Advantages of Computer-Based

processing
By:-Prof. Pranjali Waghmare
Over the past several decades computer revolutionized business
efficiency by automating calculations used in transactions and
managing accounts. But the advantages of computers in organizations
are now going beyond efficiency of tasks, as these powerful devices
continue to change the way we do business.

Communication
Without computers your customers can contact you through phone,
fax or postal mail, or by walking in the door. With computers, they can
reach you through email, Facebook and other social media sites and
your website. They can comment on your blog and complete your
customer surveys. Being in contact with your customers helps you
learn what you're doing right, what you should improve, and what
they want. This ease of interaction is likely to increase as more people
begin to use mobile devices to access the Internet.
Speed
Computers are much faster as compared to human beings. A
computer can perform task in minute that may take days if
performed manually. A modern computer can execute millions of
instructions in one second.
High Storage Capacity
Computers can store a large amount of information in very small
space. A CDROM of 4.7 inch diameter can store all the 33 volumes
of Encyclopedia Britannica and will still have room to store more
information. Bubble memories can store 6,250,000 bits per square
centimeter of space.
Accuracy
Computers can perform all the calculations and comparisons
accurately provided the hardware does not malfunction.
Reliability
Computers are immune to tiredness and boredom or fatigue. Thus
they are more reliable than human beings.
Versatility
Computer can perform repetitive jobs efficiently. They can
solve labor problem or do hazardous jobs in hostile
environment. They even can work in the areas where human
brain can err for instance observing motion of very fast moving
articles. Also they can work with different types of data and
information like graphics, audio, visual, characters etc.

Business Generation
More and more customers are using the Internet to aid and to
make their purchases.

Social Networking
Computer Fundamentals
Generations
By:-Prof. Pranjali Waghmare
Generation in computer terminology is a change in technology a
computer is/was being used. Initially, the generation term was used
to distinguish between varying hardware technologies.
Nowadays, generation includes both hardware and software, which
together make up an entire computer system. There are five
computer generations known till date. Each generation has been
discussed in detail along with their time period and characteristics.
Following are the main five generations of computers. Sr. No.
Generation & Description
1 First Generation The period of first generation: 1946-1959.
Vacuum tube based.

2 Second Generation The period of second generation: 1959-

1965. Transistor based.

3 Third Generation The period of third generation: 1965-1971.

Integrated Circuit based.

4 Fourth Generation The period of fourth generation: 1971-1980.

VLSI microprocessor based.

5 Fifth Generation The period of fifth generation: 1980-onwards.

ULSI microprocessor based.
First GenerationComputers The period of first generation was from
1946-1959. The computers of first generation used vacuum tubes as
the basic components for memory and circuitry for CPU (Central
Processing Unit). These tubes, like electric bulbs, produced a lot of
heat and the installations used to fuse frequently. Therefore, they
were very expensive and only large organizations were able to
afford it.
First generation computers relied on machine language, the lowest-
level programming language understood by computers, to perform
operations, and they could only solve one problem at a time.
ENIAC( Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer) is
considered to be the first operational electronic digital computer
Second Generation (1956-1963) Transistors
Transistors replace vacuum tubes and ushered in the second
generation of computers. The transistor was invented in 1947 but did
not see widespread use in computers until the late 1950s. The
transistor was far superior to the vacuum tube, allowing computers
to become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient and more
reliable than their first-generation predecessors.

Third Generation (1964-1971) Integrated Circuits

The development of the integrated circuit was the hallmark of the
third generation of computers. Transistors were miniaturized and
placed on silicon chips, called semiconductors, which drastically
increased the speed and efficiency of computers.
Instead of punched cards and printouts, users interacted with third
generation computers
through keyboardsand monitors and interfaced with an operating
system.
Fourth Generation (1971-Present) Microprocessors
The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers, as
thousands of integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip.
What in the first generation filled an entire room could now fit in the
palm of the hand. The Intel 4004 chip, developed in 1971, located all
the components of the computer—from the central processing
unit and memory to input/output controls—on a single chip.

In 1981 IBM introduced its first computer for the home user, and in
1984 Apple introduced the Macintosh.

Fourth generation computers also saw the development of GUIs,

the mouse and handheld devices.
Fifth Generation (Present and Beyond) Artificial Intelligence
Fifth generation computing devices, based on artificial intelligence,
are still in development, though there are some applications, such
as voice recognition, that are being used today.

The goal of fifth-generation computing is to develop devices that

respond to natural language input and are capable of learning and
self-organization.
Computer Fundamentals

By:-Prof. Pranjali Waghmare

Today’s world is an information-rich world and it has
become a necessity for everyone to know about computers.
A computer is an electronic data processing device, which
accepts and stores data input, processes the data input, and
generates the output in a required format.
Functionalities of a Computer If we look at it in a very broad
sense, any digital computer carries out the following five
functions:
Step 1 - Takes data as input.
Step 2 - Stores the data/instructions in its memory and uses
them as required.
Step 3 - Processes the data and converts it into useful
information.
Step 4 - Generates the output.
Step 5 - Controls all the above four steps.
Advantagesof Computers
Following are certain advantages of computers.
High Speed Computer is a very fast device.
It is capable of performing calculation of very large amount
of data.
The computer has units of speed in microsecond,
nanosecond.
It can perform millions of calculations in a few seconds as
compared to man who will spend many months to perform
the same task.
Accuracy :- In addition to being very fast, computers are very
accurate.
The calculations are 100% error free.
Computers perform all jobs with 100% accuracy provided
that the input is correct.
Storage Capability :-Memory is a very important
characteristic of computers.
A computer has much more storage capacity than human
beings. It can store large amount of data. It can store any
type of data such as images, videos, text, audio, etc.
Diligence Unlike human beings, a computer is free from
monotony, tiredness, and lack of concentration. It can
work continuously without any error and boredom. It can
perform repeated tasks with the same speed and accuracy.
Versatility A computer is a very versatile machine.
A computer is very flexible in performing the jobs to be done.
This machine can be used to solve the problems related to
various fields.
At one instance, it may be solving a complex scientific problem
and the very next moment it may be playing a card game.
Reliability A computer is a reliable machine. Modern
electronic components have long lives. Computers are
designed to make maintenance easy.
Automation Computer is an automatic machine. Automation
is the ability to perform a given task automatically. Once the
computer receives a program i.e., the program is stored in the
computer memory, then the Computer Fundamentals 3 program
and instruction can control the program execution without
human interaction.
Disadvantages of Computers
Following are certain disadvantages of computers.
No I.Q. A computer is a machine that has no intelligence to
perform any task.
Each instruction has to be given to the computer.
A computer cannot take any decision on its own. Dependency
It functions as per the user’s instruction, thus it is fully dependent
on humans.
Environment The operating environment of the computer should
be dust free and suitable.
No Feeling
Computers have no feelings or emotions. It cannot make judgment
based on feeling, taste, experience, and knowledge unlike humans.
 FEATURE AND IMPACT of
Information Technology in Business

By:-Prof. Pranjali Waghmare

 The success of every business depends on certain factors. Some
of which are accurate analysis, choosing the right technology and
the future vision. Organisations that do invest in technology and
choose the path of innovation . Information technology is the only
technology which provides you the opportunity to analyse specific
data and plan your business journey accordingly.

It also provides you many tools which can solve complex problems
and plan the scalability (future growth) of your business.
Flow of Information: Information is a key resource for all
organizations. What information describes might be internal,
external, objective or subjective.
External information describes the environment surrounding the
Organization.
Objective information describes something that is known.
Subjective information describes something that is currently
unknown. With information technology the flow of all these three
types of information is made simple buy use of centralized data
centers where all this data can be retrieved.
Decision support: A decision support system (DSS) is a highly
flexible and interactive IT system that is designed to support
decision making .
A DSS works together with an artificial intelligence system to help
the worker create information through online analytical process
to facilitate decision making tasks that require significant effort
and analysis.
Information technology (IT) benefits the business world by allowing
organizations to work more efficiently and to maximize productivity.
Faster communication, electronic storage and the protection of records
are advantages that IT can have on your enterprise. Since computerized
systems are so widely used, it is advantageous to incorporate
information technology into your organization.

Storing and Protecting Information

Information technology creates electronic storage systems to protect
your company's valuable records. Storage systems, such as virtual vaults,
keep information safe by only allowing certain users within your
company to access, withdraw, add or change the documents. IT security
engineering systems protect your electronic information from being
hacked, or wiped out during a technological disaster.
Automated Processes
In business, people look for ways to do more work in a shorter
amount of time. information technology improves your company's
efficiency by developing automated processes to take burden off
your staff. In turn, your employees are free to work on other things
while the computer runs their reports, creates queries, tracks
projects and monitors financials.
Work Remotely
IT systems give you remote access to your company’s electronic
network, so that you can work from home. This accessibility allows
you to increase your productivity because you can still get work
done, even when you aren’t physically in the office.

Communication
Communication is essential to the business world, and information
technology gives your company the resources it needs to
communicate quickly and effectively. Your IT department can hook
your employees up with email, video conferencing equipment and
internal chat rooms, so that they always have an efficient way to
conduct business and communicate.
INPUT,OUTPUT AND STORAGE
DEVICES
By:-Prof. Pranjali Waghmare
To interact with a computer we use external devices called input-
output or peripheral devices, this is the way a computer has to
receive and give information to the user, and without it a computer is
practically useless, so the need of input and output devices are the
first path to computer organization.
First is the input, input device was there for humans to communicate
the data to the computer in various ways and therefore give a task to
be processed into output.
Input Devices:
Definition:
An input device is a peripheral or hardware device, generally
external, that is connected or remotely connected to the computer.
Input devices are used to provide input which can be understood
by the computer such as: raw data, information, command, order,
signals .
Categories:
Typing devices
Pointing devices
Optical devices
Audio devices
These categories represent the way to communicate with
computers.
Typing Devices:
Typing devices are essentially keyboard, used to insert text or
command via button. They are the most effective way to input data
to the computer. it use the method of binaries code to input data.
Typing devices are very reliable for text and numbers data input.

Pointing Devices:
Pointing devices are used to input data by movement, here are some
example of pointing devices: mouse, joystick, touch screen.
They are usually used to operate with screen or movement based
information, all of them are manually used so easy to manipulate
due to simple movement, like the mouse who just consist of
pointing and clicking
Optical Devices:
Optical devices are mostly used in recognition or video and image
capture, in the field of recognition there is the OMR (optical mark
recognition) and the OCR (optical character recognition), and many
others optical devices like: barcode reader, scanner, handheld
scanner, digital camera, webcam

Audio Devices:
Audio devices like his name indicate, is mainly to input an audio
data. The devices are: microphone, headset.
It allows a user to send audio signals to a computer for processing,
recording, or carrying out commands, sometimes the main purpose
is to transfer input audio to output audio.
Output Devices:
Definition:
Like the input, the output device is also a peripheral and hardware
device used to receive the result of the processing date that comes
from its input.
Output devices are also known as the way that the computer
communicates with human.
Types of Output:
Display output
Physical output
Audio output
Display Output:
They are commonly monitors, screen or light based devices called
Visual Display Unit (VDU). It is the primary output devices and it can
also be used as a input device, the computer will display the contents
of the information on the screen.
Display output devices is also the wall between computer-language
and human-language, without it human can't understand what the
computer try to communicate.

Physical Output:
Physical output or hard copy is the permanent output; the most
common way to get it is the printer.
Audio Output:
Audio output devices refer to any devices that are attaches to a
computer for the purpose of playing sound, such as speech or music. It
can also refer to the sound of a computer sound card.
Here are some examples of audio output devices with their uses:

Speakers: it is the most common type of audio output device; they can
be attached to a computer using variety of audio plugs.

Headphones: they are another type of audio output device. Variations

on the headphone concept include ear buds, which fit inside the ear,
and headsets, which include both headphones and a microphone. It
doesn't requires a separate power supply.

Sound card: A sound card is an expansion card or IC for producing

sound on a computer that can be heard trough speakers
or headphones .
Storage Devices:
There are primarily three types of storage a computer possess,
first the primary storage, which is more popularly called simply
memory; the secondary storage, which is more popularly referred
to as simply storage, and finally the offline storage referred as
movable storage.
Primary Storage:
Primary storage is where a computer stores data on a temporary
basis so it can process the data. Think of primary storage as "short
term memory". Primary storage is a type of memory that is
directly accessible to a computer processor and it is volatile
because it is temporary in nature and is erased when the power is
turned off.
The main primary storages is:
RAM (Random Access Memory)
Secondary Storage:
Secondary storage is where a computer stores data it is not
currently processing but which it may need at some later time.
Secondary storage can be thought of as "long term memory", or
storage, and it is non-volatile in nature because data remains intact
even when power to a computer is turned off. Operating systems,
documents, music files and so on are typically stored in a
secondary storage device.
The main device for secondary storage is the hard disk drive (HDD).
They are considered permanent storage.
Offline storage:
Offline storage is storage media which can be inserted into the
computer and used but which can then be removed from the
computer and stored elsewhere. It can also be external sources
which are connected to the computer and then disconnected, like
floppy drives, CD drives, DVD drives, USB flash drive etc...
Floppy drive is an old form of storage, its capacity is very few up to
1 or 2 Megabytes so it isn't used nowadays, but it is categorised as
offline storage because they are non-volatile and be able to read or
written to over and over again.
SECONDARY STORAGE DEVICES:-
A magnetic tape, in computer terminology, is a storage medium
that allows for data collection, and backup. At first, the tapes were
wound in wheel-like reels, but then cassettes and cartridges came
along, which offered more protection for the tape inside.
One side of the tape is coated with a magnetic material. Data on
the tape is written and read sequentially. Finding a specific record
takes time, because the machine has to read every record in front
of it.

Data is written into 'tracks' on the medium: Older magnetic

tapes used 8 tracks, while more modern ones can handle 128 or
more tracks.
Benefits and Disadvantages
Although magnetic tape is still viable, when compared to hard discs,
external drives, they lack in speed of data retrieval. Although there
are fewer tape drives around than disk drives, tape drives still
perform a valuable function. Although disk drives can be faster,
smaller, and hold more data, a physical tape is much more mobile.

A company can backup its data to tapes, remove them, and send by
courier to off-site storage; a very important step for disaster
recovery. In that regard, while disk drives can be used to read and
write data at high speeds, tape disks are usually only for writing
data. As such they are a great backup/archival tool.
Magnetic disk storage
The most common physical device for storing files is the magnetic
disk. Actually, a disk typically contains several rotating disks, or
platters. The surfaces of the platters are covered in metal oxide,
and read/written by electromagnetic recording heads, rather like
those on an audio cassette recorder. There is one head for each
surface, and all the heads move together. The disk rotates at
around 3600 rpm with the heads .
Modern disks for workstations typically hold 500MB - 9GB.
The surface of a platter is organised as a number of concentric
tracks. Each track is divided into sectors. The operating system
determines where the blocks for each file are placed.
TYPES OF MAGNETIC DISKS:-
A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive or fixed disk is a data
storage device that uses magnetic storage to store and
retrieve digital information using one or more rigid rapidly rotating
disks (platters) coated with magnetic material. The platters are
paired with magnetic heads, usually arranged on a moving arm,
which read and write data to the platter surfaces. Data is accessed
in a random-access manner, meaning that individual blocks of data
can be stored or retrieved in any order and not only sequentially.
HDDs are a type of non-volatile storage retaining stored data even
when powered off.

A floppy disk, also called a floppy, diskette, or just disk, is a type

of disk storage composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic
storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic enclosure lined
with fabric that removes dust particles. Floppy disks are read and
written by a floppy disk drive (FDD).
Floppy disks, initially as 8-inch (200 mm) media and later in 5¼-inch
(133 mm) and 3½-inch (90 mm) sizes, were a form of data storage
and exchange from the mid-1970s into the mid-2000s. By the late
2000s, computers were rarely manufactured with installed floppy
disk drives.
TYPES OF OPTICAL DISKS:
OPTICAL DISK:-In computing and optical disc recording technologies, an optical
disc (OD) is a flat, usually circular disc which encodes binary data (bits) in the form
of pits ( 0 )and lands (1) on a special material ,on one of its flat surfaces. The encoding
pattern follows a continuous, spiral path covering the entire disc surface and extending
from the innermost track to the outermost track. The reverse side of an optical disc
usually has a printed label, sometimes made of paper but often printed or stamped
onto the disc itself. Unlike the 3½-inch floppy disk, most optical discs do not have an
integrated protective casing and are therefore susceptible to data transfer problems
due to scratches, fingerprints, and other environmental problems.
Optical tape is a medium for optical storage generally consisting of a long and
narrow strip of plastic onto which patterns can be written and from which the
patterns can be read back.
In the 1990s, it was projected that optical tape would be a commonly used, high-
capacity, high-speed computer data storage format. At least one working
system and several prototypes were developed, but as of 2007, none of these
technologies are widely used.

The primary motivation behind developing this technology was the possibility of
far greater storage capacities than either magnetic tape or optical discs. It was
also considered more durable than magnetic tape.
OPTICAL CARD:- Optical memory cards use a technology similar to that used for music
CDs or CD-ROMs. A panel of the "gold colored" laser sensitive material is laminated in
the card and is used to store the information. The material is comprised of several
layers that react when a laser light is directed at them.