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Information and Communication Technology Applications

user with no intervening computer operator. In contrast, the batch processing or time-sharing models
Notes allowed large expensive mainframe systems to be used by many people, usually at the same time.
Large data processing systems require a full-time staff to operate efficiently.
Software applications for personal computers include, but are not limited to, word processing,
spreadsheets, databases, Web browsers and e-mail clients, digital media playback, games, and myriad
personal productivity and special-purpose software applications. Modern personal computers often
have connections to the Internet, allowing access to the World Wide Web and a wide range of other
resources. Personal computers may be connected to a local area network (LAN), either by a cable or
a wireless connection. A personal computer may be a desktop computer or a laptop, tablet, or a
handheld PC.
While early PC owners usually had to write their own programs to do anything useful with the
machines, today’s users have access to a wide range of commercial software and free software,
which is provided in ready-to-run or ready-to-compile form. Since the early 1990s, Microsoft software
and Intel hardware have dominated much of the personal computer market, first with MS-DOS and
then with the Wintel platform. Alternatives to Microsoft’s Windows operating systems include
Apple’s Mac OS X and the open-source Linux OSes. AMD is the major alternative to Intel’s central
processing units. Applications and games for PCs are typically developed and distributed
independently from the hardware or OS manufacturers, whereas software for many mobile phones
and other portable systems is approved and distributed through a centralized online store.
In July and August 2011, marketing businesses and journalists began to talk about the ‘Post-PC
Era’, in which the desktop form factor was being replaced with more portable computing such as
netbooks, Tablet PCs, and smartphones.

Netbook Computers

Netbooks (also called mini notebooks or subnotebooks) are a rapidly evolving category of small,
light and inexpensive laptop computers suited for general computing and accessing web-based
applications; they are often marketed as “companion devices,” that is, to augment a user’s other
computer access. Walt Mossberg called them a “relatively new category of small, light, minimalist
and cheap laptops.” By August 2009, CNET called netbooks “nothing more than smaller, cheaper
notebooks.”.
Initially, their primary defining characteristic was the lack of an optical disc drive, requiring it to be
a separate and external device. This has become less important as flash memory devices have
gradually increased in capacity, replacing the writable optical disc (e.g. CD-RW, DVD-RW) as a
transportable storage medium.
At their inception in late 2007—as smaller notebooks optimized for low weight and low cost—
netbooks omitted key features (e.g., the optical drive), featured smaller screens and keyboards, and
offered reduced specification and computing power. Over the course of their evolution, netbooks
have ranged in size from below 5 in to over 13 in, and from ~1 kg (2–3 pounds). Often significantly
less expensive than other laptops, by mid-2009, netbooks had been offered to users “free of charge”,
with an extended service contract purchase of a cellular data plan.
In the short period since their appearance, netbooks have grown in size and features, now converging
with new smaller, lighter notebooks. By mid 2009, CNET noted “the specs are so similar that the
average shopper would likely be confused as to why one is better than the other,” noting “the only
conclusion is that there really is no distinction between the devices.”

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
1. The term “Super Computer” was coine in ...... by the New York World.
2. Mainframe Computers were stablished in the ...... .

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