FCC113 (Week 2)

 Computer Hardware Basics

       Learning something new in Computer and Internet is very memorable for me who like using and interacting with computer. Hence, I want to share with you about what I have been learning in Computer and Internet lecture, especially in week two.

       First of all, I want to share some information regarding the history of computers. Even though, knowing computer history is not really important for us, but a history has created an invention. Many inventors contributed to the history of computers and that a computer is a complex piece of machinery made up of many parts, each of which can be considered a separate invention. Nevertheless, there are five generations of computer as we can see now:

First Generation Computers (1940s – 1950s) Vacuum Tube

The first electronic computers used vacuum tubes, and they were huge and complex. Moreover, the first electronic computer was the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer). It was digital, although it didn’t operate with binary code, and was reprogrammable to solve a complete range of computing problems.

Second Generation Computers (1955s – 1960s) Transistor

The second generation of computers came about the transistor, which then started replacing vacuum tubes into transistor. In transistor, it had First operating Systems, On-off switches, and High level languages (COBOL and FORTRAN). In addition, the first transistor computer was created at the University of Manchester in 1953. The most popular of transistor computers was IBM 1401.

Third Generation Computers (1960s – 1971s) Integrated Circuit (IC)

The third generation computer was invented into Integrated Circuits (ICs), also known as microchips that combined thousands of transistors. It had semiconductor memory, multiple computer models with different performance characteristics, and the size of computers has been reduced drastically.

Fourth Generation Computers (1971s – Present) VLSI/ULSI

The fourth generation was invented in 1971s to the present from Integrated Circuit (IC) became Single-chip processor and single-board computer emerged. It was known as Very Large-Scale Integration (VLSI) and Ultra Large Scale Integration (ULSI) that combined millions of transistors.      

Fifth Generation Computers (Now and Future)

New technology has become more develop as we can see that the fifth generation of computer has invented based on artificial intelligence, which means computers can think and learn. Moreover, different computers construct such as optical computers that utilizes nanotechnology that primary means of input is voice and touch. 

 History is never end, it same goes to the technology like computer, which has invented and more valuable for human being. Computer has a lot of categories which are used by humans, especially for people who involve in business. The first category is Embedded Computer, which is embedded into a specific product for a specific function.  The second is Mobile Computer, which is fitted on our hand. The third is Personal Computer (PC) and it is designed for a single user at a time. The fourth is Midrange Server, physically likes a small cabinet, hosting data and programs that available to a small group of users. The fifth ones is Mainframe computer, which is a large, expensive, and very powerful computer that can handle hundreds or thousands of connected users simultaneously. The last category is Super Computer is the fastest, most powerful, and most expensive category of computer, which is used by a big company.

Last but not least, I will touch about Motherboard, CPU and Main Memory as the important part of a single computer. Firstly, Motherboard which means main circuit board in system unit and contains chips, integrated circuits, and transistors or called as system board. Secondly is CPU stands for Central Processing Unit that acts as the brain of any computer system, and converts data into information. Lastly, Main Memory which has two types of memories, such as RAM (Random Access Memory), and ROM (Read Only Memory). 

    In addition, most of us know about Input and Output in computers. But, I will describe more briefly about what Input and Output are. Input is any data and instructions entered into the memory of a computer. It has an input device which is any hardware component that allows users to enter data and instructions into a computer, such as, the key board, pointing device, voice input and many others. Output is data that has been processed into a useful form. An output device is any type of hardware component that conveys information to one or more people, like text, videos, pictures, and audios.

FCC 113 (Week 1 )

Induction about Computer

      It was very interesting to started my first class in the morning at 8.00am with my easy-going lecturer, Mr. Azamuddin Abdul Rahman or well-known as Mr.Azam. Therefore, my friends and I began it with getting to know each other and introduced ourselves accordingly. Most of us have learnt the Information technology (IT) and Information Literacy (IL) in the previous trimester 2012. So that, we can easily follow this course and ready to get a lot of knowledge regarding computer and internet field.

          Studying in new course is something differently what I felt during my first-class with new lecturer as well as new classmates. However, it was a great time for me that I could learn something really useful in my life from my lecturer. He gave us a huge of knowledge that he has regarding Computer and Internet field. Furthermore, I learnt what I had learnt in IT class before, so that it was just a re-frees for me to know more about computers.

          So, as the above picture shows that Computer is a programmable machine that carries out what it has been instructed. We recognize a Computer by looking at physical features as well as behaviors. In a Computer, there are some operation systems that always it does, such as Input, Processing, Output, Storage, and the other is Communication, and this operation is called as Information Processing Cycle.

        In Addition about Computer Operation, here are some definitions of Information Processing Cycle:

a) A computer converts DATA (from Input) to become INFORMATION ( as Output).

b) Processing requires a set of instruction, known as PROGRAM or SOFTWARE.

c) A computer holds data, instructions and information in storage for future use.

           Data is a collection of unprocessed items such as text, numbers, images, audio and video. Then what is the related between Data and Computer? The explanation is Computer and its components convert or Process Data (as input) to become Information (as output) in order to be useful for people (users).

Another thing that I have learnt from the class was Computer Data Representation. It was a little bit difficult and I was really confused how to compute it. Basically, it is how a Computer represents the data and it is called a bit. As addition, a bit is the most basic unit of information in a computer, and a group of eight bits is called as a byte, the smallest possible addressable unit of computer storage.

What I have been learning in the Computer and Internet class is very different from what I learnt in Information Technology last trimester. In the Computer and Internet lesson, I have to compute such the number systems that data can be represented by a Computer. They are called as Decimal Number System, Binary Number System, Octal Number System, and Hexadecimal Number System.

In addition, I would like to explain about all those number systems accordingly, even though I am not very expect in calculate them.

1.  Decimal Number System.v It uses ten numerals to form a string of numbers. The values are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9v Decimal numbers have a base, written as X₁₀ where X is any number string/ pattern.
2.  Binary Number System.
v It uses two numerals/digits to form a string of numbers. They are 0 and 1. Also known as BITS.v Binary numbers have a base of two, written as X₂ where X is any number string/ pattern.
v This is the number system used by computers. 3.     Octal Number System.
v It uses eight numerals to form a string of numbers. They are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.
v Octal numbers have a base of eight, written as X₈ where X is any number string/ pattern.
v Some binary quantities are written in this number system, but not very popular.
4.     Hexadecimal Number System.
v It uses sixteen symbols (numerals + letters) to form a string of numbers. They are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D and E. Also known as Hex.v Binary numbers have a base of sixteen, written as X₁₆ where X is any number string/ pattern.
v This is the number system typically used to represent digital data.