View learning-journal on GitHub

What makes a computer a computer?

  • A computer manipulates information.
  • All computers perform 4 tasks.
    1. Input information
    2. Store information
    3. Process information
    4. Output information.

  • Old computers were made with wood and metal and used machincal gears.

  • They coul only manipulate numbers.

Old computer

Input

  • The input that a computer uses is what the world or you do to the computer.

  • Some input devices :

  1. Keyboard.
  2. Mouse.
  3. Joy Stick.
  4. Light pen.
  5. Track Ball.
  6. Scanner.
  7. Graphic Tablet.
  8. Microphone.

Storage

  • The storage of the computer is the memory which is called RAM.
  • RAM stands for Random Access Memory.

Process

  • The wires and circuits are what process the input information from storage.

Output

  • Takes the processed information and outputs it to the devices we are using.

Wires and Circuits

  • Carry all the information in a computer.
  • The on/off state of a wire is called bit.
  • Ones and zeros are the back bone of the four task the computer does.
  • Circuits modify and process information thats represented in ones and zeros.

Hardware

CPU

  • CPU is the master chip that controls all the other parts in the computer.
  • CPU stands for Central Processing Unit.

Software

  • Tells the CPU what to do.
  • OS or opereating sysytem is the master program that manages how software uses the hardware of the computer.

table of contents