Difference between Computer and Human Being

S.no	On the basis of	Computer	Human Being
1.	Speed	Speed of Computer for calculations is very high	Speed of Calculations is relatively low.
2.	Feelings	Computer has no awareness and feelings.	Human Being has both awareness and feelings.
3.	Decision Making	A Computer cannot make initiative decision.	A human being can make initiative decision.
4.	IQ	A Computer has no I.Q.	Human being has I.Q.
5.	Processing	A Computer can process data quickly, accurately and tirelessly.	Human being process data relatively slow, can make errors and can feel tiredness.
6.	Making	Computer is made by Human.	Human being is made by God.
7.	Versatility	A Computer can perform more than one job at the same time.	Human Being can Perform only a single job at a time.
8.	Creativity	Computer is not creative by its own.	A human being can be creative.
9.	Made up of	A computer is made up of storage cells, integrated circuits.	A human being is made up of cells and tissues.
10.	Brain	Computer has CPU as its brain that controls the signals and helps in processing data.	A human brain is made up of cells and it stimulates the response.
11.	Flexibility	Computer is not flexible in nature.	Human beings are flexible in nature.

Applications Of Computer

Business

A computer has high speed of calculation, diligence, accuracy, reliability, or versatility which made it an integrated part in all business organizations. Computer is used in business organizations for:

• Payroll calculations
• Budgeting
• Sales analysis
• Financial forecasting
• Managing employees database
• Maintenance of stocks etc.

Banking

Today banking is almost totally dependent on computer. Banks provide following facilities:

·        Banks provide online accounting facility, which includes current balances, deposits, overdrafts, interest charges, shares, and trustee records.

·        ATM machines are making it even easier for customers to deal with banks.

Insurance

Insurance companies are keeping all records up-to-date with the help of computers. The insurance companies, finance houses and stock broking firms are widely using computers for their concerns. Insurance companies are maintaining a database of all clients with information showing

• procedure to continue with policies
• starting date of the policies
• next due installment of a policy
• maturity date
• interests due
• survival benefits
• bonus

Education

The computer has provided a lot of facilities in the education system.

·        The computer provides a tool in the education system known as CBE (Computer Based Education).

·        CBE involves control, delivery, and evaluation of learning.

·        The computer education is rapidly increasing the graph of number of computer students.

·        There are number of methods in which educational institutions can use computer to educate the students.

·        It is used to prepare a database about performance of a student and analysis is carried out on this basis.

Marketing

In marketing, uses of computer are following:

·        Advertising - With computers, advertising professionals create art and graphics, write and revise copy, and print and disseminate ads with the goal of selling more products.

·        At Home Shopping - Home shopping has been made possible through use of computerized catalogues that provide access to product information and permit direct entry of orders to be filled by the customers.

Health Care

Computers have become important part in hospitals, labs, and dispensaries. The computers are being used in hospitals to keep the record of patients and medicines. It is also used in scanning and diagnosing different diseases. ECG, EEG, Ultrasounds and CT Scans etc., are also done by computerised machines.

Some major fields of health care in which computers are used are:

·        Diagnostic System - Computers are used to collect data and identify cause of illness.

·        Lab-diagnostic System - All tests can be done and reports are prepared by computer.

·        Patient Monitoring System - These are used to check patient's signs for abnormality such as in Cardiac Arrest, ECG etc.

·        Pharma Information System - Computer checks Drug-Labels, Expiry dates, harmful drug’s side effects etc.

·        Surgery: Nowadays, computers are also used in performing surgery.

Engineering Design

Computers are widely used in Engineering purpose.

One of major areas is CAD (Computer aided design). That provides creation and modification of images. Some fields are:

·        Structural Engineering - Requires stress and strain analysis for design of Ships, Buildings, Budgets, Airplanes etc.

·        Industrial Engineering - Computers deal with design, implementation and improvement of integrated systems of people, materials and equipments.

·        Architectural Engineering - Computers help in planning towns, designing buildings, determining a range of buildings on a site using both 2D and 3D drawings.

Military

Computers are largely used in defence. Modern tanks, missiles, weapons etc. Military also employs computerised control systems. Some military areas where a computer has been used are:

• Missile Control
• Military Communication
• Military Operation and Planning
• Smart Weapons

Communication

Communication means to convey a message, an idea, a picture or speech that is received and understood clearly and correctly by the person for whom it is meant for. Some main areas in this category are:

• E-mail
• Chatting
• Usenet
• FTP
• Telnet
• Video-conferencing

Government

Computers play an important role in government. Some major fields in this category are:

• Budgets
• Sales tax department
• Income tax department
• Male/Female ratio
• Computerization of voters lists
• Computerization of driving licensing system
• Computerization of PAN card
• Weather forecasting

Functions of Various Units

The function of each of these units is described below:

Input Unit

Information is entered into a computer through input device. An input device reads the data and program into the computer. The program contains instructions about what has to be done with the data. It provides a way of man to machine communication. An input device converts input information into suitable binary form acceptable to the computer. Some popular input devices are listed below:

§  Keyboard                               

§  Floppy and Hard Disk

§  Mouse

§  Punched cards

§  Joystick

§  Optical Mark reader

The functions performed by input unit are

1.       It reads/accepts data and instructions from outside world.

2.      It converts these data and instructions received from outside world.

3.      It supplies these converted data and instructions to CPU for further processing.

Output Unit

The output devices receive results and other information from the computer and provide them to the users. The computer sends information to an output device in the binary form. An output device converts it into a suitable form convenient to users such as printed form, display on a screen, voice output etc. Some of the popular output units are:

§  Computer Screen called VDU (Visual Display Unit)

§  Printer

§  Plotter

The functions performed by an output unit are as follows:

1.       The output unit accepts the coded result from computer after the processing.

2.      It converts these binary coded results/information into a human readable form.

3.      It supplies the converted results to the external world in the user required form.

Storage Unit

The function of storage unit is to store information. The data and instructions that are entered into the computer system through input units have to be stored inside the computer before the actual processing starts. Similarly, the results produced by computer after processing must be kept somewhere before they are passed onto the output unit for display. Moreover, the intermediate results produced by the computer must also be preserved. The storage unit or the primary/main memory of the computer provides support for these storage functions. The main memory is a fast memory. It stores programs along with data. The main memory is directly accessed by the CPU.

The secondary memory also called the auxiliary memory is used to store the information, data and program instructions permanently. These may be used later on or deleted whenever not required.

The functions of storage unit are as follows:

1.       The data and instructions received from input unit are stored in it before processing.

2.      It stores the intermediate results of processing.

3.      It stores the final results of computation and when required sends it to the output unit.

 Central Processing Unit

The CPU is the brain of the computer. Its primary function is to execute programs. Besides executing programs, the CPU also controls the operation of all other components such as memory, input and output devices. The major sections of a CPU are:

v  Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU)

v  Control Unit (CU)

1.      Arithmetic and Logic Unit

The ALU is the main component/unit of CPU which performs actual execution of instructions and programs. As the name tells, it performs all arithmetical calculations and logical comparisons. The control unit transfers data and instructions in ALU, one by one for processing. For this temporary storage, ALU contains a group of special purpose and general purpose registers in it. During processing, the data transfer from memory to ALU and ALU to memory is done many times. It depends on the circuit designing of ALU that what type of arithmetic and logic operations it can perform. The efficiency of ALU may vary from computer to computer but still every ALU performs at least four basic operations i.e. addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

The main functions performed by ALU are as follows:

1.       It accepts data and decoded instructions from main memory and control unit.

2.      When it gets signal from CU, it performs arithmetical calculations and logical operations according to current instructions in it.

3.      It returns the final result to main memory for storage.

4.      All instructions are executed in it and it is main processing unit of the computer.

2.     Control Unit

The control unit acts as a central nervous system for other components of computer. Though, it does not perform anything in actual processing but it controls all the actions of ALU and main memory. Not only this, it is the control Unit which tells the input unit that this is the time to feed data into the memory, to output unit, that get ready and accept data from memory and supply it to user. It also tells ALU when and what is to be done with data i.e. during processing, it fetches the instructions after selection, interprets it by decoding and tells the ALU what is to be done with that. It maintains order of execution and directs the operation of the entire system. It sends signals to various units for performing jobs. Normally, all of them are control signals and hence we say that control unit is the major controller circuit of the CPU.

The functions of control unit are as follows:

1.       It controls the operations of all other blocks and units of the computer system by issuing them signals time to time.

2.      It fetches the instructions of program stored in main memory one by one in a step wise manner.

3.      It decodes/interprets the instruction by separating the operation code and operands.

4.      It issues proper signals for data transfer in ALU and instructs ALU to perform required job.

5.      It sends intermediate results and final results in main memory for storing it.