular-size devices. (Nano “brain.”
means “one-billionth.”)
processor chip (p. 30) Also called the processor, the CPU (cen-
netbook (p. 25) Low-cost, lightweight computer with tiny dimen- tral processing unit), or simply chip; tiny piece of silicon that con-
sions and with functions designed for basic tasks, such as tains millions of miniature electronic circuits used to process
web searching, email, and word processing; weighs 2.25–3.2 data. Why it’s important: Chips have made possible the develop-
pounds. Why it’s important: These cheaper computers fill a tech- ment of small computers.
nological category between notebooks and handheld devices.
robot (p. 8) Automatic device that performs functions ordinar-
network (p. 4) Communications system connecting two or ily performed by human beings. Why it’s important: Robots help
more computers. Why it’s important: Networks allow users to perform tasks that humans find difficult or impossible to do.
share applications and data and to use email. The Internet is
the largest network. secondary storage (p. 28) Also called storage; devices and
media that store data and programs permanently—such as
notebook computer (p. 25) Also called laptop computer; light- disks and disk drives, tape and tape drives, CDs and CD drives.
weight portable computer with a built-in monitor, keyboard, hard- Why it’s important: Without secondary storage, users would not
disk drive, battery, and adapter; weighs 1.8–12 pounds. Why it’s be able to save their work. Storage also holds the computer’s
important: Notebooks and other small computers have provided software.
users with computing capabilities in the field and on the road;
however, they are now being displaced by tablets.
server (p. 26) Also called network server; central computer
in a network that holds collections of data (databases)
online (p. 4) Use of a computer or some other information
and programs for connecting PCs, workstations, and other
device, connected through a network, to access information and
devices, which are called clients. Why it’s important: Servers
services from another computer or information device. Why it’s
enable many users to share equipment, programs, and data
important: Online communication is widely used by businesses,
(linked together in a client-server network).
services, individuals, and educational institutions.
smartphone (p. 2) Cellphone with built-in applications, multi-
online learning See distance learning.
media capability, and Internet access. Why it’s important: The
smartphone has made almost everything we do more portable
online relationship site (p. 14) Electronic forum that people
and immediate.
may join in the hope of meeting compatible companions or
mates. Why it’s important: This is an example of how informa-
tion technology is changing people’s personal lives. social network (p. 3) Site on the World Wide Web (such as
Facebook and Twitter) that allows users to interact and develop
output (p. 28) Whatever is output from (“put out of”) the com- communities around similar interests—and use mobile devices
puter system; the results of processing. Why it’s important: to research products and compare prices. Why it’s important:
Social networks—for good or ill—are affecting almost every way

Introduction to Information Technology

People use output to help them make decisions. Without output
devices, computer users would not be able to view or use the people interact and how all their personal information is used.
results of processing.
software (p. 27) Also called programs; step-by-step electroni-
peripheral device (p. 32) Any component or piece of equipment cally encoded instructions that tell the computer hardware how
that expands a computer’s input, storage, or output capabilities. to perform a task. Why it’s important: Without software, hard-
Examples include printers and disk drives. Why it’s important: ware is useless.
Most computer input and output functions are performed by
peripheral devices. sound card (p. 32) Special circuit board that enhances the com-
puter’s sound-generating capabilities by allowing sound to be
personal digital assistant (PDA) (p. 25) Also known as hand- output through speakers. Why it’s important: Sound is used in
held computer; used as a schedule planner and address book multimedia applications. Also, many users like to listen to music
and to prepare to-do lists and send email and faxes. Why it’s CDs on their computers.
important: PDAs make it easier for people to do business and
communicate while traveling. speakers (p. 32) Devices that play sounds transmitted as elec-
trical signals from the sound card. Speakers are connected to
primary storage (p. 28) Also called memory; internal computer a single wire plugged into the back of the computer, or they are
circuitry that temporarily holds data waiting to be processed. built into the computer. Why it’s important: See sound card. 43

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supercomputer (p. 23) High-capacity computer with thousands fixed devices. Why it’s important: Text messaging is the most
of processors; the fastest calculating device ever invented. widely used data application.
Costs up to $350 million or more. Why it’s important: Supercom-
puters are used primarily for research purposes, airplane design, tower PC (p. 24) Microcomputer unit that sits as a “tower,”
oil exploration, weather forecasting, and other activities that can- often on the floor, freeing up desk space. Why it’s important:
not be handled by mainframes and other less powerful machines. Tower PCs and desktop PCs are the most commonly used types of
microcomputer.
system software (p. 34) Software that enables the computer
to perform essential operating tasks. Why it’s important: Appli- uploading (p. 20) Transferring data from one’s own computer to
cation software cannot run without system software. System a remote computer. Why it’s important: Allows text, music, and
software consists of several programs. The most important is images to be transferred quickly by telecommunications.
the operating system, the master control program that runs the
computer. Examples of operating system software for the PC are video card (p. 32) Circuit board that converts the processor’s
various Microsoft programs (Windows), Unix, Linux, and the Macin- output information into a video signal for transmission through
tosh operating system. a cable to the monitor. Why it’s important: Virtually all computer
users need to be able to view video output on the monitor.
system unit See case.
virtual (p. 10) Something that is created, simulated, or carried on
tablet computer (pp. 2, 25) Wireless portable computer, such by means of a computer or a computer network. Why it’s important:
as Apple’s iPad, primarily operated via a touch screen. Why it’s Allows actual objects to be represented in computer-based form.
important: Tablet computers are easy to use and easy to carry
around, and they don’t require a keyboard. The screen is a 7- to workstation (p. 24) Smaller than a mainframe; expensive, pow-
10-inch touch screen (one can manipulate the screen contents erful computer generally used for complex scientific, mathemati-
directly with one’s hand or a stylus.) Tablet computers support cal, and engineering calculations and for computer-aided design
multimedia. and computer-aided manufacturing. Why it’s important: The
power of workstations is needed for specialized applications too
terminal (p. 24) Input and output device that uses a keyboard large and complex to be handled by PCs.
for input and a monitor for output; it cannot process data. Why
it’s important: Terminals are generally used to input data to and World Wide Web (the “Web” or the “web”) (p. 19) The inter-
receive data from a mainframe computer system. connected system of Internet servers that support specially
formatted documents in multimedia form—sounds, photos, and
texting (text messaging) (p. 17) Sending and receiving short video as well as text. Why it’s important: The web is the most
written messages between mobile phones or other portable or widely known part of the Internet.

CHAPTER REVIEW

More and more educators are favoring an approach to learn- questions, and true-false questions enable you to test
ing (presented by Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues in Tax- how well you recall basic terms and concepts.
onomy of Educational Objectives) that follows a hierarchy of • Stage 2 learning—comprehension: “I can recall informa-
six critical-thinking skills: (a) two lower-order skills—memori- tion in my own terms and explain it to a friend.” Using
zation and comprehension—and (b) four higher-order skills— open-ended, short-answer questions, we ask you to reex-
application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. While you press terms and concepts in your own words.
may be able to get through many introductory college courses
• Stage 3 learning—applying, analyzing, synthesizing,
by simply memorizing facts and comprehending the basic
evaluating: “I can apply what I’ve learned, relate these
ideas, to advance further you will probably need to employ the
ideas to other concepts, build on other knowledge, and
four higher-order thinking skills.
use all these thinking skills to form a judgment.” In this
In the Chapter Review at the end of each chapter, we have
part of the Chapter Review, we ask you to put the ideas
implemented this hierarchy in a three-stage approach, as
into effect using the activities described, some of which
follows:
include Internet activities. The purpose is to help you
• Stage 1 learning—memorization: “I can recognize and take possession of the ideas, make them your own, and
recall information.” Self-test questions, multiple-choice apply them realistically to your life.
Chapter 1

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t a g

e
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1 LEARNING MEMORIZATION
“I can recognize and recall information.”

Self-Test Questions c. modem

1. The refers to d. processor

the part of the Internet that presents information in e. hard-disk drive
multimedia form. 2. Which of the following computer types is the smallest?
2. “ technology” merges computing with high- a. mainframe
speed communications.
b. microcomputer
3. A(n) is an electronic machine that accepts
c. microcontroller
data and processes it into information.
d. supercomputer
4. The is a worldwide network that connects
hundreds of thousands of smaller networks. e. workstation
5. refers to information presented in 3. Which of the following is a secondary-storage device?
nontextual forms such as video, sound, and graphics. a. processor
6. are high-capacity computers with thousands b. main memory chip
of processors. c. hard-disk drive
7. Embedded computers, or , are installed in d. printer
“smart” appliances and automobiles.
e. modem
8. The kind of software that enables users to perform
4. Since the days when computers were first made available,
specific tasks is called software.
computers have developed in three directions. What are they?
9. RAM is an example of storage, and a hard
a. increased expense
drive is an example of storage.
b. miniaturization
10. is data that is so large and complex that it
cannot be processed using conventional methods. c. increased size
11. A(n) is a communications system connecting d. affordability
two or more computers. e. increased speed
12. The four basic operations of all computers are , 5. Which of the following operations constitute the four
, , and . basic operations followed by all computers?
13. The first programmable computer in the United States, a. input
which appeared in 1946, was called . b. storage
14. The is the display device that takes the c. programming
electrical signals from the video card and forms an
image using points of colored light on the screen. d. output

15. The base material for computer processing devices is e. processing

, a natural element found in sand. 6. Supercomputers are used for
16. The general term for all the machinery and equipment in a. breaking codes.
a computer system is . b. simulations for explosions of nuclear bombs.
17. The and the are the two most c. forecasting weather.

Introduction to Information Technology

common input devices.
d. keeping planets in orbit.
18. The processor chip, commonly called the or
e. all of these
a(n) , is a tiny piece of silicon that contains
millions of miniature electronic circuits. f. only a, b, and c.
19. One gigabyte is approximately characters. 7. What is the leading use of computers?
20. refers to two-way communication; the user a. web surfing
can respond to information received via the computer b. email, texting, and social networking
and modify what the computer is doing. c. e-shopping
d. word processing
Multiple-Choice Questions 8. Which is the main circuit board in the computer?
1. Which of the following devices converts computer output a. RAM chip (random access memory)
into displayed images? b. CPU processor chip (central processing unit)
a. printer c. motherboard (system board)
b. monitor d. hard drive
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 Final PDF to printer

9. A terabyte is approximately T F 5. Primary storage is the area in the computer where

a. one million characters. data or information is held permanently.
b. one billion characters. T F 6. The keyboard and the mouse are examples of input
devices.
c. one trillion characters.
d. one quadrillion characters. T F 7. Movies are a form of multimedia.
10. Speakers are an example of T F 8. Computers are becoming larger, slower, and more
expensive.
a. an input device.
b. an output device. T F 9. Modems store information.

c. a processor. T F 10. A hard disk is an example of software.

d. a storage device. T F 11. Computers continue to get smaller and smaller.
T F 12. A modem is a programmable, multiuse machine
True-False Questions that accepts data—raw facts and figures—and
processes, or manipulates, it into information we
T F 1. Microcontrollers process faster than supercomputers. can use.
T F 2. Main memory is a software component. T F 13. Online education programs are called computer
T F 3. The operating system is part of the system software. learning.
T F 4. Processing is the manipulation by which a computer T F 14. PDAs are devices that can download books in digital
transforms data into information. form.

t a g
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2 LEARNING COMPREHENSION
“I can recall information in my own terms and explain it to a friend.”

Short-Answer Questions 8. What is the function of RAM?

1. What does online mean? 9. What does downloading mean?

2. What is the difference between system software and 10. What is meant by connectivity?
application software? 11. Describe some ways that information technology can
3. Briefly define cyberspace. be used to help people find jobs and to help jobs find
people.
4. What is the difference between software and hardware?
12. Compare the use of email to the use of the telephone
5. What is a local area network? and of conventional letters sent via the postal system.
6. What is multimedia? Which kinds of communications are best suited for
7. What is the difference between microcomputers and which medium?
supercomputers? 13. What is the basic meaning of cloud computing?

t a g
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3 LEARNING APPLYING, ANALYZING, SYNTHESIZING, EVALUATING

“I can apply what I’ve learned, relate these ideas to other concepts, build on other
knowledge, and use all these thinking skills to form a judgment.”

Knowledge in Action 3. Imagine a business you could start or run at home.

What type of business is it? What type(s) of computer(s)
1. Do you wish there was an invention to make your life and mobile devices do you think you’ll need? Describe
easier or better? Describe it. What would it do for the computer system in as much detail as possible,
you? Come up with ideas on how that device may be including hardware components in the areas we have
constructed. discussed so far. Keep your notes, and then refine your
2. Determine what types of computers are being used answers as you complete the course.
where you work or go to school. In which departments 4. Has reality become science fiction? Or has science fic-
are the different types of computer used? Make a list of tion become science fact? First, watch an old futuristic
the input devices, output devices, and storage devices. movie, such as 2001—A Space Odyssey, and take note
Chapter 1

What are they used for? How are they connected to of the then-futuristic technology displayed. Classify
other computers? Are any offices or departments using what you see according to input, output, processing,
cloud services? If yes, do any users have complaints storage, and communications. Then watch a recent
about using the cloud? science fiction movie, and also list all the futuristic
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 Final PDF to printer

technology used according to the given categories. television set; it can make telephone calls as if it were a
What was futuristic in the old movie that is now real- telephone; it can let you “draw” and “paint”; it can be pro-
ity? What in the new movie is not yet reality but seems grammed to serve as an answering machine; and so forth.
already feasible? Imagine a future in which digital electronic devices have
5. From what you’ve read and what you have experienced replaced all the things they can emulate. What benefits
and/or observed in your life, do you have a positive, to your life can you see in such a future? What things
negative, or impartial view of our rapidly converging might be worse? What dangers can you see? Do you
technological society? Why? Reevaluate your answers think this kind of radical convergence is likely? If so,
as you work through the course. how long do you think it will take?
6. Computer prices are constantly falling. Whatever you pay
for a computer today, you can be certain that you will be Web Exercises
able to buy a more powerful computer for less money
a year from now and, quite possibly, even just a month If you are not yet familiar with web surfing, wait until you have
from now. So how can you decide when it’s a good finished Chapter 2 to do the following web exercises.
time to upgrade to a better computer? Paradoxically, it 1. Are computers, cellphones, and other electronic devices
seems that no matter how you time it, you’ll always lose, bad for our health? You may have heard the term elec-
because prices will go down again soon, and yet you tromagnetic radiation and dismissed it as an obscure
will also always gain, because, since you were going to scientific term not worth understanding. Visit the links
upgrade sooner or later anyway, you will reap the benefits below to become educated on a topic that will be dis-
of having the more powerful equipment that much longer. cussed more seriously and frequently as our society
Discuss the benefits and costs, both material and psy- becomes completely wireless.
chological, of “waiting until prices drop.” Gather more www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/cellphones/
information on this topic by asking friends and colleagues
which choices they have made about upgrading equip- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/devra-davis-phd/cell-
ment over the years and whether they feel satisfaction or phone-radiation-_b_828330.html
regret about the timing when they finally did upgrade. www.howstuffworks.com/cell-phone-radiation.htm
7. Computers are almost everywhere, and they affect most www.fda.gov/Radiation-EmittingProducts/Radiation
walks of life—business, education, government, mili- EmittingProductsandProcedures/HomeBusiness
tary, hobbies, shopping, socializing, research, and so andEntertainment/CellPhones/ucm116282.htm
on. What aspects of your life can you think of that still www.ewg.org/cellphone-radiation/
seem relatively unaffected by computers and technol- 2. List some pros and cons of a “paperless” environment.
ogy? Is this a good thing or a bad thing, and is it likely Do you believe that a paperless environment is some-
to last? What aspects of your life have been the most thing worth striving for in the workplace? In the home?
conspicuously affected by technology? Has anything In the classroom? In banking? Run a web search to see
been made worse or harder in your life by the advance what others are doing to implement this idea. What
of computers? What about things that have been made might be the downsides of using less paper?
better or easier?
3. Computer pioneer John von Neumann was one of a
8. Have you become extremely dependent on some tech- group of individuals who conceived the idea of the
nologies? Some people no longer write down telephone “stored program.” He could also divide two 8-digit num-
numbers anywhere; instead, they simply program them bers in his head. Spend some time researching this
into their cellphones. Some people feel helpless in a remarkable man; at online bookstores, look up some of
foreign country unless they have a calculator in hand the books he wrote and read the reviews.
to compute currency conversions. Many people rely on
4. Looking for legally free programs? Some places to start:
their email archive or cellphone to hold essential infor-
mation, such as addresses and appointments. When www.download.com/

Introduction to Information Technology

any of these technologies fails us, we can feel lost. www.freewarefiles.com/
Make a list of technologies that have become indispens- www.freedownloadscenter.com/
able to your life. Imagine the consequences if any of 5. Visit the following websites to become aware of some
these technologies should fail you. What can you do to topics of interest in the computing world. Full compre-
protect yourself against such failure? hension of these topics isn’t necessary at this time;
Write down what you think are the advantages and this is only to familiarize you with subject matter you
disadvantages of social networking (for example, Face- may come in contact with.
book). Keep this list, and revise it after you have fin- www.sciencedaily.com/news/computers_math/computer_
ished the course. What has changed on your list? science/
9. It has been said that the computer is a “meta medium” www.computeruser.com/
because it can simulate (behave as) any other medium.
www.infoworld.com/
Thus a computer can present text that can be read from
virtual “pages” as if it were a book; it can let you compose http://slashdot.org/
and print text as if it were a typewriter; it can play music www.slideshare.net/dheerajmehrotra/basic-concepts-of-
like an MP3 player; it can display video as if it were a information-technology-it-presentation/
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6. “Moore’s Law” predicts the rate at which computers will a. Make a small change on a page on one of the listed
continue to get smaller (and hence faster). The “law” sites or on some other wiki site you have identified.
has proved to be astonishingly accurate over many Submit your change, and note the results. Anyone
years. Do a web search for Moore’s Law, and see if you navigating to that site will now see your change.
can find answers to the following questions: Did you know that website authoring could be
a. Who is Moore, and when did he make the prediction that easy? Are you surprised that someone would
we know as Moore’s Law? unconditionally open up his or her website for
anyone to edit?
b. What is the simplest statement of the law’s prediction?
b. Since you can make any change you wish, even
c. How has the law changed over time?
something totally nonsensical or simply wrong,
d. Is the law still valid? If yes, how much longer is the it’s obviously possible for incorrect or misleading
law expected to hold true? content to appear on a wiki. Given that, why do you
e. How does the law affect business projections? think that wikis have become so popular and so
7. A wiki is a website on which authoring and editing can be widespread?
done very easily by anyone, anywhere, anytime using a c. How significant a problem do you think vandalism
web browser such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, and other acts of poor citizenship might be on
with no need for special software or other special require- “open” wikis? How can you find out?
ments. (Wiki is Hawaiian for “quick.”) Most web pages are
d. Some wikis contend with the threat of vandalism by
less than perfect. If it is a wiki page and you are annoyed
requiring that a password be provided before a user
by something, you can just hit the Edit button and change
is allowed to make changes. What advantages can
it! Over time, the site gets better (people hope)!
you see to this approach? What disadvantages? Do
Here are some examples of wikis that deal with general you think the advantages of password protection
knowledge: outweigh the disadvantages? What do the wikis you
http://en.wikipedia.org/ browse through have to say about this issue?
www.wikimedia.org/ e. What measures do you think an online shared
http://wiki.ehow.com/Main-Page/ space can take to limit the potential damage from
vandalism, while not being overly restrictive?
And here are some specialized wikis:
http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Recipes_Wiki/ f. If you knew that a particular person was defacing
a wiki, what would you do about it? Report the
http://webtrends.about.com/od/wikilists/tp/list_of_wiki_
person? Wait for the vandal to get bored and turn
sites.htm
his or her mischief elsewhere? Or try to reform
www.wikispaces.com/ the person? Are the basic ethical considerations
www.wikia.com/Wikia/ here the same as those regarding other forms of
http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/ vandalism in our society?

Historical note: The first wiki site was created for the g. Do you think that open-access systems such as
Portland Pattern Repository in 1995. That site now unrestricted wikis will become more common over
hosts tens of thousands of pages. time, or do you think that abuse of such systems
will destroy their usefulness and that wikis will
• http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WelcomeVisitors
eventually disappear?
• http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiHistory
• http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiDesignPrinciples
Chapter 1

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