
Computers
information processing task, whether word processing or stock
control. It does this by means ofsoftware, Le. sets of instructions or
programs which control these hardware devices so that they carry
out the required operations on the information.
In this chapter and the next we look at the various pieces of
hardware. In Chapter 4 we turn our attention to the software.
Question
1 A low-cost pocket calculator has a number of features in common
with a computer, but one essential difference. From what has been
said above, what are these similarities and differences?
Computer hardware
The hardware of a computer system consists of the device ...