Text 5 A

Text 5 A. THE AGE OF COMPUTERS

(1)We are now living in what some people call the ‘digital age’, meaning that computers have become an essential part of our lives. We visit shops and offices which have been designed with the help of computers, we pay bills prepared by computers, we make flight reservations and bank transactions with the help of computers. Just picking up a telephone involves the use of a sophisticated computer system. It is almost impossible to imagine our life without computers today. But what is a computer?

(2)In general, computers are machines that perform tasks or calculations according to instructions. Since the basic job of computers is processing information, they can be described as devices which accept information in the form of instructions, called programs, and characters, called data, perform mathematical and/or logical operations on this information, and then provide the results of these operations.

(3)Today there are a lot of different types of computers. However, most computers, whether large or small, have three basic capabilities. First, they have circuits for performing arithmetic operations. Second, they have a means of communicating with the user. Third, they have circuits which can make decisions. So, a computer can solve a series of problems and make thousands of logical decisions. It can find the solution to a problem in a fraction of the time it takes a human being to do the job.

(4)What makes a computer such a miraculous device? Each time we turn it on, it is a blank slate, that with the appropriate hardware and software, is capable of doing anything you ask. It is a calculating machine, it is an electronic filing cabinet which manages large collections of data, it is a magical typewriter that allows you to type and print any kind of document, it is a personal communicator that enables you to interact with other computers and people around the world, and you can also use it to relax playing computer games.

(5)Not only is the number of tasks you can do using a computer growing*, the computers themselves are getting more and more sophisticated. Compared to the first electronic computers, which were huge machines that required teams of people to operate, today`s computers are amazing. Not only are they thousands of times faster*, they have shrunk to be able to fit on your desk, in your lap, or even in your pocket. But modern computers range in size and power depending on the tasks they are designed to perform. At one end of the scale, there are supercomputers, very large and powerful computers with thousands of linked microprocessors. At the other end, there are tiny embedded computers. Smartphones have turned into fully programmable computers in their own right and may well be the most common form of computers in existence.

(6)Today computers are virtually in everything we touch. We still have an image of computers as being rectangular objects either on a desk, or these days in our pockets; but computers are everywhere: in our cars, TVs, stereo systems, calculators, and home appliances. They are integrated into everyday life, often in an invisible way. Because of that, we really do need to care about what the future of computing holds because it is going to impact our lives all day long and continue driving the transformation of entire systems of production, management, and governance.