Computers :: Technology

Computers Computers are found in practically every household today. Everywhere you look, people have access to a Personal Computer, someway or another. As computers get more advanced, the demand for a better computer gets greater. The Personal Computer (PC), a machine capable of repetitively and quickly performing calculations and instructions. Designed to be used by a single person, a PC is smaller, less expensive, and easier to use than other classes of computers, such as supercomputers, mainframe computers, and workstations. However, it usually has less computational power.1 First appearing as massive machines seen only in areas of high technology, the computer eventually found its way into homes and offices in the smaller, more accessible form of the PC. They have revolutionized entertainment, science, the media, art, medicine, education, and business because they provide computational abilities at a low cost to people with no programming experience. PCs enable artists to envision and manipulate images. Musicians use them for learning, creating, and recording music. Businesses track finances and forecast company performance using PCs. Foreign correspondents can compose news stories on portable PCs, called laptops, and electronically submit these stories from remote locations. Many people work at home and communicate with fellow workers via their PCs in a practice known as telecommunications. PCs are also able to interface with worldwide communication networks, such as the Internet, and the graphics- based information database known as the World Wide Web to find information on any subject. With a PC and a modem, a user is able to connect to information on local, national, and international networks via phone lines. As computers and software have become easier to use, or more â€Å"user friendly,† many people are finding them both useful and necessary for their jobs. As a family tool, this computer may be used for school, research, communication, record keeping, work, and entertainment. Mainframe Computer, a high-level computer designed for the most intensive computational tasks. Mainframe computers are often shared by multiple users connected to the computer via terminals. The most powerful mainframes, called supercomputers, perform highly complex and time