Page 10 - DCAP101_BASIC_COMPUTER_SKILLS

Unit 1: Computer Fundamentals

2. Speed. A computer is a very fast device. It can perform in a few seconds, the amount Notes
of work that a human being can do in an entire year if he/she worked day and night
and did nothing else. In other words, a computer can do in a few minutes what would
take a man his entire life time while talking about the speed of a computer we do not
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talk in terms of seconds or even milliseconds (10 ) but in terms of microseconds (10 ),
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nanoseconds (10 ), and even picoseconds (10 ). A powerful computer is capable of
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performing several billion (l0 ) simple arithmetic operations per second.
3. Accuracy. In addition to being very fast, computers are very accurate. Accuracy of a
computer is consistently high and the degree of its accuracy depends upon its design.
A computer performs even calculation with the same accuracy. However, errors can
occur in a computer. These errors are mainly due to human rather than technological
weaknesses. For example, errors may occur due to imprecise thinking by a programmer
(a person who writes instructions for a computer to solve a particular problem) or
incorrect input data. We often refer to computer errors caused due to incorrect input
data or unreliable programs as garbage-in-garbage-out (GIGO).
4. Diligence. Unlike human beings, a computer is free from monotony, tiredness, and
lack of concentration. It can continuously work for hours without creating any error
and without grumbling. Hence, computers score over human beings in doing routine
type of jobs that require great accuracy. If ten million calculations have to be performed,
a computer will perform the last one with exactly the same accuracy and speed as the
first one.

5. Versatility. Versatility is one of the most wonderful things about a computer. One
moment it is preparing results of an examination, next moment it is busy preparing
electricity bills, and in between, it may be helping an office secretary to trace an
important letter in seconds. All that is required to change its talent is to slip in a new
program (a sequence of instructions for the computer) into it. In brief, a computer is
capable of performing almost any task, if the task can be reduced to a finite series of
logical steps.
6. Power of Remembering. As a human being acquires new knowledge, his/her brain
subconsciously selects what it feels to be important and worth retaining in memory.
The brain relegates unimportant details to back of mind or just forgets them. This is
not the case with computers. A computer can store and recall any amount of information
because of its secondary storage (a type of detachable memory) capability. It can retain
a piece of information as long as a user desires and the user can recall the information
whenever required. Even after several years, a user can recall exactly the same
information that he/she had stored in the computer several years ago. A computer
forgets or looses creation information only when a user asks it to do so. Hence, it is
entirely up to the user to make a computer retain or forget some information.

No IQ. A computer is not a magical device. It possesses no intelligence of its own. Its
IQ is zero, at least until today. It has to be told what to do and in what sequence. Hence,
only a user determines—at tasks a computer will perform. A computer cannot take its
own decision in this regard.
No Feelings. Computers are devoid of emotions. They have no feelings and no
instincts because they are Machines. Although men have succeeded in building a
memory for computer, but no computer processes the equivalent of a human heart and
soul. Based on our feelings, taste, knowledge, and experience we often make certain
judgments in our day-to-day life whereas, computers cannot make judgments on their
own. They make judgments based on the instructions given to them in the form of
programs that are written by us (human beings).

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