If you look at the history of the development of technology, the term “computer technology” has appeared relatively recently in everyday life. This designation was originally committed did not imply all those aspects that are invested in it today. And, unfortunately, for some reason, most people think that computers and computers are synonymous words. This is a clear fallacy.
Computing: meaning of the word
The meaning of this term can be interpreted in completely different ways, especially since different dictionaries can interpret it in different interpretations.
However, if we approach the issue with a kind of generalization, we can safely say that computer technology is a technical device with a set of certain mathematical tools, techniques and methods for automating (or even mechanizing) the processing of any information and calculation processes or descriptions of another phenomenon (physical, mechanical, etc.).
Computing: what is it broadly understood?
Computing technology has been known to mankind for a long time. The most primitive devices that appeared hundreds of years before our era can be called, for example, the same Chinese abacus or Roman abacus. Already in the second half of the current millennium, devices such as the Napper scale, Shikkard arithmometer, slide rule, Pascal's calculating machine , etc. appeared. Judge for yourself, today's analogs in the form of calculators can also be safely attributed to one of the varieties of computer technology.
Nevertheless, the interpretation of this term has acquired a more expanded meaning with the advent of the first computers. This happened in 1946, when the first computer was created in the USA, designated by the abbreviation ENIAC (in the USSR such a device was created in 1950 and was called MESM).
To date, the interpretation has expanded even more. Thus, at the current stage of technology development, it can be determined that computer technology is:
- computer systems and network management tools;
- automated systems for managing and processing data (information);
- automated design, modeling and forecasting tools;
- software development systems etc.
Naturally, the list can be continued further, but it is these components that are considered to be the main ones.
Computing Tools
Now let's see what are means of computer technology. At the heart of any process is information or, as is now customary to say, data. But the concept of information is considered quite subjective, since for one person a process can carry a semantic load, but for another it can not. Thus, to unify data, a binary code has been developed that is accepted by any machine and is used most widely for data processing.
Among the tools themselves, one can single out technical devices (processors, memory, input / output devices) and software, without which all this hardware turns out to be completely useless. It is worth mentioning separately that a computing system has a number of characteristic features, for example, integrity, organization, connectedness and interactivity. There are also so-called computing complexes, which are referred to as multiprocessor systems that provide reliability and an increased level of performance that is not available to conventional single-processor systems. And only in the general combination of hardware and software can we say that they are the main means of computing. Naturally, you can add here the methods by which a mathematical description of a particular process is performed, but this can take quite a long time.
The device of modern computers
Based on all these definitions, it is possible to describe the operation of modern computers. As mentioned above, they combine hardware and software, and one cannot function without the other.
Thus, a modern computer (computer technology) is a set of technical devices that ensure the functioning of the software environment for performing certain tasks, and vice versa (a set of programs for working “hardware”). The first statement is most correct, and not the second, because in the end this set is needed specifically for processing incoming information and outputting the result.
A computer device (computer technology) includes several basic components, without which no system can do. These include motherboards, processors, hard drives, RAM, monitors, keyboards, mice, peripherals (printers, scanners, etc.), drives, etc. In terms of software, the first place is occupied by operating systems and drivers. Application programs work in operating systems, and drivers ensure the correct functioning of all hardware devices.
A few words about the classification
Modern computing systems can be classified according to several criteria:
- operating principle (digital, analog, hybrid);
- generations (stages of creation);
- purpose (problem-oriented, basic, household, dedicated, specialized, universal);
- capabilities and sizes (super-large, super-small, single or multi-user);
- conditions of use (home, office, production);
- other features (number of processors, architecture, performance, consumer properties).
As already clear, clear boundaries in the definition of classes cannot be drawn. In principle, any division of modern systems into groups still looks purely arbitrary.