Computers Computers simply mean a machine which can compute. Peek into the past and find out who were the geeks who thought about having a device that could perform calculative tasks by recognizing inputs and giving the appropriate outputs. The history of computers is long starting with the abacus 4 thousand years ago, involving taming of electricity from Franklin to Tesla to Shockley to hundreds of companies designing our modern integrated circuits. Modern computers became possible with the first integrated circuits in 1952 by Texas Instruments to IBM mainframes in 1964 to Apple I in 1976 , and IBM personal computers in 1981. The main characteristics of a Computer are: 1 - It follows and is capable of following a special set of instructions. 2 - It can execute preset list of instructions generally known as a program. The basic components which are essential to make a computer are: 1 - Input Device like a computer Keyboard, Mouse, touch screen and most recently a microphone which are used for entering instructions and data into the computer. 2 - Output like the Screen, and speakers, Printer etc, which lets us know the information returning from the computer. 3 - The Central Processing Unit is the brain of the Computer where all the processing of data is done and instructions are executed. 4 - Memory which holds data for instructions to access and work on quickly. 5 - Mass Storage Devices like hardrives, flash drives and whatever is the laser storage of the day be it CDs, HD, or Blu-ray ( the last 2 being blue laser based). Holographic will stretch and speed up computer memory. Computers come in many types and for many purposes with different categories of its users in mind. The most popular computer is the Personal Computer which is for use of a single user at one time. There are main two types; A Desktop and a Laptop . Then there is an even smaller computer known as the Palmtop which can be held in the palms of the user. While these are the smaller and personal types of computers, The Mainframe, Workstation and Supercomputers are the larger high end computers used by big organizations. Computers can perform a wide range of functions such as word processing, Digital Audio/Video composition, Internet, Communications and Networking, Desktop Publishing, photo editing, data base manipulation, and spread sheets and many other functions. Computers word processing capability includes automatic correction of spelling and grammar mistakes. The Internet is one of the greatest inventions of human kind. It connects large number of computers in the manner of a web. This is what makes e-mail and online banking possible. Enormous amounts of information are available on the Internet and facilities of communications such as messaging, audio and video conferencing are available for free. Graphic engineers are using computers for editing audio and video compositions. No media production can be completed without the help of computers. Nowadays Computers are indispensable for banking, Railway and Flight Reservations, Education and even defense of a country. There is hardly any business which does not utilize Computers. Important and critical business tasks be efficiently accomplished without the help of computers. Computers are also prone to diseases which are created by viruses. Proper back up of all data stored in computer must be maintained to provide back up in case of storage media failure. Computers must be secured from unauthorized use by passwords and must be protected from viruses by installing anti-virus programs in them. Computers, if safeguarded and used properly can create wonders for human kind and can produce results which are unachievable without them.   How to decide? Laptop or Desktop computer The best thing about a laptop computer is being able to move it around with ease, if you work from home and in an office you can use the same laptop so that all your files are in one place which saves time in transferring them every day. A good laptop can be considerably cheaper than a desktop as most of the peripherals are included such as screen, keyboard, mouse, wi-fi connection, etc. Another factor that gives the laptop the edge over the desktop is the built in battery, if you were to have a power cut you would not lose any data. You can run your laptop direct from the mains and in the event of a power surge or power cut its inbuilt battery would kick in and allow you to carry on working until that runs out. The laptop does have its downsides, a small screen compared to some of the monitors available in today’s world. A good laptop can be expensive and if broken you may not be able to repair it if the component it inbuilt to the main board itself. Laptops with comparable may run at about a 30% slower speed . Laptop components tend to be more expensive because they tend to need to be specialized and miniaturized to fit you model. If you’re considering a desktop computer then you will know it has many benefits over a laptop. They are more powerful compared to the equivalent laptop and are easily upgradeable and can be repaired with ease if a certain component was to fail. The average desktop will last significantly longer then any laptop as they don’t break as easily and can be upgraded to support today’s technology. Information is now easier to move from computer because of UBS and UBS flash drives, and UBS hard drives. You also rarely hear of someone losing their desktop, or having it stolen with loads of secret information on it. The main downside to a desktop computer is the fact it’s not portable (but the information now is more portable), if you want to move it around it causes a lot of hassle disconnecting all of the peripherals (many computers are reducing wires with wireless mouse, wireless keyboards, and wireless connections for Internet connections etc and reconnecting them once you get to your destination. Another is the fact of not having an inbuilt battery, if you were to have a power cut you would lose any unsaved data. You can buy an external battery to counter act this. Computers are now making life easier and living less of a chore.