TMU1013

Introduction to Computer Technologies

Semester 2, 2018/19
 What is a computer?
 What is a computer system?
 Computer Evolution
 Computer Architecture /
Hardware components
 Computer Software / Applications
 Computer Networks
 A computer is a multipurpose electronic
device that is capable of
◦ Receiving input (data)
 Input: whatever that is typed, submitted or transmitted
into a computer
◦ Processing the input according to instructions
◦ Producing output (results)
 Output: the results produced by a computer after
being processed; can be stored for future use.
◦ Storing information for future use
 The IPOS Model:

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT STORAGE

 IPOS model describes how a computer works

in general
◦ the most basic structure of an information
processing entity
 All computer systems operate based on the
information processing cycle
 Mobile computers & devices

Personal
computers
Game devices

Categories of
Terminals Computer

Supercomputers

Servers Wearable
technology
Stick computer
Embedded
computers
 The computer system is a complete working
system that consists of
◦ Computer hardware
◦ Computer software

 Hardware is any parts of the computer that

has a physical structure (tangible)
 Software is a collection of related instructions
that tells the computer to perform tasks
 The software program is the set of
instructions telling the computer hardware
what needs to be done.
 Different software means different set of
instruction for different tasks, i.e., Word
processing, excel calculation, graphic editing
Applications Utilities

Operating Systems Software

Device Drivers

Computer Hardware

Hardware

Communication Networks
 What is Computer Architecture?
◦ It is a conceptual design and fundamental
operational structure of a computer system.
◦ It describes how all internal components of a
computer system work together.
◦ The main internal components (hardware) are
 Microprocessor
 Memory
 Storage
 Display
 Input and Output such as Display, Keyboard / Mouse
and Communications
 For a computer to work, apart from the
hardware, there is also software
 There are 4 types of software program
◦ Applications (Word, Excel, etc)
◦ Utilities (Antivirus, system recovery, etc)
◦ Operating systems (Windows, Linux, MacOS, etc)
◦ Device Drivers (display card driver, webcam driver,
USB, keyboard, mouse, etc)
These are the tools or applications that users interact with directly.
These are the different computing platforms to support
high level user applications
All hardware integration in a computer system would require
individual device driver in order to work with the main computer
system
 Computer networks have become the main
stream in communication networks
 Data transfer across the network is now
overtaking the voice
 Many applications are now Internet based
 Optical fiber networks offer tremendous amount
of bandwidth
 Wireless networks (WiFi) offer great mobility
 Mobile networks (3G/4G) offer even greater
mobility
 They are now appear and needed in almost all
industries to support various applications
 Think of 3-5 software that you use in your
daily life
 List down the software
 What do you use these software for?
 Here is a brief overview of some of the early computers and
trends in computing.
 1930’s – Vacuum tubes were used as electronic
circuits or electronic switches.
 First electronic digital computer built by Konrad Zuse, who
developed his first machine, the Z1, in his parents' living room in
Berlin in 1938.
 Another early digital computer was built by Dr. John Atanasoff and
his assistant Clifford Berry, known as the ABC (Atanasoff Berry
Computer) built at Iowa State University during 1937-42.
 The IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled
Calculator
 51 feet long, 8 feet high, weighs 5 tons
 The Colossus was designed by Alan Turing in
1943 for British military to break German
codes during WW2
 The computer’s existence was kept a secret
until 1970s
 First large-scale
electronic digital
computer was ENIAC
(Electronic Numerical
Integrator and
Calculator)
 More than 100 feet
long, more than 10 feet
high, weighs 30 tons
 Calculates the
artilleries’ trajectories
for US Army
 Universal Automatic
Computer
 Considered the first
commercially
successful computer
 Length: 14.5 feet,
height: 7.5 feet, width:
9 feet, weight: 8 tons
 Correctly predicted
Dwight Eisenhower will
win the US Presidential
elections
 Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, USN, with other programmers.
 1947 - Walter Brittain and Willaim Shockley
invented the transistor at Bell Laboratories
 Replaced the vacuum tube as an electronic switch
 TRADIC (TRAnsistorized Airborne DIgital Computer)
 800 transistors.
 First computer system to completely use transistors
 First computer to be successfully operated in an aircraft, an
environment which was hostile to previous computer systems.
Transistors were:
 Smaller
 Faster
 More reliable
 Less expensive
 1959, Jack Kirby and Robert Noyce at Fairfield Semiconductor
(who was later to become the cofounder of Intel Corp.)
developed the first integrated circuit (silicon chip or microchip).
 An integrated circuit (IC) is a system of interrelated circuits
packaged together on a single sliver of silicon.
 It is a way of placing multiple (millions) transistor devices into
as single, smaller device, the “microchip.”
 1 addition every billionth of a second
(nanosecond), or a billion additions every
second
ICs were:
 Smaller
 Faster
 More reliable
 Less expensive
 A microprocessor is a Central Processing Unit (CPU) on a single chip.
 1971, Intel Corp. introduced the first microprocessor chip.
 Intel 4004
 108 kHz and contained (equivalent of) 2300 transistors
 Busicom desk-top printing calculator, the world’s
first commercial product to use a microprocessor.
 Used the Intel 4004 CPU.
 Microcomputer - a
computer which has a
microprocessor.
 Used the Intel 8080
Microprocessor
 Xerox Alto – first
microcomputer.
 Developed at Xerox
PARC (Palo Alto
Research Center)
 Not for consumer
market.
 1981 – Xerox Star
 Xerox executives “just
didn’t get it”.
 Ed Roberts and the
first
microcomputer or
personal computer
(for the consumer)
the Altair 8800
 Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak developed the Apple I
microcomputer in their basement.
 Though it was a flop, its successor became the first popular
home computer
Commodore
PET 2001

Kaypro

Tandy TRS-80
Osbourne
 Texas Instruments
Atari

IMSAI
Timex Sinclair
 MS-DOS is a
command line/non
GUI OS
 Microsoft continues to update
Windows. From Windows 95, 98,
Me, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8 and now
Windows 10.
 LINUX operating system, an open
source version of UNIX, is taking
on MS Windows and gaining in
popularity as a free operating
system
 Apple continues to be a major
player in personal computers,
especially for the “creative market”,
iPods, Mac, MacBooks, iPads,
iPhones etc.
 HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus, Acer, are
the main PC manufacturers for
Windows operating systems
 Internet and WiFi have been a must
in today’s computing
 Smaller
 More
powerful
 More reliable
 Less
expensive
 Easier to use
 Multi-core
processors
 Taking over
role of
conventional
computers
 Nintendo Wii
 Xbox
 Kinect
 PlayStation
 Wearable technology
 Drone delivery
 Smart glasses
 3D printing
 Augmented reality
 Virtual reality
 Wearable technology
 Drone delivery
 Smart glasses
 3D printing
 Augmented reality
 Virtual reality
 The current and developing time and
environment that we are now living is known
as the Fourth Industrial Revolution

 The first major Industrial Revolution was in

1700s

 Also known as Industry 4.0

 Describe your first time using a computer
 When and where was it?
 How does the computer look like?
 What did you use the computer for?
 How different was that computer from what
you are using today?
 Introduction to computer, the computer
system, various forms of computers,
computer architecture
 Computer evolution
 Task: Mind map