CHAPTER 1 : INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, THE INTERNET AND YOU

Information Systems

An information system has five parts; that is people, procedures, software, hardware, data and connectivity (extra part).

People
End users that use computer to make themselves more productive.

Procedures
The rules or guidelines for people to follow when using software, hardware and data.

Software
A program consist of the step by step instructions that tell the computer how to do it works.
There are 2 type of software;

• System software
  Enable the application software to interact with the computer hardware. System software is not a single program. It is a collection of program like;
  Operating system
  Programs that coordinate computer resources, provide an interface between users and the computer, and run the application.
  Example: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Mac OS X, UBUNTU
  Utilities
  Perform specific tasks related to managing computer resources.
  Example : Disk Defragmenter, Disk Cleanup, Partition Magic.
  




• Application Software
  Might be described as end user software. It can be categorized as basic or specialized applications.
  Basic application, such as browser, word processor, spreadsheet, database, and presentation graphics.
  Specialized application such as video editing, web authoring, graphic, sound and artificial intelligence programs.
  

Hardware
The equipment that processes the data to create information.

Types of computer

Supercomputer
Most powerful computer. Example: IBM’s Blue Gene.


Mainframe computer
Capable to do great processing speeds and data storage but less than supercomputer.

Mini computer
Midrange computers, refrigerator-sized machine.

Microcomputer
Least powerful but widely used and fastest-growing, type of computer. Example; desktop, notebook, tablet PC and handheld computer.

Data
The raw, unprocessed facts, including text, numbers, images and sounds.

There are 4 types of common files.
Document files, created by word processor such as Microsoft Word.
Worksheet files, created by electronic spreadsheets to analyze thing such as Microsoft Excel.
Database files, created by database management programs to contain highly structured and organized data such as Microsoft Access.
Presentation files, created by presentation graphics program such as Microsoft PowerPoint.

Connectivity
Allow computer to connect and to share information. Central to the concept of connectivity is the network. The largest in the world is the internet