CIS 150 – Introduction to Computer Applications
Computer Concepts Class Notes
These notes are to accompany the Computer Concepts PowerPoint presentation. Please
refer to these notes when viewing the presentation.
Slides 2 & 3 identify the major objectives of this presentation and these notes.
Slide 4: A computer is defined as an electronic device that operates under the control
of internally stored instructions that can accept input, process data (both
mathematical processes and logical processes), produce output, and store the
results. Basically, a computer transforms data into information.
There are 4 General Operations of a Computer (based on this definition):
1) Input
Data is input into the computer. Data is the numbers, words, images, etc. that
are given to the computer during the input process. Data is input using Input
Devices: keyboard, mouse, joystick, touch screens, etc.
2) Process
This is the manipulation of the data to create useful information. Data is
processed very quickly within the computer, within billionths of a second.
Once the raw facts are processed into a meaningful form it is called
information. Computer processing is accomplished through the CPU (Central
Processing Unit). The CPU interprets the instructions for the computer. It
performs all logical and arithmetical operations as well as causes all input and
output to occur. The CPU is contained on a Microprocessor chip.
3) Output
Output devices convert digital signals from the computer into a recognizable
output. This is accomplished via the monitor or the printer.
4) Storage
Auxiliary storage is used to permanently store information for future use.
This storage is outside the workings of the computer – these are often called
Secondary Storage devices. These include floppy drives, hard drives, CD
Roms, DVD’s, etc.
Slide 5: The idea for a computer system – a general purpose computing machine was
developed by Charles Babbage in the 1800’s. The technology of that time was
insufficient to develop the machines to the degree of precision that was desired.
IBM began the push for the Microcomputer, commonly known as a Desktop PC.
Slide 6: Today’s personal computers still contain the components necessary for the four
general operations of a computer. It normally contains a keyboard and mouse for
input, speakers, monitor, and printer for output, a system unit that contains the
processor chip, and a CD drive, DVD drive, floppy drive, and hard drive as
secondary storage units. The components of today’s computers can be configured
separately and are available from a variety of vendors.
Slide 7: All data in a computer is converted and stored in Binary fashion. Binary is a
base-2 number system made up of only zero (0) and one (1). Each zero or one is
stored as a Bit – a binary digit. These bits are combined into groups of eight
which are called Bytes. A byte is the smallest addressable unit of memory in a
computer. These bytes can be used to represent all letters, numbers, etc. within
the computer. This is done through a coding system called ASCII – American
Standard Code for Information Interchange. In ASCII each character is
represented by a specific combination of 8 bits (1 byte). Examples of the ASCII
code are found on page 893 of your textbook.
Slide 8: The microprocessor chip is the “brain” of the computer. It is where you find the
CPU. Original Intel microprocessor chips were originally identified through a
numbering system (286, 386, 486) but this allowed other companies to develop
similar chips and use the same system making it difficult to differentiate the Intel
chip. Intel then developed the Pentium name and now use this to identify their
