Computer Literacy

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Computer Literacy

• What is a Computer?
• an electronic device that executes instructions,
  performs tasks
• Type a paper for class
• Compute grades for a class
• Turn furnace on and off
• Turn dashboard gas light on
• Remember, list, select phone numbers to text to

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Different FlavorsSame Result

• Hardware
• The physical pieces (what you can see and touch)
• Software
• The instructions to accomplish a particular task

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Types of Computers

• Mainframe
• Multiuser, multisite, multiprocess
• Minicomputer
• Similar to mainframe, less
• Personal Computer (PC)
• Single User, small footprint
• Desktop
• Laptop

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Types of Computers

• Workstation
• Cross between mini and PC
• Palmtop
• Functional subset of pc, small
• Supercomputer
• Very powerful, multiple computers working together

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1940s Main Frame Less power then the PC in
front of you.
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Mainframe Computer 1950s
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Mainframe Computer 1950-60s
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Mini Computer
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Personal Computer
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Laptop Computer
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Workstation
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PDA
Smart Phone
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Super Computer
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Whats inside

• CPU
• Memory
• RAM, ROM, BIOS

PC Memory
Laptop Memory
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Whats inside

• Motherboard
• Bus
• Connects to other things
• IDE, PCI, PCI-E, USB, SCSI, Firewire, Serial,
  Parallel
• Expansion Slots
• Network
• Video
• Modem

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Expansion Slots
Plug Hard Drive, CD Rom, Floppy
CPU
Memory
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Audio
Network
USB
Display (2 types)
Power Cord
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Whats inside

• Storage
• Hard Drive (internal and external)
• CD, DVD

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Whats inside

• Storage
• Floppy
• Flash Memory Stick
• Media Cards

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Whats inside

• Power Supply (upper left corner)
• Cables (all the wires)

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What else?

• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Display

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What else?

• Printer
• Scanner
• Speakers
• Microphone

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Some Stuff You Hear

• Hertz
• number of events occurring per second
• Bit
• basic unit of measurement of information storage
• Byte
• more common unit of measurement of storage (8
  bits 1 byte
• Time
• Millisecond one thousandth
• Nanosecond one billionth

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Some Stuff You Hear

• CPU
• Type
• Intel (celeron, pentium)
• AMD (athlon, sempron, phenom)
• Speed
• Megahertz, gigahertz
• Dual core, quad core
• Cache
• Built-in temporary memory (part of CPU)

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Some Stuff You Hear

• Memory
• Speed
• Megahertz, Million (data transfer)
• Size
• Megabyte, Gigabyte

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Some Stuff You Hear

• Bus
• 8bit, 16bit, 32bit, 64 bit
• Megahertz
• Hard Drive
• Size
• Megabyte, Gigabyte, Terabyte

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Some Stuff You Hear

• CD Drive
• Type
• CDROM
• CD-R
• CD-RW
• Internal, External
• Speed
• 52x48x52 (write/rewrite/read)
• Storage
• 700 megabytes

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Some Stuff You Hear

• DVD Drive
• Type
• DVD-ROM
• DVD-R, DVDR
• DVD-RW, DVDRW, DVD-RAM
• Dual Layer
• Speed
• 20x18x20 (write/rewrite/read)
• Storage
• 4.7GB (8.5GB Dual Layer)

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Some Stuff You Hear

• Blu-ray Disc (New Format)
• HD media
• 50 GB (Dual Layer)
• Still more (100 vs. 30)
• Media more (10 vs 1)

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Some Stuff You Hear

• Display
• Type
• CRT
• LCD (Flat Panel)
• Size
• Diagonal measure
• Refresh Rate
• Color

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Some Stuff You Hear

• Printers
• Type
• Dot Matrix
• Ink Jet
• Laser

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Some Stuff You Hear

• Network (the outside world)
• Speed
• Kilobits, megabits, gigabits
• Type
• Dial up
• Dsl
• Broadband (cable)
• Wired, wireless

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Some Stuff You Hear

• Network (the outside world)
• Hardware
• Modem
• Cable
• DSL
• Router
• Wireless Access Point
• Wired Switch

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Some Stuff You Hear

• Starting the Computer
• Boot
• Post
• Hard Reboot
• Soft Reboot

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Some Thoughts

• Purchase a Computer
• Budget
• Set an amount to narrow your looking
• Dont forget other things (display, printer,
  network)
• CPU
• Intel or AMD (does not really matter)
• Not the main cost point
• Memory
• At least 2GB, a little more a plus (be careful)

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Some Thoughts

• Purchase a Computer
• Hard Drive
• Min 120GB, the more the merrier
• External to back up
• RAID drives (2 working like 1)
• Display
• Size
• Find a package
• Printer
• Watch out for TGTBT deals (purchase cartridges?)

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So, What Can I Do?

• So far, nothing
• Software
• Operating System
• DOS
• Unix
• Windows
• Linux
• Mac OS
• Others

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And Next?

• Application Software
• Word Processing
• Data Analysis (Spreadsheet)
• Data Organization (Database)
• Data Presentation
• Information and Research