BUSINESS DRIVEN TECHNOLOGY Plug-In T1 Hardware and Software.

BUSINESS DRIVEN TECHNOLOGY

Plug-In T1 Hardware and Software

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-2

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Define the two basic categories of technology: hardware and software

2. Describe the six major categories of hardware

3. Describe the seven categories of computers by size

4. Define the two types of software

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-3

LEARNING OUTCOMES

5. Describe the role of the operating system and utility software

6. Compare the uses of vertical and horizontal market software

7. List the common input, output, storage, and telecommunication devices

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-4

Introduction

• Information technology (IT) is any computer-based tool that:– People use to work with information– Support the information and information-processing

needs of an organization

• The core chapters introduced many concepts regarding hardware and software

• This plug-in presents many of the technologies associated with both hardware and software

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-5

The Basics of Hardware and Software

• Hardware – physical aspects of computers, telecommunications, and other information technology devices– Example: Keyboard, monitor

• Software -a general term for the various kinds of programs used to operate computers and related devices– Example: Microsoft Excel

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-6

The Basics of Hardware and Software

Six categories of hardware:

1. Input device2. Output device3. Storage device4. Central processing unit (CPU)5. Telecommunications device6. Connecting device

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-7

The Basics of Hardware and Software

• Two main types of software:1. Application software - software used to solve

specific problems or perform specific tasks2. System software - handles tasks specific to

technology management and coordinates the interaction of all technology devices• Operating system software - supports the application

software and manages how the hardware devices work together

• Utility software - provides additional functionality to the operating system

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-8

COMPUTER CATEGORIES

• Personal digital assistant (PDA) - a small hand-held computer that performs simple tasks

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-9

COMPUTER CATEGORIES

• Notebook computer - a fully functional computer designed to be carried around and run on battery power

• Tablet computer - a pen-based computer that provides the screen capabilities of a PDA with the functional capabilities of a notebook or a desktop computer

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-10

• Desktop computer - the most popular choice for personal computing needs

• Minicomputer - designed to meet the computing needs of several people simultaneously in a small to medium-size business environment

• Mainframe computer - designed to meet the computing needs of hundreds of people in a large business environment

COMPUTER CATEGORIES

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-11

• Supercomputers - the fastest, most powerful, and most expensive type of computer

COMPUTER CATEGORIES

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-12

Software

• Software contains the instructions that the hardware executes to perform an information processing task

• Without the aid of software, the computer (e.g. hardware) is useless

• Two categories of software:1. Application2. System

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-13

• Application software is used for specific information processing needs, including:– Payroll– Customer relationship management– Project management– Training– Word processing and many others

APPLICATION SOFTWARE

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-14

APPLICATION SOFTWARE

• Personal productivity software - used to perform personal tasks such as writing a memo, creating a graph, or creating a slide presentation

• Examples:– Microsoft Word– Microsoft Excel– Internet Explorer– Quicken

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-15

APPLICATION SOFTWARE

• Vertical market software - application software that is unique to a particular industry– Patient-scheduling software– Nursing allocation software

• Horizontal market software - general enough to be suitable for use in a variety of industries– Inventory management software– Payroll software

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-16

SYSTEM SOFTWARE

• System software controls how the various technology tools work together along with the application software

• Two basic categories:1. Operating System2. Utility

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-17

SYSTEM SOFTWARE

• Operating system software controls application software and manages how THE hardware devices work together – Microsoft Windows 2000 Pro– Microsoft Windows 2000 ME– Microsoft Windows XP Home– Microsoft Windows XP Pro– Mac OS– Linux

• Multitasking - allows more than one piece of software to be used at a time

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-18

• Utility software adds additional functionality to the operating system

• Types of utility software:– Crash-proof software – Uninstaller software – Disk optimization software– Spyware software

Utility software

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-19

Hardware

• Binary digit (bit) - the smallest unit of information that a computer can process

• ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) - the coding system that most personal computers use to represent, process, and store information

• Byte - a group of eight bits

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-20

COMMON INPUT DEVICES

• Input device is a tool used to capture information and commands

• Examples include:– Keyboard – Point-of-sale (POS)– Microphone– Mouse – Pointing stick– Touch pad – Touch screen– Bar code reader– Optical mark recognition (OMR)– Scanner

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-21

COMMON OUTPUT DEVICES

• Output device is equipment used to see, hear, or otherwise accept the results of information processing

• Monitors– Cathode-ray tubes (CRTs) – Flat-panel displays – Liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors – Gas plasma displays

• Pixels - the dots that make up an image on the computer screen

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-22

COMMON OUTPUT DEVICES

• Printers– Inkjet printers - make images by forcing ink droplets

through nozzles– Laser printers - form images using an electrostatic

process, the same way a photocopier works– Multifunction printers - scan, copy, and fax, as well

as print

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-23

COMMON OUTPUT DEVICES

• Central Processing Unit (CPU) - the actual hardware that interprets and executes the program (software) instructions and coordinates how all the other hardware devices work together

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-24

COMMON OUTPUT DEVICES

• Random Access Memory (RAM) - temporary storage that holds the current information, the application software currently being used, and the operating system software– Megahertz (MHz) - the number of millions of CPU

cycles per second– Gigahertz (GHz) - the number of billions of CPU

cycles per second

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-25

• A CPU contains two primary parts: 1. Control unit2. Arithmetic/logic unit

• Control unit - interprets software instructions and literally tells the other hardware devices what to do, based on the software instructions

• Arithmetic/logic unit (ALU) - performs all arithmetic operations (for example, addition, and subtraction) and all logic operations (such as sorting and comparing numbers)

Characteristics of CPUs and RAM

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-26

COMMON STORAGE DEVICES

Start

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-27

COMMON STORAGE DEVICES

• Two questions to ask about storage devices:1. Is updating or modifying the information an option? 2. How much information needs to be stored?

• Storage device capacities are measured in terms of bytes including gigabytes, and terabytes– Gigabyte (GB) is roughly 1 billion characters– Terabyte (TB) is roughly 1 trillion bytes

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-28

• Storage capacity

COMMON STORAGE DEVICES

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-29

COMMON STORAGE DEVICES

Start

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-30

COMMON STORAGE DEVICES

• Common storage devices include:– High-capacity floppy disk – Hard disk– CD-ROM (compact disc - read-only memory)– CD-R (compact disc-recordable)– CD-RW (compact disc-rewritable)– DVD-ROM– DVD-R – DVD-RW or DVD+RW – Flash memory device– Memory card

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-31

TELECOMMUNICATIONS DEVICES

• Types of modems include:– Telephone modems (dial-up)– Cable modems – Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) modems– Wireless modems– Satellite modems

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-32

TELECOMMUNICATIONS DEVICES

•Modem speed comparisons

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-33

• Communication software includes:– Connectivity software - enables a computer

to “dial up” or connect to another computer– Web browser software - enables a computer

to surf the Web– E-mail software - enables electronic

communication with other people by sending and receiving e-mail

TELECOMMUNICATIONS DEVICES

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-34

CONNECTING DEVICES

• Connecting devices enable the hardware to communicate with each other– A parallel connector is used to plug a printer into a

system box – Parallel connector interfaces with a parallel port that

is connected to an expansion card

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-35

Busses, Expansion Slots, and Expansion Cards

• Expansion bus - moves information from the CPU and RAM to all of the other hardware devices

• Expansion slot - a long skinny socket on the motherboard into which an expansion card is inserted

• Expansion card - a circuit board that is inserted into an expansion slot

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-36

• Ports - simply the plug-ins found on the outside of the system box (usually in the back) into which a connector is plugged into

• Popular connectors include:– USB (universal serial bus) – Serial connector– Parallel connector

Ports and Connectors

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-37

• Infrared also called IR or IrDA (infrared data association) - uses red light to send and receive information

• Bluetooth - standard for transmitting information in the form of short range radio waves over distances of up to 30 feet and is used for purposes such as wirelessly connecting a cell phone or a PDA to a computer

• WiFi (wireless fidelity) - standard for transmitting information in the form of radio waves over distances up to about 300 feet

Wireless Connection

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.1-38

Wireless Connection

•Wireless comparison chart