What is computer?

What is computer?

The term computer is used to describe a device made up of a combination of electronic and electromechanical (part electronic and part mechanical) components. By itself, a computer has no intelligence and is referred to as hardware. A computer, or computer system, does not come to life until it is connected to the other parts of its system. A computer system is a combination of five elements.

1. Hardware

2. Software

3. People

4. Procedures

5. Data/Information

When one computer system is set up to communicate with another computer system, connectivity becomes a sixth element. In order words, the manner in which the various individual systems are connected, for example, by phone lines, microwave transmission, or satellite, is an element of the total computer- system.

Software is the term used to describe the instructions that tell the hardware how to perform a task: without software instructions, the hardware does not know what to do. People, however, constitute the most important component of the computer system. People operate the computer hardware: they create the computer software instructions and respond to the procedures that those instructions present. The purpose of a computer system is to convert data into information. Data is raw, unevaluated facts and figures, or concepts collected from various sources such as raw unevaluated facts, which are not organized or defined. This raw material is processed into useful information. In other words, information is the product of data processing. This processing includes refining, Summarizing, categorizing, and otherwise manipulating the data into a useful form for decision-making.