Table of Contents

Part 1Table of Contents (1)

Part 2Computer Basics (2)
Part 3Revolutions in Computing Timeline (5)
Part 4Evaluating Website (10)
Part 5.Glossary (11)
Part 6Bibliography (12)




Part 2: Computer Basics
What is a Computer?
- A computer is a machine/ electronic device that shares information/ data. It has many different abilities, such as to
Store, Retrieve & Process data. A computer also has the ability to type documents, send emails & search something
up on the internet. You can also use it to handle spreadsheets, accounting, database management, presentations, games
& more
What is Hardware?
- Hardware is a device that is physically connected to your computer that you can see and touch. For example one piece
of hardware is your computer monitor. Without your computer monitor you cannot work your computer, this is what
hardware is. Without hardware, your computer will be worth nothing and not even exist because its not workable.
What are the main hardware components of a computer?
- The main hardware components of a computer include: The processor, The main memory, Secondary Memory, Input
Devices & Output devices
What is an operating system? What is its purpose?
- An operating system is the framework that allows you to communicate with computer hardware in an interactive way.
Without this, you would not be able to tell the computer to do anything and it would have any instructions to follow.
This is why it is important for a computer to have an operating system.

What is software? Give some samples
- Software is a pile of instructions that allows the user of the computer to perform specific tasks for themselves.
Without software the computer would be useless. You wouldnt be able to perform tasks like browsing the internet, or
open a word document if there was no software program in that computer.
- Some samples of softwares: Microsoft Office Word, Publisher, Excel & PowerPoint.
Identify common user interface elements and describe their functions
- Sorting: You can sort data in any column by text, numbers & dates and times
- Search and Filter: A quick way to find items in a list or table. Type in the name you want then only the things related
to the name are popped up on the screen.
- Navigation: You can pick which pages to go on by simply clicking previous or next on the computer.
- Custom Date Range: You are able to put starting date and ending date on the calendar for your arrangements and
booking.
What is a Peripheral?
- An auxiliary device that is connected into the computer for an easier outcome but doesnt stop the computer from
working and is not vital to the computer. It just performs and additional function to make things easier.



What Peripherals are commonly used, and what are they used for?
- Keyboard: Used to input letters, numbers and punctuations so that the person on it can write emails and browse the
web.
- Mouse: Used for people to control a pointer and to click on anything theyd like. Basically control the computer in the
palms of their hands
- Printer: Used for people to be able to print something on the computer that theyve made/ searched up and be able to
physically take it places on a piece of paper.
- Projector: Allows teachers or anybody to be able to project something on a piece of paper to a bigger size somewhere
else
- Scanner: Allows people to convert an image or a text onto a digital file, and that file can be placed on a USB.

What is a Network? What are the difference between a network and a stand-alone
environment?
- A network consists of two or more computers that are linked together in order to share resources (Example: printers
and CDs), exchange files, or allow communication on electronics. The computers on a network may be linked through
cables, telephone lines, radio waves, satellites, or infrared light beams.
- A stand- alone environment has no network hooked up to it there for no connection to the internet. But a network
(LAN, WILAN or WAN) makes it possible for data to be shared with other computers. The Internet: WAN, The One
in the Home: LAN & The One shared with different buildings: WLAN.

How should a computer workstation be set up to maximize the comfort of the user?
1. The monitor should be at a proper height so that your neck would be straight and you would not feel uncomfortable
2. Your elbows should be at a 90 degree angle
3. Keep your hands in line with your forearms
4. Thighs should be parallel to the floor
5. Use a foot rest to support your feet if at any time it gets uncomfortable.
6. Your chair should be fully adjustable (for seat height, back rest, arm rests)
7. There should be enough space to use the mouse, and for the mouse to move around without bumping stuff
8. Use a document holder to hold information / documents at the same height of the monitor, so its easy to reach for
while youre sitting down on the chair.







Part 3: Revolutions in Computing Timeline

Year What is it? Why is it important? Interesting fact
Abacus 200 B.C It is a calculating tool
used to figure out
mathematical equations
It was the first form of a
calculator and it made life a lot
easier back in the day
The abacus is still used in everyday life
today still
Antikythra mechanism 100 B.C It is an ancient analog
computer that calculates
the astronomical
positions.
It was the first type of
computers ever invented
It was discovered in 1900-1901 in a
wreck.
John Napier, Calculation
Tables
1550 He was a person who
invented Napiers bones(
a type of abacus and also
invented logarithms
Because without his inventions our
lives would have been more
difficult because we don't have
the knowledge about logarithms
The remains of Napier is now buried
under St. Cuthberts church
Joseph-Marie Jacquard,
Punchcard controlled loom
1801 The jacquard loom is
mechanical room invented
by a man named, Joseph
Marie Jacquard
It makes manufacturing textiles
with complex patterns
He did not just come up with the idea
by himself, he used the idea of people
wanted to make something like this
much earlier
Charles Babbage, Difference
Engine
1847 It is an automated
mechanical calculator to
arrange polynomial
functions
It prepares numerical tables using
the method of difference. These
tables are used in navigation.
Today, the tables are computed
electronically.
The system was a government funded
system but the government was not
seeing any progress so they cut the
funds
Samuel Morse, Telegraph 1837 It is the worlds first
communication system. It
communicates by using
electronic signals that is
then translated when
received
It was very important at the time
because then people would not
have to wait months to receive
letters and mail but it would only
take a few minutes and it was a
scientific breakthrough and the
beginning for the telephone
The first telegraph line cost $30,00 to
build and was built in 1843
Sir Charles Wheatstone,
paper tapes
1846 It is a form of storage
using paper instead of
using hard drives
It lasts for long periods of time
without degrading or being lost
and it can be repaired if damaged
The data on the paper tape could have
been changed simply by using a special
type of hole punch and punching new
holes in the paper
Stoles, Glidden and Soule,
typewriter
1866 A typewriter is a
mechanical
electromechanical
machine that was the ink
jet printer- at the time
It made life easier because you
type what you wanted to print
instead of having to write it down
and it would be faster than
writing it-down
Even though invented nearly 150 years
ago the typewriter is still being used in
parts of India today
Herman Hollerith, Tabulating
Machine
1881 It was a machine that was
used to arrange census
data
Without it, it would take at least
10 years to arrange by hand but
with the machine it would only
take 1 year which cuts down on
time
Herman Holleriths company became
part of IBM in 1924
Colossus 1939 It was the worlds first
all-electronic calculating
device
It was used to decipher German
military codes during the second
world war and without it Hitler
may have taken over the world
It was built because the German codes
got too complicated for the polish
Bell Labs, the Transistor 1947 A transistor is a device
made up of semi-
conductor materials that
can both conduct and
insulate
It made computers lighter, less
power, be more reliable and be
smaller than traditional computers
at the time
Back in the day transistors replaced
vacuum tubes in computers. That means
that computer were made of vacuum
tubes back then
Texas Instruments and
Fairchild Semiconductor,
Integrated Circuit
1961 It is a set of electronic
circuits built on a plate
made of usually silicon
They wanted to make computers
more advanced and smaller and
without the integrated circuit it
would not have been possible
To inventers was creating the exact
same thing at the time but none of
them was aware if the fact that they
were
IBM 360 April 7, 1964 It was a mainframe
computer that IBM
created that could be
used for any purpose;
science, commercial etc.
It was the first family of
computers designed for all sorts
of different applications
IBM 360 family had huge ranges from
lightning fast speeds to snail slow
speeds
Word Processor invented 1979 A word processor is an
application such as
Microsoft word basically
it lets the user write edit
and use many features to
create a word document
such as the one I am
writing now
Without it we wont be able to
edit our documents so for
example business cards would
have to be hand printed reports
would have to be hand written and
life would be a disaster
IBM invented the word processor but
Microsoft today is famous and sells the
most word processing applications
ARPANET 1969 ARPANET( advanced
research projects agency
networks) was one of the
first operational packet
switching networks
Arpanet was the first operation
packet switching networks
ARPANET was considered the
predecessor of the internet
Intel, 1K RAM CHIP (the
4004)
1971 It was a 4-bit central
processing unit or
otherwise known as a CPU
It was the worlds first single
chip micro-processor
The Intel 4004 is a family of chips
Jonathan Titus, Mark 8 1965 It was the 3
rd

microprocessor based
minicomputer ever
available to the public
audience
Because it one of the few
available to the public
It was the second available
microprocessor based minicomputer in
America
BBN, Telenet 1974 It was a American packet
switched network
It was the first packet switched
network available to the public
The company name is Telenet Inc.
Paul Allen and Bill Gates
invent BASIC
April 4, 1975 It is the time when Bill
Gates and Paul Allen
formed a partnership to
start Microsoft.
Microsoft today is one of the
worlds biggest companies and
without Microsoft we wouldn't
have internet explorer, windows
operating systems, Xbox, and
most importantly Microsoft office
When they created the company, it
took them a few months before they
actually came up with the name
Microsoft
USENET 1979 It is a worldwide
distributed discussion
system
It lets people read and post
messages
Usenet inspired many of the important
websites we have today such as yahoo
TCP/IP January 1
st

1983
It is short for
transmission control
protocol/ internet
protocol and it is the
protocols to connect
users in the internet
It was a protocol that was needed
to connect users
It was built into the UNIX operating
system
Apple Macintosh January
24,1984
It is a series of personal
computers (pc) designed
by apple
It has many important feature
that all sorts of people needs in
one small pc
It is called the Macintosh because the
designer liked Macintosh apples
Microsoft Windows 1.0 November
20, 1985
It is a 16- bit graphical
operating system
designed by Microsoft.
It was one of the 1
st
multitasking
graphical user interface systems
and it was the 1
st
system that
windows created.
2 weeks after the release date
Microsoft released version 1.01 to fix
many of the bugs that the version 1.0
had.
The Internet August
6,1991
It is a world wide web
that we can use to search
up anything and it is full
of information.
Without internet we would be
stuck using books and it takes
would take hours to find out what
you are looking for.
It started back in the 1960s but
became public and real in 1991
Apple iPod October
23,2001
It is a series of portable
music players by apple
It plays music and it has all of the
features of a iPhone but its much
cheaper and its smaller but it
cant call.

It is illegal to play your iPod above 100
decibels in France.
Apple iPhone June 27,2007 It is a series of smart
phones built and designed
by apple.
It helps you do everyday tasks
and its portable
About 34 percent of US high school
students own iPhones
Amazon Kindle November 19,
2007
It is a series of e-
readers also known as
an electronic book
designed and marketed
by Amazon.
It is a device that lets you carry
hundreds of books in one small
tablet like device but instead of
carrying heavy books you carry a
tablet.
You do not need Wi-Fi to access all of
the book options but with a ipad or iPod
you would need Wi-Fi to see the
options
Apple iPad April 23,
2010
It is a series of touch
tablet computers
designed by apple.
It combines an iPod and a Mac
Book into one small powerful and
portable tablet.
Over 25 million ipads were sold in 14
months.
3D Printing 1984 It is basically a printer
that prints objects in all
shapes and sizes using.
It gives us the ability to print
prototypes so we don't spend as
much money in building the real
thing or it can print all sorts of
useful items.
It is possible to 3D print prosthetic
parts for humans; in 2012 the first 3D
printed prosthetic jaw was implanted.
The Cloud 1969 It is an expression used
to describe a variety of-
different types of
computing ideas that
involve a large number of
computers connected in a
real time communication
network such as the
internet
It connected users together on
the internet and we need to be
able to be connected therefore
we can communicate in another
way
the cloud computer in just a phrase not
a thing like Microsoft
Part 4: Evaluating Website
The site http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/h/hardware.htm was a very effective site because it gave all the information
I needed in a short but sweet paragraph. It was filled with information, but at the same time not too long like a Wikipedia
site. All the words were easy to understand and it was straight to the point.
I couldnt tell who the author of this amazing website was but all I know is that this author was a very good one. The purpose
of this site was to give information about the topic, which was about Hardware. I understood was the author was trying to say
and I even learned a bit from it also, that hardware is something that is physically connected to the computer or something
that you can physically touch like a mouse or the monitor that runs the computer. Also this site is not a site that is biased;
this site is specifically just for giving information to students like me. And also the author really wants to improve his website
in any way possible that they made a page for giving feedback to the author so he could make changes so that it would be
more helpful to people like me. I couldnt tell the last time the author updated it but all I know is that he really wants to
improve and he probably updated not too long ago. This site is very well maintained because everything is very neat and
organized so its easy to find something you want unlike many other sites where is not maintained properly and its hard to get
something you want.
I took many things back from this website and overall this site is well designed and organized, easy to read and navigate,
there are search buttons available so that you can search something up and find it & finally there are many help screens
available for when youre stuck on something. In the end, this was one of the most effective research sites I have researched
in this project.


Part 5: Glossary
- Peripheral: An auxiliary device that is connected into the computer for an easier outcome but doesnt stop the
computer from working and is not vital to the computer. It just performs and additional function to make things
easier.
- Network: A network consists of two or more computers that are linked together in order to share resources
(Example: printers and CDs), exchange files, or allow communication on electronics. The computers on a network may be
linked through cables, telephone lines, radio waves, satellites, or infrared light beams.
- Stand-alone Environment: A stand- alone environment has no network hooked up to it there for no connection
to the internet. But a network (LAN, WILAN or WAN) makes it possible for data to be shared with other computers.
The Internet: WAN, The One in the Home: LAN & The One shared with different buildings: WLAN.
- Computer: A computer is a machine/ electronic device that shares information/ data. It has many different
abilities, such as to Store, Retrieve & Process data. A computer also has the ability to type documents, send emails &
search something up on the internet. You can also use it to handle spreadsheets, accounting, database management,
presentations, games & more
- Hardware: Hardware is a device that is physically connected to your computer that you can see and touch. For
example one piece of hardware is your computer monitor. Without your computer monitor you cannot work your
computer, this is what hardware is. Without hardware, your computer will be worth nothing and not even exist because
its not workable.


Part 6: Bibliography
"Chapter 1: What Is a Network?" Chapter 1: What Is a Network? N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.
"Components of a Computer System." Components of a Computer System. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.
"Computer Basics." GCFLearnFree.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.
"Computer Basics." GCFLearnFree.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.
"Hardware." What Is Hardware? N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.
"ISpring Online." Common User Interface Elements. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.
"Peripheral." What Is Peripheral? N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.
"Software." What Is Software? N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.
"What Is the Purpose of an Operating System?" WikiAnswers. Answers, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.


Self Evaluation:
For this project I believe I should get a 4.5/6 for IB grade because although in class I didnt work as much I still came
together and pulled off writing about 3500 words in the end. Although in class I didnt work as much, people never knew that
out of class, at home I would be working twice as hard on this project! I think I should get a 1/6 for the diagnostic because I
finished that on time, and I should get another 3.5 or 4 on the book. I think I should get this mark because I should get 1
mark off for not handing it in on time (just 3 days later) and another half a mark off for not working properly in class. I think
my book is really good. I put a lot of effort into it to make it a phenomenal book called Computers for Dummies. I went over
the rubric and I believe I finished all of the tasks with a great amount of effort put into it. Even though it seemed like I
wasnt the hardest working guy in class, I put most of my time at home finishing everything I missed in class so I could get
caught up. I know I handed it in a bit late but I still handed it in and thats why I think I should get one mark off for that.
Hopefully I dont bail out on this project because I truly worked really hard on this and I dont believe I should get a bad
mark because in the end this is the only mark we will be getting for BTT for our report cards and I really dont want to do
bad on my report card! It took me at least 3 or 4 hours of work to just finish the revolutions in computing timeline chart! A
lot of hours of hard work! This is why I think I should get this mark for this project.