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Chapter 1 Introduction to Information Technology 5
Digital Revolution
The fi eld of information technology (IT) fi
includes all of the work done with computers,
from the design and installation of hardware and
software to the maintenance of these systems. The
state of the art of computing today is ever changing
with new and innovative additions, such as shown
in Figure 1-1. These changes are part of the digital
revolution. The digital revolution is the ever-
expanding progression of technical, economic, and
cultural changes brought about by computers. It
has gone through four phases:
• giant computers
• personal computers
• networked computers
• cloud computing
A computer is a device that handles input,
processes data, stores data, and produces usable
output according to sets of stored instructions.
Giant Computers
The fi rst phase of the digital revolution occurred from the 1940s fi
through the 1960s and is characterized by the use of giant computing
machines. These machines were physically so large that they had to
be located in special facilities, as shown in Figure 1-2. The computers
required highly skilled technicians to run even simple reports. Programs
had to be small and extremely efficient.fi
Personal Computers
The second phase of the digital revolution
began with the advent of personal computers
(PCs) in the 1970s and lasted through the early
1990s. PCs were small and inexpensive enough to
be used in households and businesses. They were
complete computers that could run programs all
by themselves. The fi rst PCs were only capable of fi
displaying one color on the monitor screen against
a black background.
Networked Computers
The popularity of personal computers only
gradually increased until the mid-1990s. It was
at this time when software became what most
of the population could consider user-friendly.
Also at this time, computer networks became
interconnected through a large system of network
FYI
Data processing was
the term used from the
1940s to the 1970s to
describe the computer
operations. Today, this
is known as information
management.
Goodheart-Willcox Publisher
Figure 1-1. An innovative method for data input to a
computer uses sensors on the fingers to determine
input.
US Army Photo
Figure 1-2. Programmers Elizabeth (Betty) Jean
Jennings and Frances (Fran) Bilas preparing for the
public unveiling of ENIAC. ENIAC was the first elec-
tronic digital computer.