Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ...

Chapter 1: Introduction to Information Technology

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: Mind Tools for Your Future In This Chapter This book focuses on information technology—”infotech”—and the vast changes information technology is bringing to society, business, and our lives. The first section of this chapter describes how the computer and communications have merged into the online phenomenon known as cyberspace, especially the Internet and the things it has made possible, such as e-mail and the World Wide Web. The second section describes the five types of computers—supercomputers, mainframes, workstations, microcomputers, and microcontrollers. It also describes servers. The next section describes, through the example of pretending to build a PC, how a computer system works. It discusses the four basic operations of input, processing, storage, and output plus communications. The last section of the chapter discusses where infotech is headed: connectivity, interactivity, and multimedia. It also describes how the melding of computers and communications has produced the developments of: convergence, portability, personalization, and information overload. Finally, it discusses three ethical concerns raised by information technology: speed and scale, unpredictability, and complexity.

The Objectives: Concepts Students Should Know After reading this chapter, students should be able to answer the following questions. 1. How does information technology facilitate e-mail, networks, and the use of the Internet and the Web, and what is the meaning of the term cyberspace? 2. What are the five sizes of computers, and what are clients and servers? 1


3. What four basic operations do all computers follow, and what are some of the devices associated with each operation? How does communications affect these operations? 4. What are three directions of computer development and three directions of communications development?

Lecture Outline I. Infotech Becomes Commonplace: Cellphones, E-Mail, the Internet, & the E-World A. The Telephone Grows Up B. “You’ve Got Mail!” E-Mail’s Mass Impact C. The Internet, the World Wide Web, & the “Plumbing of Cyberspace” 1. The Internet—”the mother of all networks” 2. The World Wide Web—the multimedia part of the Net D. The E-World & Welcome to It II. The “All-Purpose Machine”: The Varieties of Computers A. All Computers, Great & Small: The Categories of Machines 1. Supercomputers 2. Mainframe computers 3. Workstations 4. Microcomputers a) Desktop PCs b) Tower PCs c) Notebook PCs d) Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) 5. Microcontrollers

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B. Servers

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III. Understanding the Computer: Pretending to Build Your Own PC A. How Computers Work: Three Key Concepts 1. The purpose of a computer is to process data into information 2. The difference between hardware and software 3. Five basic computer operations: a) Input b) Processing c) Storage d) Output e) Communications B. Pretending to Build a Desktop Computer C. Input Hardware 1. Keyboard 2. Mouse D. Processing & Memory Hardware: Inside the System Cabinet 1. Case (system cabinet) and power supply 2. Processor chip 3. Memory chips 4. Motherboard E. Storage Hardware 1. Floppy drive 2. Hard drive 3. CD-ROM drive F. Output Hardware 1. Video & sound cards 2. Monitor 3. Speakers 4. Printer G. Communications Hardware: Modem H. Software 1. System software 2. Application software I. Is Building Your Own PC Worth the Effort?

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IV. Where Is Information Technology Headed? A. Three Directions of Computer Development 1. Miniaturization 2. Speed 3. Affordability B. Three Directions of Communications Development 1. Connectivity 2. Interactivity 3. Multimedia C. When Computers & Communications Combine 1. Convergence 2. Portability 3. Personalization 4. Information overload D. “E” Also Stands for Ethics 1. Speed and scale 2. Unpredictability 3. Complexity V. Onward: Are We Headed toward a Global Brain?

Lecture Notes “Technology will provide no miracles that feel like miracles for long,” observes editor and historian Frederick Allen. Adds science-fiction writer Bruce Sterling, “We should never again feel all mind-boggled at anything that human beings create. No matter how amazing some machine may seem, the odds are very high that we’ll outlive it.” The personal computer is over two decades old. The Internet has been familiar to the public for over 10 years. It has been more than five years since the nowcommonplace “www” for World Wide Web began appearing in company ads. And, like cars, elevators, air-conditioning, and television—all of which have wrought tremendous changes on society and the landscape—they are rapidly achieving what technology is supposed to do: become ordinary. They are becoming part of the wallpaper of our lives, almost invisible.

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Suggested Class Discussion: Use the preceding information to ask students how their lives have been affected by computers and communications, especially the Internet. Encourage students to speak freely, using the following questions to stimulate discussion: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

How has communication changed in the last 30 years? What advantages will computers or the computer industry bring to our lives? Do you think “snail mail” will become uncommon (only communicate through email)? Who would rather communicate through e-mail? Will all banking functions be processed by an ATM-type machine or online? What do they think about the fees many banks charge to use an ATM? Will you be able to order a restaurant meal online and have it ready for you when you show up? Will textbooks disappear, to be replaced by CDs and the World Wide Web? If so, how will these new media publishers get their financial incentives and rewards?

I. Infotech Becomes Commonplace: Cellphones, E-Mail, the Internet, & the E-World This book is about computers, of course. But not just about computers. It is also about the way computers communicate with each other. When computer and communications technologies are combined, the result is information technology—”infotech”—defined as technology that merges computing with high-speed communications links carrying data, sound, and video. Note there are two parts to this definition—computers and communications. A computer is a programmable, multiuse machine that accepts data—raw facts and figures—and processes, or manipulates, it into information we can use, such as summaries, totals, or reports. Communications technology, also called telecommunications technology, consists of electromagnetic devices and systems for communicating over long distances. Online means using a computer or other information device, connected through a voice or data network, to access information and services from another computer or information device. A. The Telephone Grows Up Cellphone mania has swept the world. In 1973, the first cellphone call was processed. In its standard form, the phone is still so simply designed that even 6


a young child can use it. However, it is now becoming more versatile—a way of connecting to the Internet and the World Wide Web. Infotech phones—such as AT&T’s PocketNet Phone or Motorola’s i1000 plus— provide a direct, wireless connection that enables you to browse the World Wide Web and receive all kinds of information: news, sports scores, stock prices, term-paper research. And you can also send and receive e-mail. Suggested Class Discussion: 1. How many of students have cellphones? 2. How many use their cellphone to read and send e-mail? 3. How many access the Internet using their cellphone? 4. How much time do they waste playing games on their cellphones? 5. What other things do they use their cellphones for? B. “You’ve Got Mail!”: E-Mail’s Mass Impact It took the telephone 40 years to reach 10 million customers, and fax machines 20 years. Personal computers made it into that many American homes 5 years after they were introduced. E-mail reached 10 million users in little more than a year. No technology has ever become so universal so fast, and one of the first things new computer users learn is how to send and receive e-mail. In 1998, the volume of e-mail in the United States surpassed the volume of hand-delivered mail. By 2002, an average of 8 billion messages a day are expected to zip back and forth across the U.S. E-mail “occupies a psychological space all its own,” says one journalist. “It’s almost as immediate as a phone call, but if you need to, you can think about what you’re going to say for days and reply when it’s convenient.” E-mail has blossomed, points out another writer, not because it gives us more immediacy but because it gives us less. Suggested Class Discussion: Discuss with your students the advantages of using e-mail and voice mail. If your campus uses e-mail, discuss how the use of this technology has changed communication across campus. Because many people dislike using voice mail, you might highlight its advantages: reduced telephone tag, less need for message-taking staff, ability to leave messages at any time. C. The Internet, the World Wide Web, & the “Plumbing of Cyberspace”

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Communications is extending into every nook and cranny of civilization. It has been called the “plumbing of cyberspace.” We may say that cyberspace encompasses not only the online world and the Internet in particular but also the whole wired and wireless world of communications in general. Suggested Class Discussion: Ask students if they subscribe to an online service. If they do, discuss the online service they subscribe to and the average amount of money they spend each month using this service. The two most important aspects of cyberspace are the Internet and that part of it known as the World Wide Web. •

The Internet—”the mother of all networks”: The Internet is a worldwide network that connects up to 400,000 smaller networks in more than 200 countries.

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The World Wide Web—the multimedia part of the Net: The Internet has actually been around for more than 30 years. But what made it popular, apart from e-mail, was the development of the World Wide Web—an interconnected system of computers all over the world that store information in multimedia form. The influence of the Net and the Web is tremendous. At present, onethird to one-half of the U.S. population is online, and if the Internet industry were a nation, it would be the 18th-largest economy in the world. But just how revolutionary is it? Is it equivalent to the invention of television, or is it even more important—equivalent to the invention of the printing press?

Suggested Class Discussion: Ask students to think about the advantages and disadvantages of viewing their favorite newspaper or magazine online. Possible advantages: Being able to access material as soon as it is available; saving paper, money, and postage; and being able to quickly retrieve previous articles. Some disadvantages: having to read a computer screen; difficulty reading in one’s favorite chair, on the beach, or in the bathtub. The Center for Communication Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles, in conjunction with other international universities, has begun to take a look at the effects of information technology—and at how

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people’s behavior and attitudes toward it will change over a span of years. Suggested Class Discussion: How many students currently use the Internet to view the local newspaper?

D. The E-World & Welcome to It Cyberspace is saturating our lives. More than 52% of American adults are Internet users, according to a recent survey. An amazingly high percentage of American teenagers use the Internet. E-mail is certainly one important reason. But it’s more than just about e-mail. Teenagers are also big participants in online commerce. Not just for teens but for most Americans, the use of the Internet’s favorite letter, “e”—as in e-business, e-commerce, e-shopping—is rapidly becoming outmoded. “E” is now part of nearly everything we do. Cyberspace permeates everything, and infotech has become ordinary. Suggested Class Discussion: Ask students how many have purchased things online. What did they buy? Which online merchants do they like?

II. The “All-Purpose Machine”: The Varieties of Computers At one time, the idea of having your own computer was almost like having your own personal nuclear reactor. In those days, in the 1950s and ‘60s, computers were enormous machines affordable only by large institutions. Now they come in a variety of shapes and sizes, which could be classified according to their processing power. Cue to Instructor: This would be an excellent time at which to pass around old equipment—integrated circuits, disk platters, tapes, or hard-disk drives. This can help students understand just how small and powerful computers are becoming. Ask your college’s computer center if it can make available outmoded computer equipment for show-and-tell purposes. Or ask a local computer store if someone can bring equipment for demonstration purposes in the classroom. If your city has a computer museum, ask them for help.

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