Introduction and Definition of IT

Recently there was a news about a survey which was conducted by an IT company, to know what different types of people, belonging to different environment – think about or know about the word “Information Technology” – and quite indifferent results were obtained, some considered it as a super – computer, some considered it as a lap – top or a palm top and some were considering IT as a electronic gadgetry.

‘Information technology’ can be defined as a term, which describes technologies that help the users to perform various functions like recording, storing, processing, retrieving, etc. It is because of the IT only, that today we are having such effective and efficient information systems. Computer along with tele – communication act as the two main pillars of the information technology.

According to Porter and Millar, information technology must be conceived of broadly to encompass the information that is created and used by the business as well as the wide spectrum of technologies, which help in the processing of the information. Information technology has given the whole world, much better ways of recording, storing, processing, transmitting and also receiving the information. But along with this, a very important factor that comes into play is the ability of an organization to understand and implement the various capabilities of the information technology.

In Depth understanding of a computer
Computer acts as the heart and soul of the information technology – Information Technology Act , 2002 defines computer as, “any electronic, magnetic, optical or any other high speed data processing device or system which performs logical, arithmetical and memory functions by manipulating the electronic, magnetic or the optical impulses, and includes all inputs, output, processing, storage, computer software or communication facilities, which are connected or related to the computer in a computer system or a computer network”.

A computer system consists of –
• Hardware
• Software
• Data or the Information

Characteristics of a computer can be summarized as –
1. Are automatic in nature, once started on a job – they carry on until the job is finished (usually without any human help).
2. Possess working at a very high speed of milliseconds, microseconds and nanoseconds. The speed of the computers can be measured in MHz (Mega Hertz), GHz (Giga Hertz).
3. Very accurate in nature.
4. Can store large volumes of data.
5. Are very reliable.
6. Can perform very simple as well as very complex variety of tasks.
7. It does not feel lazy or tired and is also free from monotony.