Characteristics of computer

 Computers are fast

Speed is one of the main characteristic of a computer. A computer can perform billions of calculations in a second. The speed of a computer is measured in Mega Hertz (MHz) or Gega Hertz (GHz). For example, multiplying 639 and 913 can take a couple of minutes if a human performs such calculations, but computer can perform millions of such calculations in a fraction of second.

        See Also:  Uses of Computers in various fields

Computers are accurate

Computers can perform operations and process data faster but with accurate results and no errors. Results can be wrong only if incorrect data is fed to the computer or a bug may be the cause of an error.

Storing Data

Storage capacity is another big characteristic of a computer. A computer can store large amount of data. This data can be used at any time and also from any location. The storage capacity of a computer is measured in Mega Byte, Gega Byte, Tera Byte.

Bit

The smallest unit of data in a computer is called Bit (Binary Digit). A bit has a single binary value, either 0 or 1. In most computer systems, there are eight bits in a byte. The value of a bit is usually stored as either above or below a designated level of electrical charge in a single capacitor within a memory device.

Nibble

Half a byte (four bits) is called a nibble.

Byte

In most computer systems, a byte is a unit of data that is eight binary digits long. A byte is the unit most computers use to represent a character such as a letter, number or typographic symbol (for example, “g”, “5”, or “?”). A byte can also hold a string of bits that need to be used in some larger unit of application purposes (for example, the stream of bits that constitute a visual image for a program that displays images or the string of bits that constitutes the machine code of a computer program).

In some computer systems, four bytes constitute a word, a unit that a computer processor can be designed to handle efficiently as it reads and processes each instruction. Some computer processors can handle two-byte or single-byte instructions.

A byte is abbreviated with a “B”. (A bit is abbreviated with a small “b”). Computer storage is usually measured in byte multiples. For example, an 820 MB hard drive holds a nominal 820 million bytes – or megabytes – of data. Byte multiples are based on powers of 2 and commonly expressed as a “rounded off” decimal number. For example, one megabyte (“one million bytes”) is actually 1,048,576 (decimal) bytes.

Octet

In some systems, the term octet is used for an eight-bit unit instead of byte. In many systems, four eight-bit bytes or octets form a 32-bit word. In such systems, instructions lengths are sometimes expressed as full-word (32 bits in length) or half-word (16 bits in length).

Kilobyte

A Kilobyte (kb or Kbyte) is approximately a thousand bytes (actually, 2 to the 10^th power, or decimal 1,024 bytes).

Megabyte

As a measure of computer processor storage and real and virtual memory, a megabyte (abbreviated MB) is 2 to the 20^th power byte, or 1,048,576 bytes in decimal notation.

Gigabyte

A Gigabyte (pronounced Gig-a-bite with hard G’s) is a measure of computer data storage capacity and is “roughly” a billion bytes. A gigabyte is two to the 30^th power, or 1,073,741,824 in decimal notation.

Terabyte

A Terabyte is a measure of computer storage capacity and is 2 to the 40^th power of 1024 gigabytes.

Petabyte

A Petabyte (PB) is a measure of memory or storage capacity and is 2 to the 50^th power bytes or, in decimal, approximately a thousand terabytes (1024 terabytes).

Exabyte

An Exabyte (EB) is a large unit of computer data storage, two to the sixtieth power bytes. The prefix exa means one billion billion, or on quintillion, which is a decimal term. Two to the sixtieth power is actually 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes in decimal, or somewhat over a quintillion (or ten to the eighteenth power) bytes. It is common to say that an Exabyte is approximately one quintillion bytes. In decimal terms, an Exabyte is a billion gigabytes.

Zettabyte

A Zettabyte (ZB) is equal to one sextillion bytes. It is commonly abbreviated ZB. At this time, no computer has one Zettabyte of storage. It has 1024 Exabytes.

Yottabyte

A Yottabyte is equal to one septillion bytes. It is commonly abbreviated YB. At this time, no computer has one Zettabyte of storage. It has 1024 Zettabytes.

 

Computers are versatile

Computer is a versatile machine. They are used in various fields. They are used in Schools & Colleges, at hospitals, at government organizations and at home for entertainment & work purposes.

They can communicate

Computers have the ability to communicate, but of course there needs some sort of connection (either Wired or Wireless connection). Two computers can be connected to send & receive data. Special softwares are used for text and video chat. Friends & family can connect over the internet and share files, photos & videos online.

We can do multitasking

Multitasking is also a computer characteristic. Computers can perform several tasks at a time. For example you can listen to songs, download movies, and prepare word documents all at the same time.

No Intelligence

Computers don’t have any intelligence of their own. They follow a set of instructions fed into them by manufacturer. The user knows what to do and when to perform a specific task.