Introduction

Computer - Overview

Today’s world is an information-rich world and it has become a necessity for

everyone to know about computers. A computer is an electronic data processing
device, which accepts and stores data input, processes the data input, and
generates the output in a required format.

The purpose of this tutorial is to introduce you to Computers and its fundamentals.

Functionalities of a Computer

If we look at it in a very broad sense, any digital computer carries out the following
five functions −

Step 1 − Takes data as input.

Step 2 − Stores the data/instructions in its memory and uses them as required.

Step 3 − Processes the data and converts it into useful information.

Step 4 − Generates the output.

Step 5 − Controls all the above four steps.

This machine can be used to solve the problems related to various fields.

Advantages of Computers

Following are certain advantages of computers.

High Speed

Computer is a very fast device.

It is capable of performing calculation of very large amount of data.

The computer has units of speed in microsecond, nanosecond, and even the
picosecond.

It can perform millions of calculations in a few seconds as compared to man who

will spend many months to perform the same task.

Accuracy
In addition to being very fast, computers are very accurate.

The calculations are 100% error free.

Computers perform all jobs with 100% accuracy provided that the input is correct.

Storage Capability

Memory is a very important characteristic of computers.

A computer has much more storage capacity than human beings.

It can store large amount of data.

It can store any type of data such as images, videos, text, audio, etc.

Diligence

Unlike human beings, a computer is free from monotony, tiredness, and lack of
concentration.

It can work continuously without any error and boredom.

It can perform repeated tasks with the same speed and accuracy.

Versatility

A computer is a very versatile machine.

A computer is very flexible in performing the jobs to be done.

This machine can be used to solve the problems related to various fields.

At one instance, it may be solving a complex scientific problem and the very next
moment it may be playing a card game.

Reliability

A computer is a reliable machine.

Modern electronic components have long lives.

Computers are designed to make maintenance easy.

Automation

Computer is an automatic machine.

Automation is the ability to perform a given task automatically. Once the computer
receives a program i.e., the program is stored in the computer memory, then the
program and instruction can control the program execution without human
interaction.

Reduction in Paper Work and Cost

The use of computers for data processing in an organization leads to reduction in

paper work and results in speeding up the process.

As data in electronic files can be retrieved as and when required, the problem of
maintenance of large number of paper files gets reduced.

Though the initial investment for installing a computer is high, it substantially

reduces the cost of each of its transaction.
Computer - Applications
Application of computers in various fields.
Business
computer has high speed of calculation, diligence, accuracy, reliability, or versatility
which has made it an integrated part in all business organizations.
Computer is used in business organizations for −
Payroll calculations
Budgeting
Sales analysis
Financial forecasting
Managing employee database
Maintenance of stocks, etc.
BANKING
Today, banking is almost totally dependent on computers.
Banks provide the following facilities −
Online accounting facility, which includes checking current balance, making
deposits and overdrafts, checking interest charges, shares, and trustee records.
ATM machines which are completely automated are making it even easier for
customers to deal with banks.
Insurance
Insurance companies are keeping all records up-to-date with the help of computers.
Insurance companies, finance houses, and stock broking firms are widely using
computers for their concerns.
Insurance companies are maintaining a database of all clients with information
showing −
Procedure to continue with policies
Starting date of the policies
Next due installment of a policy
Maturity date
Interests due
Survival benefits
Bonus
Education
computer helps in providing a lot of facilities in the education system.
The computer provides a tool in the education system known as CBE (Computer
Based Education).
CBE involves control, delivery, and evaluation of learning.
Computer education is rapidly increasing the graph of number of computer students.
There are a number of methods in which educational institutions can use a
computer to educate the students.
It is used to prepare a database about performance of a student and analysis is
carried out on this basis.
Marketing
In marketing, uses of the computer are following −
Advertising − With computers, advertising professionals create art and graphics,
write and revise copy, and print and disseminate ads with the goal of selling more
products.
Home Shopping − Home shopping has been made possible through the use of
computerized catalogues that provide access to product information and permit
direct entry of orders to be filled by the customers.
Healthcare
Computers have become an important part in hospitals, labs, and dispensaries.
They are being used in hospitals to keep the record of patients and medicines. It is
also used in scanning and diagnosing different diseases. ECG, EEG, ultrasounds
and CT scans, etc. are also done by computerized machines.
Following are some major fields of health care in which computers are used.
Diagnostic System − Computers are used to collect data and identify the cause of
illness.
Lab-diagnostic System − All tests can be done and the reports are prepared by
computer.
Patient Monitoring System − These are used to check the patient's signs for
abnormality such as in Cardiac Arrest, ECG, etc.
Pharma Information System − Computer is used to check drug labels, expiry dates,
harmful side effects, etc.
Surgery − Nowadays, computers are also used in performing surgery.
MILITARY
Computers are largely used in defence. Modern tanks, missiles, weapons, etc.
Military also employs computerized control systems. Some military areas where a
computer has been used are −
Missile Control
Military Communication
Military Operation and Planning
Smart Weapons
Communication
Communication is a way to convey a message, an idea, a picture, or speech that is
received and understood clearly and correctly by the person for whom it is meant.
Some main areas in this category are −
E-mail, Chatting, Usenet, FTP, Telnet, Video-conferencing
Government-Computers play an important role in government services.

Type- Specifications
1 PC (Personal Computer) It is a single user computer system having
moderately powerful microprocessor
2 Workstation It is also a single user computer system, similar to personal
computer however has a more powerful microprocessor.
3 Mini Computer It is a multi-user computer system, capable of supporting
hundreds of users simultaneously.
4 Main Frame It is a multi-user computer system, capable of supporting
hundreds of users simultaneously. Software technology is different from
minicomputer.
5 Supercomputer It is an extremely fast computer, which can execute
hundreds of millions of instructions per second
WHAT IS E-COMMERCE ?
Electronic Commerce commonly known as E-commerce or e-Commerce which
denotes different types of transactions involved in commercial activities. It contains
both organisational as well as individual activities which include the processing and
transmission of digitized data such as text, pictures, sound and video, etc.
E-commerce has developed a new environment with the help of Internet in business
transactions and processing. Here information is provided direct to the consumers
about the products they want to buy and the platform is set for product
advertisements. It also permits negotiations, order for raw materials, settlement of
financial transactions etc.
Electronic commerce is a combination of communication services, data
management and security mechanisms which provides a platform to organizations
where they can share information about the selling of goods and services :
1) Communication Services :
Electronic transfer of information from buyer to seller is supported by
communication services.
2) Data Management :
It is exchange and storing of data in a constant, format which enable easy exchange
of information.
3) Security Mechanisms :
Security mechanisms provides following functions :
Authenticates the source of information
Guarantees the integrity and privacy of information.
E-commerce covers many services over the Internet for example, customer service,
banking, billing, marketing, retailing, secure distribution of data, corporate sector
purchasing and other value-added services.
Meaning and Definition of E-commerce :
The term e-commerce (Electronic Commerce) refers to all types of business
operations and transactions that are executed through Internet and other electronic
technologies.
"E-commerce is a virtual business environment in which information moves
electronically via Internet related to buying, selling, transportation of goods and
services".
According to P.T. Joseph :
"E-Commerce comprises core business processes of buying and selling, goods,
services and information over the internet".
According to Kalakota and Whinston :
Electronic Commerce can be defined from following four perspectives :
1) Communications Perspective :
Electronic commerce is the delivery of information, products/services, or payments
via telephone lines, computer networks, or any other means.
2) Business Process Perspective :
Electronic commerce is the application of technology toward the automation of
business transactions and workflows.
3) Service Perspective :
Electronic commerce is a tool that addresses the desire of firms, consumers, and
management to cut service costs while improving the quality of goods and
increasing the speed of service delivery.
4) Online Perspective :
Electronic commerce provides the capability of buying and selling products and
information on the Internet and other online services
Types of E-Commerce :
Much of the world's business today is carried out over digital networks that connect
people and companies. Several types of e-commerce models are in use today. The
major online marketing domains are given below :
1) B2C (Business to Consumer) :
In B2C model of e-commerce, businesses sell products and services to individual
consumers directly. All the products and services are offered online through
electronic channels in e-commerce which supplements the traditional commerce.
Internet acts as an electronic channel.
Examples : www.flipkart.com, www.infibeam.com, www.amazon.in,
www.homeshop18.com are websites that comes under this category. Through these
websites individual can purchase clothes, mobiles and electronic products etc.
2) B2B (Business to Business) :
Business-to Business (B2B) e-commerce model describes electronic transactions
between businesses such as between manufacturer and wholesaler. The major
factors in increasing the acceptance of B2B e-commerce are Internet and
dependence of many business operations upon other businesses for supplying raw
materials, utilities and services. It is very fast developing segment in e-commerce.
Company can check and updates purchase orders, invoices, inventory and shipping
status directly through the Internet.
Example- IndiaMART, Alibaba, Amazon, IBM etc
3) C2C (Consumer to Consumer) :
Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) e-commerce is a business model that facilitates the
transactions of product and services between two consumers. In this e-commerce
model, consumers sell product and services directly to other consumers using
Internet and Web technologies. An individual customer uses classified
advertisements to advertise or promote different products and services on web or
through online auction sites.
e-Commerce Examples : eBay.com, quicker.com, craigslist.org, gittigidiyor.com. It
entails lower cost for both buyer and seller customers. Using this e-commerce
model, customers can also advertise and sell their products and services to other
employees over organizational Intranet.
4) C2B (Consumer to Business) :
Consumer-to Business (C2B) is an e-commerce model where consumers
(individuals) sell products and services which are consumed by businesses and
organisations. This model is opposite to B2C model. In this model, price and value
for specific products and services are created by individuals.
For example : when a customer writes reviews for new product or gives a useful
idea for new product development then he/she is creating value for the company if
the company adopts the review or idea. Company can facilitate C2B model by
setting discussions forums on their websites.
For example : the websites such as www.mobshop.com, www.pazaryerim.com and
www.priceline.com are organizers of C2B transactions.

5) Business-to-Government (B2G) :
In marketing context, B2G marketing is also known as “public sector marketing". It is
derived from B2B marketing and is comprised of activities such as marketing of
products and services to government agencies. Such marketing is undertaken via
various integrated marketing techniques like advertising, branding, managing public
relations, online communication strategies, etc.
Features of E-commerce :
 1) Ubiquity :
E-commerce is widespread, that is, it is available everywhere always. It sets free
market from being restricted to a physical space and makes it possible to shop from
computer (such as desktop, laptop). The result is called a market space.
For consumers, ubiquity cuts transaction costs for exploring products in a market.
Consumers can acquire any information whenever and wherever they want,
regardless of their location. It is no longer necessary that buyer spend time and
money for traveling to a market. In all, it saves the cognitive energy needed to
transect in a market space.
2) Global Reach :
E-commerce technologies enable a business to easily reach across geographic
boundaries around the earth far more conveniently and effectively as compared to
traditional commerce. Globally, companies are acquiring greater profits and
business results by expanding their business with e-commerce solutions. As a
result, the potential market size for e-commerce merchants is approximately equal
to size of online population.
3) Universal Standards :
Universal Standards are standards shared by all the nations around world. These
are technical standards of Internet for conducting e-commerce. It gives all the ability
to connect at the same "level" and it provides network externalities that will benefit
everyone. Universal technical standards lower entry costs and minimal search
costs.
4) Interactivity :
E-commerce technologies permits two-way communication between customer and
sellers which makes it interactive. It proves as significant feature of e-commerce
technology over the commercial traditional technologies of the 20th century.
5) Information Density :
Information density means total amount and quality of information available over
Internet to all market buyers and sellers. Internet vastly increases information
density. Information density offers better quality information to consumer and
merchants. E-commerce technologies increaseaccuracy and timeliness of
information. For example, flipkart.com store has variety of products with prices.
6) Richness :
Richness refers to the complexity and content of a message. Richness means all
commercial activity and experience, conducted through a variety of messages. For
example, text, pictures, videos, sound, links, SMS (Short Message Services) etc.
7) Personalisation :
E-commerce technology offers personalisation. Personalisation means designing
marketing messages according to particular individuals by customising it as per
customer personal details like name, interests, and past purchases record. Products
or services can be modified or altered according to the user's choice or past buying
record.
The advantages/benefits of e-commerce can be divided into two categories :

A) Advantages to Customers -

1) Reduced Prices :

The products available on websites have reduced prices because the different stages of value
chain are decreased between source and destination. The intermediaries such as retail store
are eliminated by the company and they sell their products to consumer directly instead of
distributing through intermediaries.

2) Global Marketplace :

E-commerce provides global marketplace from where consumers can purchase products
according to their needs situated anywhere in the world.

According to World Trade Organization (WTO), "there are no custom duties put on products
bought and traded globally electronically".

Global Marketplace also provides large collection of products and services to consumers With
their prices.

3) Anytime Access :

Online businesses are open 24 hours, 7 day a week and 365 days in a year and never sleep.
Consumers can do transactions and enquiry about any product/services provided by company
at anytime and anywhere from globe. Consumer can purchase any product in day or night using
Internet connections and computer at single click of mouse.

4) More Choices :

Online businesses provide their consumers more choices of purchasing. Before purchasing any
product, consumer can study products and their features of all major brands.

5) Quicker Delivery :

E-Commerce offers consumer more options and provides quicker delivery of products and
services. Some e-commerce company provides free home delivery service to their consumers.

6) Relevant Information :
E-commerce provides relevant and detailed information about products and services within
seconds to its consumers. Consumer can compare products and their prices in easy manner.

B) Advantages to Businesses :

1) Low Barriers to Entries :

In today's world, small and large firms have opportunities to start up and conduct business on
the Internet. Firms entry cost to the Internet is minuscule (Very small) because they do not need
the space for rent. All the business over Internet are virtual means that there is no need of large
number of employees to conduct business.

2) Increased Potential Market Share :

Businesses are increasing their market share by making their business internet enabled. Online
businesses are accessed at any time to international markets.

3) Low-Cost Advertising :

Internet provides low cost advertisement as compared to advertisement on newspapers or

television. In today's world, Internet has become inexpensive advertising medium used by firms
for commerce. The different methods of advertising are : e-mail, banners, pop-ups, steaming
video and audio etc.

4) Strategic Benefit :

E-commerce enabled business have many strategic benefits because they

5) Global Reach :

E-commerce enabled business has ability to reach globally at low cost. They are able send
messages world-wide at any time. Since online businesses are globally accessed so e-
commerce helps to attract new consumers and business clients from anywhere in the world.

Disadvantages of E-Commerce :

The disadvantages/limitations of e-commerce can be divided into two categories :

A) Technical Disadvantages -

1) Lack of Security :

Consumer needs to be confident and trust over e-commerce payment providers. Any fraud,
hacking or forgery can break the trust of consumer.

2) Low Bandwidth :

In many countries, network might cause an issue because of low bandwidth.

3) Difficulty in Integrating E-Commerce :

It is difficult to integrate e-commerce software or website with the some existing applications
and databases. Vendors need special web servers to, deal with integration problem in addition
to network servers.

4) Not All Customers have Access to Internet :

Internet access is not universally available so much of the effort made does not actually reach
the consumer. Many potential customers that are living in remote villages have not Internet
access facility.

B) Non-Technical Disadvantages -

1) Initial Cost :

The initial cost to develop e-commerce web site in-house is very high. This may need high cost
of hiring qualified staff to maintain and updating e-commerce web site. There are also
companies have opportunities for outsourcing e-commerce to other e-commerce companies.
But where and how to do outsourcing is a difficult task.

2) Security and Privacy :

The major issues in online businesses are security and privacy. Customers feel hesitant to
disclose credit card numbers over Internet because of security problems such as theft of credit
card number. If consumers do not have any confidence on the online business, they will refuse
to purchase anything over the internet.

3) Lack of Trust and User Resistance :

Face-to-face contact and paper transactions are important in business deals and transactions
since it is related to trust. So for any consumer switching from physical to online stores is
difficult.

4) Lack of Touch and Feel :

Consumers may want to touch and feel a product before purchasing online. Online businesses
do, not provide the touch and feel experience to consumer on items such as clothes, shoes etc.

5) Customers Relation Problems :

Organisation needs loyal customers to run their online business for long time. Online
businesses cannot continue without loyal customers in today's competition.

6) Corporate Vulnerability :

Online businesses have high availability of information related to product, price, catalogs, and
others. This information makes web sites vulnerable to access by competition. This process of
extracting business intelligence from competitor's web pages is called Web farming.

7) Legal Issues :
When buyers and sellers do not know each other, there is, chance'of fraud over the Internet.
Hence there are many legal problems related to e-commerce. Some common legal issues
encountered in e commerce are :

What is Cyber Law?

In order to arrive at an acceptable definition of the term Cyber Law, we must first understand the
meaning of the term law. Simply put, law encompasses the rules of conduct:

that have been approved by the government, and

which are in force over a certain territory, and

which must be obeyed by all persons on that territory. Violation of these rules will lead to
government action such as imprisonment or fine or an order to pay compensation.

The term cyber or cyberspace has today come to signify everything related to computers, the
Internet, websites, data, emails, networks, software, data storage devices (such as hard disks,
USB disks etc) and even Airplanes, ATM machines, Baby monitors, Biometric devices, Bitcoin
wallets, Cars, CCTV cameras, Drones, Gaming consoles, Health trackers, Medical devices,
Power plants, Self-aiming rifles, Ships, Smart-watches, Smartphones & more.

Thus a simplified definition of cyber law is that it is the “law governing cyber space”.

The issues addressed by cyber law include cyber crime, electronic commerce

1. Cyber crime

An interesting definition of cyber crime was provided in the “Computer Crime: Criminal Justice
Resource Manual” published in 1989. According to this manual, cyber crime covered the
following:

computer crime i.e. any violation of specific laws that relate to computer crime,

computer related crime i.e. violations of criminal law that involve a knowledge of computer
technology for their perpetration, investigation, or prosecution,

computer abuse i.e. intentional acts that may or may not be specifically prohibited by criminal
statutes. Any intentional act involving knowledge of computer use or technology is computer
abuse if one or more perpetrators made or could have made gain and / or one or more victims
suffered or could have suffered loss.

2. Electronic commerce

The term electronic commerce or E-commerce is used to refer to electronic data used in
commercial transactions. Electronic commerce laws usually address issues of data
authentication by electronic and/or digital signatures.

3. Intellectual Property in as much as it applies to cyberspace

This encompasses:
 copyright law in relation to computer software, computer source code, websites, cell phone
content etc;

software and source code licenses;

trademark law with relation to domain names, meta tags, mirroring, framing, linking etc.;

semiconductor law which relates to the protection of semiconductor integrated circuits design
and layouts;

patent law in relation to computer hardware and software.

4. Data protection & privacy

Data protection and privacy laws address legal issues arising in the collecting, storing and
transmitting sensitive personal data by data controllers such as banks, hospitals, email service
providers etc.

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