What is a computer?

1 [1] A computer is a machine with an intricate network of electronic circuits

2 that operate switches or magnetize tiny metal cores. The switches, like the
3 cores, are capable of being in one of two possible states, that is, on or off;
4 magnetized or demagnetized. The machine is capable of storing and
5 manipulating numbers, letters, and characters. The basic idea of a computer is
6 that we can make the machine do what we want by inputting signals that turn
7 certain switches on and turn others off, or that magnetize or do not magnetize
8 the cores.
9 [2] The basic job of computers is the processing of information. For this
10 reason, computers can be defined as devices which accept information in the
11 form of instructions called a program and characters called data, perform
12 mathematical and/or logical operations on the information, and then supply
13 results of these operations. The program, or part of it, which tells the
14 computers what to do and the data, which provide the information needed to
15 solve the problem, are kept inside the computer in a place called memory.
16 [3] Computers are thought to have many remarkable powers. However,
17 most computers, whether large or small, have three basic capabilities. First,
18 computers have circuits for performing arithmetic operations, such as:
19 addition, subtraction, division, multiplication and exponentiation. Second,
20 computers have a means of communicating with the user. After all, if we
21 couldn’t feed information in and get results back, these machines wouldn’t be
22 of much use. However, certain computers (commonly minicomputers and
23 microcomputers) are used to control directly things such as robots, aircraft
24 navigation systems, medical instruments, etc.
25 [4] Some of the most common methods of inputting information are to use
26 a keyboard, mouse, microphone or scanner. The computer’s input device
27 (which might be a pointing device, data drive or keyboard, depending on the
28 medium used in inputting information) reads the information into the
29 computer.
30 For outputting information, two common devices used are a printer which
31 prints the new information on paper, or a VDU, such as a monitor, which
32 shows the results on a TV-like screen.

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33 [5] Third, computers have circuits which can make decisions. The kinds of
34 decisions which computers circuits can make are not of the type: ‘Who would
35 win a war between two countries?’ or ‘Who is the richest person in the world?’
36 Unfortunately, the computer can only decide three things, namely: Is one
37 number less than another? Are two numbers equal? and, Is one number
38 greater than another?
39 [6] A computer can solve a series of problems and make hundreds, even
40 thousands, of logical decisions without becoming tired or bored. It can find the
41 solution to a problem in a fraction of the time it takes a human being to do the
42 job. A computer can replace people in dull, routine tasks, but it has no
43 originality; it works according to the instructions given to it and cannot
44 exercise any value judgments. There are times when a computer seems to
45 operate like a mechanical ‘brain’, but its achievements are limited by the
46 minds of human beings. A computer cannot do anything unless a person tells it
47 what to do and gives it the appropriate information; but because electric
48 pulses can move at the speed of light, a computer can carry out vast numbers
49 of arithmetic-logical operations almost instantaneously. A person can do
50 everything a computer can do, but in many cases that person would be dead
51 long before the job was finished.