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Advantages and Disadvantages of Computers

By: Vandana Sharma, on 11 JUL 2017

Computers have become an essential device today! We all know that how important it is for us to carry out our daily tasks. Let’s discuss what is computer and what are its parts? The article will describe its advantages and disadvantages as well.

What is Computer?

Computer is an electronic device which processes any information which is provided to it as input and produces a result in the form of output. Let’s understand this by an example .When we type anything using keyboard, computer takes this as input and convert it to a language which it understands and revert us by displaying the wanted information in the same form as we want!

Different Parts of a Computer:

It includes a system unit, keyboard, monitor, printer, electronic-mouse, CD drive, speakers etc. The major ones are discuss.

1. System Unit: This is the most important part of the computer. The system unit encapsulates the CPU (microprocessor), hard disk, random access memory (RAM), motherboard, etc.

• The Central Processing Unit processes the input data.
• Random Access Memory temporarily stores the information when the system is on. The data gets removed when system is switched off, so this is called volatile memory!
• Hard Disk stores the data permanently. The saved information is stored on the hard disk.
• The Mother Board connects and permits link for data transfer between various units of the computer.

2. Monitor: The information is displayed on it. Earlier Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors were used, which were very bulky. Today, Liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors are being used which are thin and light.

3. Keyboard: Letters and numbers are entered into the computer system with the help of keyboard. It is an input device.

4. Mouse: It is a pointing device and points the cursor. It is used for selecting an icon on the screen.

Advantages

Computers have ability to process huge amount of data in just a few seconds. Computers can finish a range of tasks more efficiently than most human-beings. Hence, Computer is supporting human beings to do various tasks efficiently. The advantages of computer are given below:

1. Large Storage: We can store large amount of information or data. At present, hard-disks can store 100s of Gigabytes (GB) of data. Many business holders store their marketing and sales data in their computer systems.
2. Stores data in digital format: One can store millions of pages of information in his/her computer in digital format.
3. Calculations: Almost every business is using spreadsheets and other software as a tool for performing mathematical calculation.
4. Prepare and store official documents: One can use a word processing software to prepare, edit and save any text document.
5. Presentations: One can prepare presentations in a PowerPoint.
6. Internet: One can connect his/her computer to Internet and browse to get whatever data they want to access. Students generally uses internet to download study materials.
7. Multimedia: Computers can also be used as an entertainment device. We can play various multimedia applications such as music, video, etc.
8. Reduced cost: The cost to complete various tasks has been reduced due to the usage of computers.

Disadvantages

1. Computer stops responding: Sometimes the operating system of the computer stops responding or functioning. It gets hang too. Though this problem is generally solved by restarting the computer, but sometimes you may have to take the support of the technician.
2. Viruses: The virus attacks are unignorable. It can happen while using internet or a new removable disk in one’s computer. To handle these risks, many anti-virus software are available in the market. Using a secure antivirus ensures the proper working of one’s system.
3. Reduction in employment opportunity: The beginning of computer era has depressingly affected the employability of computer illiterate people.
4. Students remain busy with the games and they just ignore their studies. This is harmful for their eyes too.