Fundamentals of Information Technology

(IT-162)

Meer Qaisar Javedqaisar.javed@uog.edu.pk

Lecture # 02

Department of Information Technology, University of Gujrat

Information and Technology:

Information (Latin: idea, conception) Knowledge communicated or received concerning a

particular fact or circumstance Quantity needed by a system to complete a task

Technology (Greek: systematic treatment) The practical application of knowledge in a particular

area (ex: Engineering, science, etc..) The human process of applying resources to satisfy

our wants and needs to extend our capabilities

Information Technology:

IT (information technology) is a term that encompasses all forms of technology used to create, store, exchange, and use information in its various forms.

It is a convenient term for including both telephony and computer technology in the same word. It is the technology that is driving what has often been called “The Information Revolution."

Information Technology Cont…

The term Information Technology Comprehensively can be defined as:

Use of Computing along with high speed telecommunication networks in order to spread the information from a source to the remote destination over the globe of world.

IT discipline include: Computing Information Engineering Telecommunication Database Management Software Engineering Organizational Behavior

The Various Forms of Information Images Sound Text Numbers

Business data, voice conversations, still images, motion pictures, multimedia presentations, and other forms, including those not yet conceived.

Alphanumeric Characters

Historical Perspective Information and its uses have always been an

integral part of mankind Mankind initially utilized non-verbal communication

methods to convey information (gestures, etc.) The very first indication of information

communication/storage/retrieval is considered to be through cave drawings

Words and subsequently languages were later developed to efficiently communicate with each other

Information sharing across a wide audience was made possible by the invention of the printing press in the early 1450’s by Johannes Gutenberg through the process of printing and distributing manuscripts

The printing press is widely thought of as the origin of mass communication. It marked Western culture's first viable method of disseminating ideas and information from a single source to a large and far-ranging audience (Jones telecom & multimedia encyclopedia)

Some significant developments in IT include: The telegraph by Samuel Morse in 1837 The telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 Black and white TV in the 1940’s The Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) between 1937-1942 The ENIAC (first electronic digital computer) during WW-II The transistor by Bell lab scientists, replacing the vacuum tube in

1947 The integrated circuit by Jack Kilby in the late 1950’s ARPANET in the 1960’s The personal digital computer in the 1970’s The world wide web in 1991

Historical Perspective Cont…

Information Technology Timeline

Johannes Gutenberg

Telegraph KeyCirca 1840

Bell’s Telephone

1876

Flat Disk Gramophone

1887

75,000 B.C.Rock

Carvings

<4000 B.C.Hieroglyphi

cs2200 B.C.Papyrus

1500 B.C.Alphabetic

Writing

1450 A.D.Printing Press

1876 Telephon

e

1835Photograph

y

1895Silent Movies

1894 Wireless Telegraph

1840Telegraph

1876 Phonograph

Information Technology Timeline cont…

Sputnik 1957

Fiber Optics 1977

Apple Mac1984

IBM PC1981

1922 Radio

Broadcasts

1991 World Wide

Web

1965 Local

Cable TV

1973 Fax Machines

1980s Cell

Phones

1970s

VCR

1947 Transistor 1983 CDs1977 Apple II

Home Computers

1990 Digital

Photography

1998 MP-3 (Compressed Sound

Files)

1940 Black and White TV1942 ABC

The Information Age

Day-to-Day Living – Online shopping, virtual education, telecommuting, online banking and bill payment, online course registration, airline reservations.

Entertainment – Television, movies, radio, CDs, video cameras, computer games, web surfing.

Social Life – Web communities, instant messaging, email, cell phones, personal communication devices.

Economics – IT use in business and government has causes significant productivity increases. The IT industry itself has become a major economic sector.

Today, information technology touches every aspect of our lives.

Benefits of Information Technology

Increased productivity Information flow Access to information (ex: the Internet) Access to personnel Data entry

Personal flexibility Virtual workplaces

Recreation Gaming

Costs of Information Technology

Equipment expense Ex: personal computers and CPU’s

Social costs Increased unemployment Job elimination Reduction in middle management

Personal costs

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