Free sample essay on Computer Applications (free to read). Lightning speed, superb accuracy, high reliability, and unmatched integrity, etc. are some of the characteristics of a computer which has made its application so pervasive.
Lightning speed, superb accuracy, high reliability, and unmatched integrity, etc. are some of the characteristics of a computer which has made its application so pervasive. There is hardly any field of human activity where it is not present today. It has revolutionised the knowledge and information processing system. Knowledge is power and so the ‘chip’ has become a mighty thing. It has been rightly observed that, “The fifth generation of computers is the largest battleground of the last century. It will determine a new balance of power in the world.”
This tireless and marvellous machine, man’s wonderful brain-child, can perform a number of complicated calculations instantly. A computer can execute over a million instructions per second and that too as many times as you like and without any mistake. Recently, an intelligent machine called Genius- 2, capable of executing 166 million instructions per second, defeated the Russian Grand Master Gary Kasparov in a game of chess. The global revolution, ushered in by computers, is far more powerful than any other the world has seen so far. More miraculous than the mythical Aladdin’s lamp, the computer itself has passed through an evolutionary process before it reached the present stage.
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But this process is continuous and millions of dollars are being spent every year in research and development to make it more perfect, versatile and user-friendly. A few years back, personal computers were used as glorified typewriters. Then they began to be linked together in a local area network (LAN). And then, equipped with telephone modems, they began to ‘talk’ to one another anywhere across the world. The use of modems is increasing by leaps and bounds. The world’s number one software company, Microsoft, is spending about 200 million dollars every year on developing user-friendly software, for solutions ranging from video-on-demand to information search in the network.
The computer stores an ocean of information and knowledge, analyses it, retrieves information and gives results as and when ordered. It has helped in overcoming many difficult problems of multiple calculations, scientific data processing, record-keeping and industrial complications. It has proved a matchless friend and servant of science, technology and industry. Now, computing and networking has become as convenient and universal as the use of the telephone. It connects people and supplies desired information instantly so as to enable them to act on it anytime, anywhere. The speed, the accuracy, the reliability, the integrity and the security being provided by it are really staggering and stupendous.
The coming computers are likely to be still faster, convenient, handy and more sophisticated and complex. The Fortran IV, which was considered then as ultimate, has now been left far behind by more sophisticated languages. Each new generation of computers has been smaller, lighter, faster and more powerful than the one before. The next wave of these intelligent machines will further revolutionist the use of computers. Now, notebook-sized pocket computers are a common thing.
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For example, now you can use your laptop or Notebook computer to hook into any phone outlet and attach to networks at home, exchange, e-mail, and voice mail, etc. Consequently, the world has turned into a global village and people have become more mobile, active and result-oriented. Independent, of place now works. Business has become an activity in the real sense of the term. Pervasive computing has great potential to redefine personal and organisational productivity. As applications become more intuitive and powerful, we all will become more productive and efficient.”
The use of computers has made the complicated industrial, scientific and technological operations and their related problems easy to solve. Computerisation in offices, banks, business establishments, shops, and factories, etc. has proved a great boon in terms of accuracy, precision, costs, efficiency, reliability, speed, time, security and energy. But it has certainly increased and added to the problem of unemployment. A computer can replace scores of skilled and efficient people. In spite of this problem, computers are going to stay forever.
They have become a necessity. India is computerising very fast. The spurt in the use of these miracle machines in various places, like railways, airlines, banks, defence services, business organisations, offices, research establishments, postal and communication departments is breathtaking. The computer industry, both software and hardware, has a very bright future. The government is trying its best to encourage it so that it can compete effectively with world players and contribute generously to the growth and development of the national wealth and well-being. Consequently, on the export front, the industry has shown remarkable achievements. Many computer companies, in collaboration with foreign giants in the field, have come into existence and are faring excellently. A few of them are exporting these indigenously produced machines to various developed and developing countries of the world.
These high-speed data processing and networking machines have made their presence felt in India in a big way. They have been introduced in schools and colleges. Their application and use in various fields, like commercialisation, business, financing, meteorology, education, defence, research, engineering, designing, medical science, and stock-broking, etc. has now become a must. In defence, they help radar, missile and rocket launching, automatic flight, etc. Railways, airlines and hotels now offer instant information on bookings and reservations with the help of computers. They have reduced distances as they can be used to co-ordinate activities at different places. They have opened up new avenues, making shopping, entertainment, and advertising, etc. interactive. They have helped in remote access to bank accounts, vital information, e-mail, paging, voice-messaging, and video- shopping.
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Computing is becoming more and more pervasive. It has revolutionised teaching and learning. Computers have proved very useful as simulators for training in various fields. Now, a person desirous of learning to fly an aeroplane can do soon simulators, without any risk and then finally take up actual flying. Computers can play chess, compose music, draw figures, paint, write poetry and novels and can also help in producing books in Braille for the blind. They have made trading on stock exchanges far more transparent, reliable, efficient, instantaneous, easy, fair and enjoyable. Now, through the computer terminal screen, an investor can find out the price and the quantity of scraps available. He can also find out at what time his order is executed and at what price, and what is the brokerage. Computerised trading also ensures that a seller gets the best price available in the market at any given time. It eliminates the monopoly of the jobbers and malpractices of the brokers.
The fear that one day computers will supersede the human mind is not based on facts. In spite of radical and marvellous development in computer hardware and software technology, it will only remain a machine, a handmaid of man. It can never usurp the place and position of the human brain, let alone the wisdom and sensitivity. It can never attain the creativity and thinking of the human mind. After all a computer is a machine, a product of human intelligence, which depends on human consciousness for its manufacture, maintenance, and operation. Experts opine that the chip can never overtake the cranium.
They say that, “Even a decade or two from now, you will still be able to pat the latest and the biggest computers, and whisper, ‘you poor dumb beast’.” The most powerful computer is your brain and that is not going to change. Even the latest computer memories have no more than 100 transistors. In contrast, the number of nerve cells in your brain is as large as ten raised to the power of eleven neurons. Each of these inter-connected cells makes the brain’s nerve network a billion times greater than the most powerful computers being built today.
But computers have brought their problems. They can commit mistakes and when they do, they create many problems. Their mistakes are really blunders and more risky than those committed by men. They have their own virus, and they can become its victims. So much dependence on computers makes men mentally weak and passive. But the advantages far outweigh these few disadvantages.