Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Looking at Computers: Understanding the Parts

• What exactly is a computer, and what are its four main functions? (p. 50)
• What is the difference between data and information? (p. 50)
• What are bits and bytes, and how are they measured? (p. 50)
• What devices do you use to get data into the computer? (p. 52)
• What devices do you use to get information out of the computer? (p. 60)
• What’s on the front of your system unit? (p. 69)
• What’s on the back of your system unit? (p. 72)
• What’s inside your system unit? (p. 75)
• How do you set up your computer to avoid strain and injury? (p. 77)

Discussion Questions

1. Can you think of any situations in which computers actually decrease productivity? Why? Should we always expect computers to increase our productivity? What do you think the impact of using computers would be:
   1. in a third-grade classroom?
   2. in a manager's office for a large chain supermarket?
   3. for a retired couple who purchases their first computer?
2. The Smart Medical Home project of the University of Rochester's Center for Future Health is researching how to use technology to monitor many aspects of your health. The Smart Medical Home is the creation of a cross-disciplinary group of scientists and engineers from the college, the Medical Center, and the university's Center for Future Health. This particular "smart home" includes a sophisticated computer system that helps keep track of items such as eyeglasses or keys, and the kitchen is equipped with a new kind of packaging to signal the presence of dangerous bacteria in food. Spaces between ordinary walls are stuffed with gadgetry, including banks of powerful computers.
   1. What abilities should a smart home have to safeguard and improve the quality of your life?
   2. Could there be potential hazards of a smart home?
3. When do you think a toy becomes a computer? The Microsoft Xbox 360 has a hard disk drive, a processor with three cores, internal RAM, and wireless capability. Apple iPods also have hard drives (or flash memory and a processor). Are these devices computers or toys? What capabilities do you think the next generation gaming consoles and iPods should have?