Basics Of Basics Flashcards
What is a computer?
A computer is an electronic device that stores and processes data based on a sequence of instructions given to it by programs.
What are the four types of computers?
The three types computers are
Supercomputers, mainframe computers, minicomputers, and microcomputers.
What are the characteristics of a supercomputer and some examples of where it is used?
The supercomputer takes up several rooms and is used to perform a variety of complex mathematical calculations and is the fastest computer in the world it is very large.
It can be of used in:
weather simulation
nuclear research
What are some characteristics of mainframe computers and examples of where they are used?
Main frames are very fast large scale computer systems, they have a large number of Terminals and peripheral devices being used simultaneously by hundreds of people, they may be larger than supercomputers and they have large storage and memory capacity.
They can be used:
in the bank for processing customer accounts, by utility companies to process telephone, water and electricity bills
and by Airlines from making flight arrangements.
What are some characteristics of minicomputers and examples of where it is used?
Mini computers are smaller slower than Mainframe computer, they are multiprocessing computer systems but may have a limit of 200 users and these computers are larger than the ones found in your average room.
Sent examples of these types of computers are:
scientific and engineering computations,
business transaction processing,
file handling,
database management
What are the characteristics of a microcomputer and some examples of where it is used as well as some types?
A micro computer is the smallest of the different types of computers as well as the slowest, it has a microprocessor and is mostly well known as the PC.
Examples of where it is used is in the household for leisure such as playing games,
in the office for storing documents and for communication through the internet
Some types of microcomputers are desktops which come with separate units and the laptop which is portable and comes as a single unit.
What are some advantages of using a computer?
The computer makes more accurate and faster calculation instead of a human, the computer doesn’t get tired, large amounts of data can be stored in a small amount of space, it makes work faster and easier.
What are some disadvantages of using computers?
They can be costly to maintain in a business, they can create a redundancy of jobs in the workplace, and it makes it easier for information to be misused.
