Modern society heavily depends on the abilities of computers, Information Technology, and information processing. As such, since access to information occurs mainly through digital means and media, the way information is arranged and presented on the screen is crucial. Because of this need for fast access and easy arrangement arose, in the early 1980s, companies started to work on various graphical user interfaces (or GUI for short). Most dictionaries define a GUI as ‘a way of arranging information on a computer screen that is easy to understand and use because it uses icons, menus and a mouse rather than only text.’ Introducing such software allowed a human-computer interaction on a visual plane, and took computing to an entirely new level of experience. The first GUI started to emerge, as stated above, in the early 1980s, and within the last 3 decades have completely dominated the way in which human-computer communication occurs. Although some sources argue about it, it is acknowledged that the first company to use a proper graphical user interface was Apple. In 1984 they released the Macintosh computer, which used a graphical system to present information on the screen using boxes and taskbars, and utilized a revolutionary pointer device, now widely known as the mouse. Following this event, other companies started releasing their versions of GUI based operating systems, until in 1995 Microsoft presented Windows 95, which soon became a dominant power on the market, and along with its later installments, led Microsoft to be the IT giant of the 20th century. Since its appearance, the GUI have greatly influenced the IT-centered society, and the role computing and digital devices play in its growth.
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...introduced to all these facts, it is clearly visible that graphical user interfaces played a major role in the development of modern society, and its relations with computing, and IT. Introducing the GUI in the early 1980s did in fact make computers and digital devices more accessible to people, often with no knowledge of computers, and revolutionized the way, in which media and information function today. The GUI has further made the abstract Information Technology more friendly towards a regular user, by allowing user customization of the work environment, and hence, made computers an integrated part of our lifestyle, work and leisure. Finally, because GUI is an inseparable of the most common computer work environments, it has become an element of our compulsory education, which just concretes its role as both facilitator, and prompter of social and life changes.
Information Retrieval (IR) is to represent, retrieve from storage and organise the information. The information should be easily access. User will be more interested with easy access information. Information retrieval process is the skills of searching for documents, for information within documents and for metadata about documents, as well as that of searching relational databases and the World Wide Web. According to (Shing Ping Tucker, 2008), E-commerce is rapidly a growing segment in the internet.
Apple was definitely “thinking different” when it created the new addition to the Macintosh family, the iMac. It’s creative design and refreshing departure from the computer industry standard of boring beige boxes is gaining this marvel many optimistic reviews. This new personal computer, which is pronounced eye-Mac –the “i” stands for Internet, combines the computer and the monitor in one unit making it, in effect, an updated version of the original one-piece Macintosh. That makes the iMac ideal for people who want to conserve desk space.
Mostly we will meet two groups of people manipulating Macs and PCs mainly in contemporary society. Either is proud of the outstanding performances of Macs or PCs. In contrast, there are consumers who are involved in a dilemma of starting from Mac or PC in their life with computers. Before making a comparison of the different types of computers, nevertheless, one most indispensable crux is to clarify the distinctions between PCs and Macs. Actually, many people easily makes the common mistake, a Mac is not a “PC”, which originally stands for “personal computer”. In fact, a Mac is a personal computer; moreover, a Mac is an extraordinary personal computer that enables varies manipulators to express their ideas with high creativity. Instead, the “PC” people mention today chiefly means the computers exploited based on the MSDOS system (Knight). Thus, broadly speaking, both of Macs and other PCs can be called “personal computers”.
Looking back at the history of User Interface, design is essential in order to avoid the pitfalls and mistakes that may have been seen before in its early stages and advancing on into today’s design. User interface design can go all the way back to the beginnings in digital computers. It first emerged in around the 1950’s when engineers were beginning to evaluate data on monitors (projekt202.com). The history of progression in software can be broken down into three eras: batch (1945-1968), command-line (1969-1983) and graphical (1984 and after) (catb.org). Although not necessarily a part of mobile user interface design, these eras contributed greatly to its birth, especially since without the emergence of personal computers there wouldn’t exist today the personal mobile computers and phones that we are so dependent on.
In today's society, digital technology playing a significant role in everybody's life and has provided so much jot in people's daily lives. Since the advance in technology, a large number of seniors have chosen to return to school for further understanding of digital technology as well as the society. This paper will talk about how digital technology can affect older adults' by comparing the advantages and disadvantages of the technology to this group of people. To start, this paper will provide a little bit of information about digital technology as well as how it is integrated into contemporary education. The second part of this paper will roughly look into the benefits and harms of digital technology may bring in teaching older adults through studying from a website or a video.
Watson, J. (2008). A history of computer operating systems (pp. 14-17). Ann Arbor, MI: Nimble Books.
The computer that we use in our homes and places of business usually consists of a box containing the computer, a mouse, a couple of disks with drivers, a monitor for output and a keyboard for input. We may connect the computer to any number of local or remote peripherals of other computers, but here is the foundation of the computer. It is here that everything starts, and here is where all of the innovations and ideas of the present day have been started. For the moment let's assume that sufficient processing takes place inside the computer, and look at how things get in and out.
The computer evolution has been an amazing one. There have been astonishing achievements in the computer industry, which dates back almost 2000 years. The earliest existence of the computer dates back to the first century, but the electronic computer has only been around for over a half-century. Throughout the last 40 years computers have changed drastically. They have greatly impacted the American lifestyle. A computer can be found in nearly every business and one out of every two households (Hall, 156). Our Society relies critically on computers for almost all of their daily operations and processes. Only once in a lifetime will a new invention like the computer come about.
The Whirlwind computer had a video display that was controlled interactively by a light gun. The display attracted users much more than computer code. The Whirlwind computer became the basis for SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment), a defense command-and-control system developed for the Air force. In the 1960s Ivan Sutherland’s MIT doctoral thesis introduced a Sketchpad interactive drawing system, which established the theoretical groundwork for computer graphics software (Machover 14). In the mid-1960s, computer graphics was booming in private industry. General Motors had released DAC-1 a computer-aided design system, and Itek developed the Digigraphics electronic drafting machine. By the late 1960s the first storage-tube display terminals appeared, shortly followed by direct-view storage tube display terminals (DVST) which cost thousands of dollars; however this was an improvement to the tens to hundreds of thousands spent initially for display systems. In the 1970s Turnkey systems emerged, beforehand users had to develop software to make their hardware work however turnkey systems provided a haven to users from software issues. Bit-mapped raster displays developed as memory...
Computers are everywhere in the world today. Everywhere that you turn you are going to see some form of a computer. Computers are found in every work place and are used by many different people. It is very important these days that everyone learns the basics for using a computer because most jobs or professions will require some computer knowledge in order to be qualified for many positions.
First of all, for the working peoples, the appearances of computer technology bring up a convenient
The creation of computer software and hardware, telecommunications, databases, and the Internet has affected society as a whole, and particularly higher education by giving people new productivity options and changing the way they work (Hulbert, 1998). In the so-called "Information Age" the increasing use of technology has become the driving force in the way people work, learn, and play (Drake, 2000). As this force evolves, the people using technology change also (Nelson, 1990).
The first graphical user interface was designed by Xerox Corporation's Palo Alto Research Center in the 1970s, but it was not until the 1980s and the emergence of the Apple Macintosh that graphical user interfaces became popular. One reason for their slow acceptance was the fact that they require considerable CPU power and a high-quality monitor, which until recently were prohibitively expensive.
The late 20th century has successfully witnessed the boom of sophisticated technology, which gave birth to a wide range of technological outcomes, including computer technology. Computer technology, that is a skill to manage information, communicate and a kind of entertainment media, has become an important part in modern life at work, in recreation and social networking. Whether computer technology is better or not is a complicated issue. There are different arguments that need to be examined. Most people support that computer technology is better for individual lifestyles. It improves quality of working and study, provides a wide range of entertainment and is a wonderful tool of communication. On the other hand, others believe that computer
Furthermore, ?Crossing oceans takes only a mouse click?- with computers, we no longer remain the conception about spatial distance. Actually the greatest advantage of computers is reducing distance and connecting people together. By this or other ways, computers thoroughly support and push up our education. Nowadays, students certainly stay at home but still can study for his or her bachelor degree. This actually seems to be impossible few decades ago. Those students just need to equip themselves with a computer connected internet at home only. This perfect utility is determined as computers? greatest success for humankind. For example, one student, a handicap person, who has his or her health?s problems, completely feels uncomfortable to go to school.