Understanding Computer Capabilities: Diligence, Versatility, and Memory
Understanding Computer Capabilities
Diligence
Unlike humans, computers never tire of repetitive tasks. They can continually work for hours without creating errors. Even when a large number of executions are needed, each execution requires the same duration and is executed with the same accuracy.
Versatility
Versatility is the quality of being flexible. Today, computers are used in various fields of our daily lives. For example, they are used as personal computers (PCs) for home use, for business-oriented tasks, weather forecasting, space exploration, teaching, railways, banking, medicine, and so on. This indicates that computers can perform different tasks simultaneously.
On the PC you use at home, you might play a game, compose and send emails, or listen to music. Therefore, computers are versatile devices as they can perform multiple tasks of different natures at the same time.
Memory
Similar to humans, computers also have memory. Just as we cannot store everything in our memory and need secondary media, such as a notebook, to record certain important things, computers also have internal or primary memory (storage space) as well as external or secondary memory.
While the internal memory of computers is very expensive and limited in size, the secondary storage is cheaper and has a bigger capacity. The computer stores a large amount of data and programs in the secondary storage space. The stored data and programs can be retrieved and used whenever required. Secondary memory is key for data storage. Some examples of secondary devices include floppy disks, optical disks (CDs and DVDs), hard disk drives (HDDs), and pen drives.
No IQ
Although the trend today is to make computers intelligent by inducing artificial intelligence (AI) in them, they still do not have any decision-making abilities of their own. They need guidance to perform various tasks.
Economical
Today, computers are considered short-term investments for achieving long-term gains. Using computers also reduces manpower requirements and leads to an elegant and efficient way of performing various tasks. Hence, computers save time, energy, and money.
When compared to other systems, computers can do more work in less time. For example, using the conventional postal system to send an important document takes at least two to three days, whereas the same information when sent using the Internet (email) will be delivered instantaneously.
Stored Program Concept
A stored program architecture is a fundamental computer architecture wherein the computer executes the instructions that are stored in its memory. John W. Mauchly, an American physicist, and J. Presper Eckert, an American engineer, further contributed to the stored program concept to make digital computers much more flexible and powerful.
As a result, engineers in England built the first stored-program computer, Manchester Mark I, in the year 1949. They were shortly followed by the Americans who designed EDVAC in the very same year. Today, a CPU chip can handle billions of instructions per second. It executes instructions provided both the data and instructions are valid. In case either one of them or both are not valid, the computer stops the processing of instructions.