Untitled Essay, Research Paper

Computers are capable of doing more things every year. There are many advantages toknowing how to use a computer, and it is important that everyone know how to use themproperly. Using the information I have gathered, and my own knowledge from my 12 years ofcomputer experience, I will explain the many advantages of owning a computer and knowing

howto use a PC and I will attempt to explain why you should purchase a computer and learn how

touse one properly.

Webster’s New World Compact Dictionary defines a computer as "an electronic machine

thatperforms rapid, complex calculations or compiles and correlates data"

("Computer."). While thisdefinition gives one a very narrow view of what a computer is capable of doing, it does

describethe basic ideas of what I will expand upon. We have been living through an age of

computers for ashort while now and there are already many people world wide that are computer literate.According to Using Computers: A Gateway to Information World Wide Web Edition, over 250million Personal Computers (PC’s) were in use by 1995, and one out of every three homes

had aPC (Shelly, Cashman,& Waggoner, 138).

Computers are easy to use when you know how they work and what the parts are. Allcomputers perform the four basic operations of the information processing cycle: input,

process,output, and storage. Data, any kind of raw facts, is required for the processing cycle to

occur.Data is processed into useful information by the computer hardware. Most computer systemsconsist of a monitor, a system unit which contains the Central Processing Unit (CPU), afloppy-disk drive, a CD-ROM drive, speakers, a keyboard, a mouse, and a printer. Eachcomponent takes a part in one of the four operations.

The keyboard and mouse are input devices that a person uses to enter data into the

computer.From there the data goes to the system unit where it is processed into useful information

thecomputer can understand and work with. Next the processed data can be sent to storage

devicesor to output devices. Normally output is sent to the monitor and stored on the hard-disk

or to afloppy-disk located internal of the system unit. Output can also be printed out through

the printer,or can be played through the speakers as sound depending on the form it takes after it isprocessed.

Once you have grasped a basic understanding of the basic parts and operations of a

computer,you can soon discover what you can do with computers to make life easier and more

enjoyable.Being computer literate allows you to use many powerful software applications and

utilities to dowork for school, business, or pleasure. Microsoft is the current leading producer of many

of theseapplications and utilities.

Microsoft produces software called operating systems that manage and regulate theinformation processing cycle. The oldest of these is MS-DOS, a single user system that

uses typedcommands to initiate tasks. Currently Microsoft has available operating systems that use

visualcues such as icons to help enter data and run programs. These operating systems are ran

underan environment called a Graphical User Interface (GUI’s). Such operating systems includeWindows 3.xx, Windows 95, and Windows NT Workstation. Windows 95 is geared more for usein the home for productivity and game playing whereas Windows NT is more business

orientated.The article entitled "Mine, All Mine" in the June 5, 1995 issue of Time stated

that 8 out of 10PC’s worldwide would not be able to start or run if it were not for Microsoft’s operating

systemslike MS-DOS, Windows 95, and Windows NT (Elmer-Dewitt, 1995, p. 50).

By no means has Microsoft limited itself to operating systems alone. Microsoft has alsoproduced a software package called Microsoft Office that is very useful in creating

reports, databases, spreadsheets, presentations, and other documents for school and work. Microsoft

Office:Introductory Concepts and Techniques provides a detailed, step-by-step approach to the

fourprograms included in Microsoft Office.

Included in this package are Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, andMicrosoft PowerPoint. Microsoft Word is a word processing program that makes creatingprofessional looking documents such as announcements, resumes, letters, address books, andreports easy to do. Microsoft Excel, a spreadsheet program, has features for data

organization,calculations, decision making, and graphing. It is very useful in making professional

lookingreports. Microsoft Access, a powerful database management system, is useful in creating

andprocessing data in a database. Microsoft PowerPoint is ". . a complete presentation

graphicsprogram that allows you to produce professional looking presentations" (Shelly,

Cashman, &Vermaat, 2). PowerPoint is flexible enough so that you can create electronic

presentations,overhead transparencies, or even 35mm slides.

Microsoft also produces entertainment and reference programs. "Microsoft’s Flight

Simulatoris one of the best selling PC games of all time" (Elmer-Dewitt, 50). Microsoft’s

Encarta is anelectronic CD-ROM encyclopedia that makes for a fantastic alternative to 20 plus volume

bookencyclopedias. In fact, it is so popular, it outsells the Encyclopedia Britannica. These

powerfulbusiness, productivity, and entertainment applications are just the beginning of what you

can dowith a PC.

Knowing how to use the Internet will allow you access to a vast resource of facts,

knowledge,information, and entertainment that can help you do work and have fun. According to

NetscapeNavigator 2 running under Windows 3.1, "the Internet is a collection of networks,

each of whichis composed of a collection of smaller networks" (Shelly, Cashman, & Jordan, N2).

Informationcan be sent over the Internet through communication lines in the form of graphics, sound,

video,animation, and text. These forms of computer media are known as hypermedia. Hypermedia isaccessed through hypertext links, which are pointers to the computer where the hypermedia

isstored. The World Wide Web (WWW) is the collection of these hypertext links throughout theInternet. Each computer that contains hypermedia on the WWW is known as a Web site and hasWeb pages set up for users to access the hypermedia. Browsers such as Netscape allow

people to"surf the net" and search for the hypermedia of their choice.

There are millions of examples of hypermedia on the Internet. You can find art, photos,information on business, the government, and colleges, television schedules, movie

reviews, musiclyrics, online news and magazines, sport sights of all kinds, games, books, and thousands

of otherhypermedia on the WWW. You can send electronic mail (E-Mail), chat with other users aroundthe world, buy airline, sports, and music tickets, and shop for a house or a car. All of

this, andmore, provides one with a limitless supply of information for research, business,

entertainment, orother personal use. Online services such as America Online, Prodigy, or CompuServe make it

even easier to access the power of the Internet. The Internet alone is almost reason

enough tobecome computer literate, but there is still much more that computers can do.

Knowing how to use a computer allows you to do a variety of things in several different

ways.One of the most popular use for computers today is for playing video games. With a PC you

canplay card games, simulation games, sport games, strategy games, fighting games, and

adventuregames. Today’s technology provides the ultimate experiences in color, graphics, sound,

music,full motion video, animation, and 3D effects. Computers have also become increasingly

useful inthe music, film, and television industry. Computers can be used to compose music, create

soundeffects, create special effects, create 3D life-like animation, and add previous existing

movie andTV footage into new programs, as seen in the movie Forrest Gump. All this and more can bedone with computers.

There is truly no time like the present to become computer literate. Computers will be

doingeven more things in the future and will become unavoidable. Purchasing and learning about

a newPC now will help put PC’s into the other two-thirds of the homes worldwide and make thetransition into a computer age easier.

Works Cited"Computer." Webster’s New World Compact School and Office Dictionary. 1995.Elmer-Dewitt, P. "Mine, All Mine." Time Jun. 1995: 46-54.Shelly, G., T. Cashman, and K. Jordan. Netscape Navigator 2 Running Under Windows 3.1.Danvers: Boyd & Fraser Publishing Co., 1996.Shelly, G., T. Cashman, and M. Vermaat. Microsoft Office Introductory Concepts andTechniques. Danvers: Boyd & Fraser Publishing Co., 1995.Shelly, G., T. Cashman, G. Waggoner, and W. Waggoner. Using Computers: A Gateway toInformation World Wide Web Edition. Danvers: Boyd & Fraser Publishing Co., 1996.