Download Chapter 1

Technology In Action
© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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Technology In Action
Chapter 1
Why Computers Matter to You:
Becoming Computer Fluent
© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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Chapter Topics
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Computer fluency
Computers and careers
Computer functions
Data vs. information
Computer hardware and software
Societal challenges and computers
Future technologies
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What is Computer Fluency?
• Computers are everywhere in our society.
• You find them in
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Schools
Cars
Airports
Shopping Centers
Toys
Medical Devices
Homes
Peoples’ pockets
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What is Computer Fluency?
• Americans interact with computers almost
every day, sometimes, without even
knowing it.
– Credit cards
– E-mail
– Cell phones
– Digital cameras
– Web sites
© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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What is Computer Fluency?
• To be computer
fluent you must:
– Understand a
computer’s
capabilities and
limitations
– Know how to use a
computer
© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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What is Computer Fluency?
• You can use your computer more wisely
and be a more knowledgeable consumer.
• Computer-fluent employees are sought
after in most every vocation.
• Becoming computer fluent will help you
better understand and take advantage of
future technologies.
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Being a Savvy Computer User
and Consumer
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Make good purchase decisions
– Understanding the computer buzz-words
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Maintain your computer
Keep abreast of changes in technology
Understand the real risks
– Be able to identify the real privacy and security risks
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Use the Internet wisely
– Finding information and finding good information are
two different things
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Avoid online annoyances
– Spam - adware
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Avoid hackers and viruses
– What are they and how can you avoid them
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Protect your privacy
– Identity theft
© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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Computers in your Career?
• Regardless of your profession, if computers
are not already in use, they most likely will
be soon.
• The U.S. Department of Labor predicts that
by 2010, 70% of the U.S. work force will be
using computers at work.
• The Department of Agriculture has found
that employees who use a computer on the
job earn 10% more than those who don’t.
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Computers in your Career?
• Becoming truly computer fluent –
understanding the capabilities and
limitations of computers and what you can
do with them – will undoubtedly help you
– Perform your job more effectively
– Become a more desirable employee
– Earn more and grow your career
© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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Computers in your Career?
• Computer careers in:
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Business
The Arts
The Medical Field
Law Enforcement
Legal Fields
Education
The Sciences
Gaming
Homes
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Computers in Business
• Point of Sale Terminals
• Tracking merchandise
• Data mining
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Computers in Business
• Businesses accumulate a lot of data
• How do they separate the anomalies from
the trends? They use a process called • Data Mining
– The process of searching huge amounts of
data with the hope of finding a pattern.
– Allows retailers to respond to consumer buying
patterns.
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Computers in Business
• Data Mining
– Large retailers often study the data gathered
from register terminals to determine which
products are selling on a given day and in a
specific location
• This helps managers figure out how much
merchandise they need in order to replace
stock that is sold.
© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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Computers in Business
• Data Mining
– Managers determine that for a certain
product to sell well, they must lower its
price – especially if they cut the price at
one store and see sales increase.
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Computers in Business
• Personal Shopper Systems (PSS)
– A small handheld computer that you can
pick up when you enter the store
– As you move about the store, scanning
the item’s tag or a label near the item
pulls up the current price and any
specials the store is offering
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Computers in Business
• Personal Shopper Systems (PSS)
– If you decide to buy, pull the trigger and
place the item in your basket, bagging the
items as you move along.
– If you’d rather think about it a bit more,
the system can e-mail information about
the product to you.
– At any time prior to leaving the store, you
can check the total amount of your
purchases.
© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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Computers in Business
• Personal Shopper Systems (PSS)
– When you have completed shopping, simply
get into a self-checkout lane.
– The information collected in the PSS will be
integrated with the POS terminal in the selfcheckout lane
– Press the “end of trip” button and pay the total.
– There’s no need to unload and individually scan
the items in your shopping cart.
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Computers in Business
• Point of Sale Terminal (POS Terminal)
– Records purchases, processes debit or
credit cards, and updates inventory.
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Computers in Business
• United Parcel Service (UPS) handles
more than 14 million packages per
day.
• UPS uses a sophisticated database
and a very efficient package-tracking
tracking system that follows the
packages as they move around the
world
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Computers in Business
• When the sender drops off a package,
UPS creates a “smart label” for the
package.
• In addition to the standard postal bar
code and a bar code showing UPS
customer numbers, the smart label
contains a MaxiCode.
– Contains information about the package
• Class of service, destination, etc.
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Computers in Business
• When the package is handled in
processing centers, UPS workers scan
the MaxiCode.
• The information is transmitted to
terminals the workers wear.
• The terminals then sends the data
across wireless networks to the UPS
database.
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Computers in Business
• To track package delivery, UPS
carriers use delivery acquisition
devices that feature wireless
networking capabilities, infrared
scanners to scan the smart labels and
transmit the information back to the
UPS database, and an electronic pad
to capture customer signatures.
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Computers in Business
• By capturing this data and making it
available on its Internet database, UPS
enables its customers to track their
packages through the delivery
process.
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Computers in Business
• UPS is also able to make informed
decisions about staffing and deploying
equipment (trucks, airplanes, etc.)
based on the volume and type of
packages in the system at any given
time.
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Computers in Farming
and Ranching
• Assist in managing complex farming
business and information systems
• RFID tags track and record animals in
case of diseases
• Computerized sensors and equipment
activation protect crops
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Computers in Farming
and Ranching
• Ranchers must watch out for and prevent
diseases like hoof and mouth, mad cow,
and even E.coli outbreak.
• Outbreaks can be managed and
minimized with the use of radio frequency
identification tags (RFID tags).
• The RFID tag placed on each cow’s ear is
a very small button.
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Computers in Farming
and Ranching
• When the cow walks past a panel reader,
its location is automatically recorded and
tracked in a database.
• If a cow is identified as having disease, all
of its movements have been recorded.
• By using the database that stores the
RFID information, it is simple to identify
exactly which food lots it ate from and
which other animals from that same food.
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Computers in Farming
and Ranching
• Cranberry crops easily can be destroyed
by frost.
• Growers had to race to protect the bogs of
berries on cold nights by turning on pumps
to force out water to surround the berries
and keep them from freezing.
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Computers in Farming
and Ranching
• Today, growers use a web-based system
that can automatically control the pumps.
• It analyzes information about the current
time, the temperature measured near the
berries, watering schedules, rainfall, and
wind conditions
• Automatically turn on and off the pumps
around the bog fields as needed.
© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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Computers in the Arts
• Virtual art
• Virtual dance
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Computers in the Arts
• Virtual Art
– Many artists today work exclusively with
computers to create digital art.
– Camille Utterback used a computer and
video clips of pedestrians in Tokyo to
create a visual art piece entitled Liquid
Time.
– When no one is near the visual art piece,
the screen displays a static image.
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Computers in the Arts
• Virtual Art
– As onlookers in the gallery move closer
to the work, a camera mounted on the
ceiling of the art gallery captures the
movements and dimensions of the
onlookers in the gallery.
– A computer with specialized software
then uses this captured data and causes
the video playing in the Liquid Time
piece Inc.to ripple.
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Computers in the Arts
• Virtual Art
– Because the rippling effect is based on
the movement and size of the gallery
patrons, the work looks different to each
person looking at it.
– As viewers move away from the work,
the video returns to a static display.
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Computers in the Arts
• Virtual Dance
– Georgia Institute of Technology is using
computers to create virtual dancers and
new performances for audiences.
– Live dancers are wired with sensors that
are connected to a computer that
captures the dancers’ movements.
– Based on the data it collects, the
computer generates a virtual dancer on
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the screen.
Computers in the Arts
• Virtual Dance
– The computer operator can easily
manipulate this virtual dancer as well as
change the dancer’s costume with the
click of a mouse.
– This allows the ballet company to create
new experiences for the audience by
pairing virtual dancers with live dancers.
© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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Computers in the Medical Field
• Virtual reality in medical applications
• Patient simulator
• Da Vinci Surgical System
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Computers in the Medical Field
• Virtual Reality in Medical Applications
– Wired magazine recently reported that a
company called Cyberkinetics has
designed a human neural interface
system, known as BrainGate, capable of
translating a person’s thoughts into
cursor movements.
© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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Computers in the Medical Field
• Patient Simulator
– Medical students are getting access o better
training opportunities thanks to a computer
technology called a Patient Simulator
• Life-sized mannequins that can speak,
breathe, and blink.
• They have a pulse and a heartbeat, and
they respond just like humans to
procedures such as the administration of
intravenous drugs.
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Computers in the Medical Field
• Patient Simulator
– Medical students can train on patient
simulators and experience firsthand how
a human would react to their treatments
without any risk to a live patient.
• Physiome Project
– Bioengineers are creating realistic computer
simulations of all systems and features of the
human anatomy.
– They have recently completed a digital
recreation of the human heart and lungs.
© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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Computers in the Medical Field
• Da Vinci Surgical System
– Surgeons are often limited by their
manual dexterity and can have trouble
making small, precise incisions.
– Robotic surgery devices can exercise
much finer control when making delicate
incisions than can a human guiding a
scalpel.
© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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Computers in Law Enforcement
• Computer forensics
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Computers in Law Enforcement
• Computer forensics
– The application of computer systems and
techniques to gather potential legal evidence.
– Facial reconstruction systems can turn a skull
into a finished digital image of a face, allowing
investigators to proceed with identification.
– Computers can search the vast number of
databases on the Internet
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Computers in Law Enforcement
• Computer forensics
– Proprietary law enforcement databases
such as the National Center for the
Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC)
database enable detectives to track a
wealth of information about similarities
between crimes, trying to detect
patterns that may reveal serial crimes.
© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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Computers in the Legal Fields
• Surveillance cameras
• Forensic animation
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Computers in the Legal Fields
• Surveillance cameras
– Video of crimes in progress are sometimes
displayed to the jury to help them understand
how a crime unfolded.
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Computers in the Legal Fields
• Forensic Animation
– Extremely detailed (and often lifelike) recreations that have been generated with
computers based on forensic evidence,
disposition of witnesses, and the opinions of
experts.
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Computers in Education
• Computers in the
classroom
• Distance education
• Computerized
research
• The Internet
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Computers in Education
• Computers are part of most schools, even
preschools
• The Internet has obvious advantages in the
classroom as a research tool for students.
• Many museums have virtual tours on their
Web sites that allow students to examine
objects in the museum collections
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Computers and the Sciences
• Supercomputers
• Archeology
• Meteorology
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Computers and the Sciences
• Supercomputers
– Using data collected during a tornado in South
Dakota, scientists have been able to create the
most advanced color-coded digital storm
model known to date.
– The model is so detailed it takes nine days for
a supercomputer to generate the simulation,
even though the computer is executing four
billion operations a second.
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Computers and the Sciences
• Supercomputers
– By studying the data produced by this
simulation, forecasters hope to improve their
predictions about where tornadoes will form
and touch down.
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Computers and the Sciences
• Archeology
– The ancient site of Pompeii has been under
the intense scrutiny of tourists and
archeologists for decades.
– All the foot traffic and exposure to the elements
is eroding portions of the ruins.
– Today, scientists are using three-dimensional
scanners and imaging software to capture a
detailed record of the current condition of the
ruins.
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Computers and the Sciences
• Archeology
– The virtual re-creation of the ruins is so lifelike
that archeologists can study the ruins on
screen instead of at the actual site.
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Computers in Sports
• Training
• Timing and
scorekeeping
• Data storage and
statistics
• “Smartballs” sense
when soccer goals
are scored
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Computers in Sports
• Computers are now being used to help athletes
analyze their performance and improve their
game.
• Employees in golf shops are now using
sophisticated motion capture equipment to
improve golfers’; swings.
• Adidas is developing a new soccer ball that
contains an integrated circuit chip.
• When the “Smartball” crosses a goal line, it sends
a radio signal to the referee’s watch.
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Computer Gaming Careers
• Programming
• 3D animation
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Computer Gaming Careers
• Revenues from computer gaming in the United
States have surpassed revenues from the
Hollywood film industry.
• Computer gaming is now a $10 billion industry in
the United States.
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Computers at Home
• Robotics
• Smart appliances
Internetconnected
refrigerator
© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Robomower
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Computers at Home
• Robotic “maintenance workers” are now
emerging for the home market.
• Smart Devices – devices such as
temperature controls, lights, and security
devices that contain computer chips and
can control functions in the home without
human intervention – are becoming widely
available for the home.
© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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Technology of Tomorrow
• Nanoscience
• Biomedical chip implants
• Artificial Intelligence
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Nanoscience
• Molecules and nanostructures
• Nanomachines
Fluid flow inside
Nanomachines
5.4n
m
Four-α-helix
protein scaffold
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Nanoscience
• Involves the study of molecules and
structures (nanostructures)
• Nanotechnology
– the science revolving around the use of
nanostructures to build devices on an
extremely small scale.
– Nanoscience is currently limited to improving
existing products such as enhancing fibers
used in clothing with coatings so that they
repel stains or don’t wrinkle.
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Nanoscience
• Scientists hope to use nanostructures to
build computing devices too small to be
seen by the naked eye.
• Developments such as this could lead to
computers the size of a pencil eraser that
are far more powerful than today’s desktop
computer.
© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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Biomedical Chip Implants
• Technological solutions to
physical problems
• Identity chips
Retinal Implants
VeriChip
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Biomedical Chip Implants
• To provide technological solutions to physical
problems and to provide a means for positively
identifying individuals.
• Providing sight to the blind
– Macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa are
two diseases that account for the majority of
blindness in developing nations.
– Both diseases result in damage to the
photoreceptors contained in the retina of the eye.
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Biomedical Chip Implants
• Providing sight to the blind
– Researchers are experimenting with chips that
contain microscopic solar cells and are implanted in
the damaged retina of patients.
– The idea is to have the chip take over for the
damaged photoreceptors and transmit electrical
images to the brain.
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Biomedical Chip Implants
• Identity Chips
– The VeriChip is already being implanted in humans
as a means of verifying a person’s identity.
– This “personal ID chip” is about the size of a grain of
rice and is implanted underneath the skin.
– When exposed to radio waves from a scanning
device, the chip emits a signal that transmits its
unique serial number to the scanner.
– The scanner connects to a database that contains
the name, address, and medical conditions of the
person in whom the chip has been implanted.
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Artificial Intelligence
• Robots
• Neurons vs. Microchips
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Artificial Intelligence
• Artificial Intelligence
– The science that attempts to produce
machines that display the same type of
intelligence that humans do.
– The performance of tasks by current robots is
based on preprogrammed algorithms
– Currently, no computer can emulate the
human thought process completely.
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Artificial Intelligence
• Artificial Intelligence
– The human brain is capable of processing
almost a limitless number of tasks at the same
time.
• Just to write an e-mail on your computer, your
brain coordinates thousands of nerve impulses that
control your hands, eyes, and thought processes.
– Until the human brain is fully understood,
progress in the area of artificial intelligence is
likely to proceed slowly.
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Challenges Facing a Digital Society
• Computer use ethics
• Privacy risks
• Personal data
collection
• Monitoring e-mail
• Copyright
infringement
• Software piracy
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Becoming Computer Fluent
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Data processing
Bits and bytes
Computer hardware
Computer software
Computer platforms
Specialty computers
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Computers are Data
Processing Devices
• Four major functions:
– Input data
– Process data
– Output information
– Store data and information
DATA
IN
INFORMATION
OUT
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Bits and Bytes:
The Language of Computers
• Bit
– Binary digit
– 0 or 1
Microchip
Switch
• Byte
OFF
ON
0
1
– Eight bits
• ASCII
– Each byte represents a
letter, number or special
character
=4
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
=A
0
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0
0
0
0
0
1
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How Much is a Byte?
NAME
ABBREVIATION
NUMBER OF
BYTES
RELATIVE SIZE
Byte
B
1 byte
Can hold one character of data.
Kilobyte
KB
1,024 bytes
Can hold 1,024 characters or about half of
a typewritten page double-spaced.
Megabyte
MB
1,048,576 bytes
A floppy disk holds approximately 1.4 MB
of data, or approximately 768 pages of
typed text.
Gigabyte
GB
1,073,741,824 bytes
Approximately 786,432 pages of text.
Since 500 sheets of paper is
approximately 2 inches, this represents a
stack of paper 262 feet high.
Terabyte
TB
1,099,511,627,776 bytes
This represents a stack of typewritten
pages almost 51 miles high.
Petabyte
PB
1,125,899,906,842,624
bytes
The stack of pages is now 52,000 miles
high, or about one-fourth the distance from
the Earth to the moon.
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Computer Hardware
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Input devices
System unit
Output devices
Storage devices
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Input Devices
• Enter data to be processed
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Keyboard
Scanners
Mouse
Trackball
Touch screen
Microphone
Game controller
Digital camera
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System Unit
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•
Cabinet that houses all components
Motherboard
CPU
Memory modules
System Unit
CPU
Memory
Module
Motherboard
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Output Devices
• Enable us to see or hear the processed
information
– Monitor
– Speakers
– Printers
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Storage Devices
• Enable us to store data or information to
be accessed again
Hard Disk Drive
Floppy Disk
CD / DVD Drive
Flash Drive
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Computer Software
• Software - programs
that enable the hardware
to perform different tasks
• Application software
– Tools for getting things
done
© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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Computer Software
• System software
– Essential for platform operation and support
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Computer Platforms:
PCs and Macs
PC
• CPU – Intel, AMD
• Operating system –
Microsoft Windows
© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Mac
• CPU – Motorola
• Operating system –
Apple Mac OS
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Specialty Computers
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PDA
Server
Mainframe
Supercomputer
Microcontrollers
PDA
Server
Mainframe
Supercomputer
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Chapter 1 Summary Questions
• What does it mean to be “computer
fluent”?
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Chapter 1 Summary Questions
• What is a savvy computer user and
consumer?
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Chapter 1 Summary Questions
• How can becoming computer fluent help
you in a career?
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Chapter 1 Summary Questions
• What are some future technologies?
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Chapter 1 Summary Questions
• What kinds of challenges do computers
bring to society?
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Chapter 1 Summary Questions
• What are a computer’s four main
functions?
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Chapter 1 Summary Questions
• What is the difference between data and
information?
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Chapter 1 Summary Questions
• What are a bit and a byte?
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Chapter 1 Summary Questions
• What hardware does a computer use to
perform its functions?
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Chapter 1 Summary Questions
• What are the two main types of software?
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Chapter 1 Summary Questions
• What different kinds of computers are
there?
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