Technology in Health and Social Care Services Page 1

P1 use software for word processing,

spreadsheets and charts to prepare and
present a complex document

Hardware
A PC stands for personal computer which is
designed for use in the home, as it has a
smaller size and is easier to use than a regular
computer; which refers to huge computers in
the 1940s. Some old computers used light
bulbs which worked as transistors which had
to be constantly changed.

Some people will remember the first computers they used being a
calculator. The first microprocessor invented by Intel in 1971 was
responsible for this. Before that, people used mechanical calculators
which didn’t require batteries or solar power.

The first PC was made by technology company IBM, called the IBM PC 5150. It was released in
1981. In the olden days, the only way to get a graphical interface
up was to insert a floppy disk which would execute a program
such as Microsoft Word or Microsoft Flight Simulator. Nowadays
we have Microsoft Windows instead of a command prompt on a
black screen.

I remember using an RM Nimbus, (which came with a mouse) in

primary school for English lessons. It came with educational
software.

A computer is made up of various parts. There is the processor which determines how fast the
computer is. Intel and AMD make computer processors, and Intel processors are more popular due
to the global Intel Inside campaign which gave the company a lot of trust. Intel Celeron was followed
by Intel Pentium then Intel Core Duo came out when dual core processors came out. Intel Core Duo
got followed by Intel Core 2. The number after the word Core refers to the amount of processors the
processor has in total. Solo means 1. There is now Intel Core 2 Quad which is very expensive and has
4 processors. Most people don’t really need 4 processors.

Another thing which determines
Random Access Memory and
saved. Each time you
is used to store the
onto the hard
data onto the
the
how fast a computer is RAM. RAM stands for
it is where all data is stored before it is
open a computer program, megabytes of RAM
data the program needs which does not get saved
drive. For example, a calculator, which does not save
hard drive, saves all the data it needs to access such as
previous result or what to add onto the RAM. RAM can be

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Technology in Health and Social Care Services Page 2

thought of as a short term memory for the computer.

A modem is something which a phone line socket is inserted into, and then plugged
into a computer in order for an internet connection to take place. This is why, when
dial-up internet was around, the phone would have a weird sound once picked up.

Nowadays, people have two phone lines or two separate cables so broadband users can
use their phone when online. Despite this, telecoms still charge a BT line rental with
broadband internet.

Keyboard

The keyboard allowed people to interact with their

computer. As there was no mouse, the numeric
keypad’s arrows controlled the cursor whenever it
appeared on screen. The Num Lock key on the
keyboard is for toggling between number entry and
cursor moving. The reason why keyboards use a QWERTY
layout instead of ABC is so that each carriage of ink on a typewriter used when typed are of a
reasonable distance of each other to prevent ink splattered on their page from uncooled ink.

Mouse

A mouse is a point and click device which got invented after

the keyboard did. As Microsoft patented the right click,
Apple Macs use the Control+Click. Nowadays, optical mice
are sold in which a red light is emitted, instead of the
trackball mice. Trackball mice had a rubber ball in it
which people had to regularly clean the inside from lint
and can cause vandalism by taking advantage of the
rubber ball. Nowadays there are Bluetooth, wireless, and
gaming mice.

Printer

A printer takes what is shown on the screen onto paper. There are
different types of printers. A daisy wheel printer is the printer used
on a typewriter where only preset characters can be printed.

A dot matrix prints stuff in tiny dots.

Modern printers use an inkjet/bubblejet printer where heated ink

from ink cartridges are cleverly placed on a page before cooling
down quick to prevent
the ink smudging once
printed. Such

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Technology in Health and Social Care Services Page 3

technologies were used in the past, and the dots could be seen if a person held the paper really
close to their eyes.

Scanner

A scanner reads light and transmits it into the computer as an image.

It’s the opposite of printing. It uses a charge coupled device which
is simply an array of light-sensitive diodes called photosites. They
generate an electrical signal in response to the light photons. A
photon is a single light particle.

Photocopier

A photocopier works in the same way a printer and scanner does. Whatever image is
scanned, gets printed out, hence the name photocopier. It converts optical data into digital
data to be printed out.

CD

A CD stands for Compact Disk and replaced the floppy disk. It uses
optical (light) data. It was developed by Sony and Philips and stores
700MB or 80 minutes as an audio cd. It is the successor of the
Laserdisk which isn’t remembered. But to most people, it replaced
the magnetic floppy disk which had a maximum capacity of 1.5MB.

A CD player works by a red laser reading the grooves in the disk.

That’s why the word Burn terminology exists, because the CD is
actually burnt. A CD stores 700MB maximum which is 80 minutes as
an audio CD. A CD player’s red laser reads the grooves or areas which
have burnt onto the CD.

Physical size Audio Capacity CD-ROM Data Capacity Note

12 cm 74–99 min 650–870 MB Standard size

8 cm 21–24 min 185–210 MB Mini-CD size
85x54 mm - 86x64 mm ~6 min 10-65 MB "Business card" size

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Technology in Health and Social Care Services Page 4

The recommended spend for a PC setup at PC World.

Product Name Type of Product Price Quantity Total
Dell S1909WN 18.5 inch monitor £79.87 1 £79.87
Advent ECO PC Core 2 Duo, 160GB HD £229.99 1 £229.99
Microsoft Comfort
2000 Keyboard £16.99 1 £16.99
Microsoft Wireless
Optical 2000 Mouse £16.94 1 £16.94

PC Line Black Foam

Memory Mouse Mat Mouse Mat £14.99 1 £14.99

Norton Internet Antivirus, antispyware

Security 2009 and firewall £23.49 1 £23.49
Grand Total £382.27
Product Name Type of Product
Price Quantity Total
Dell S1909WN 18.5 inch monitor
79.87 1 =SUM(C1:C2*D2)
Core 2 Duo,
Advent ECO PC 160GB HD 229.99 1 =SUM(C3*D3)
Microsoft Comfort
2000 Keyboard 16.99 1 =SUM(C4*D4)
Microsoft Wireless
Optical 2000 Mouse 16.94 1 =SUM(C5*D5)

PC Line Black Foam

Memory Mouse Mat Mouse Mat 14.99 1 =SUM(C6*D6)

Antivirus,
Norton Internet antispyware
Security 2009 and firewall 23.49 1 =SUM(C7*D7)
Grand Total =SUM(E2:E7)

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Technology in Health and Social Care Services Page 5

Sales on computers at PC World.

Brand Product Name RRP Sale Price Percent off Saved
Aspire One
Acer Netbook £349.99 249.97 28.58 £100.02

Advent Roma Laptop £349.00 £349.00 0.00 £0.00

Packard iMedia B2619 with
Bell 18.5" LG Monitor £429.99 £329.99 23.26 £100.00
Packard
Bell Dot S Red £279.97 £279.97 0.00 £0.00
N110 Black
Samsung Netbook £349.99 329.99 5.71 £20.00

Dell Mini Netbook £279.99 249.99 10.71 £30.00

Total Saved £68.26 £250.02
Brand Product Name
RRP Sale PricePercent off Saved
Aspire One
Acer Netbook 349.99 249.97 =SUM(100-D2/C2*100) =SUM(C2-D2)
Roma
Advent Laptop 349 349 =SUM(100-D3/C3*100) =SUM(C3-D3)
Packard iMedia
Bell B2619 with 429.99 329.99 =SUM(100-D4/C4*100) =SUM(C4-D4)
Packard
Bell Dot S Red 279.97 279.97 =SUM(100-D5/C5*100) =SUM(C5-D5)
N110 Black
Samsung Netbook 349.99 329.99 =SUM(100-D6/C6*100) =SUM(C6-D6)
Mini
Dell Netbook 279.99 249.99 =SUM(100-D7/C7*100) =SUM(C7-D7)
Total Saved=SUM(E2:E7) =SUM(F2:F7)
Software
The most popular software is Microsoft Windows. After that is Microsoft Office. This is because
computers were designed for people to get work done efficiently. Microsoft Windows controls the
computer and Microsoft Word allows people to put their words onto a document to be printed.

Emails

An email is basically a domain name which allows people to send messages to each other. The
messages are stored on the internet, which are read on the internet. Once deleted, it deletes of the
internet. When sending emails, it is like using Internet Explorer to access a website or submit a form.

Diagnostic Applications

An example of a diagnostic application is PC Doctor. I have it on my PC and it diagnoses and fixes

hardware errors. It came with my computer which suggests that it fixes problems when things go
wrong. It also lets people know what is wrong with their computer.

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Technology in Health and Social Care Services Page 6

Interactive Applications

An interactive application uses multimedia (audio, images, and video), to provide feedback on the
actions that a computer user does once they have submitted a command with the keyboard of
mouse. Skype is a good example of such an application.

Word Processor

A word processor allows someone to create text documents by typing using the keyboard. Word
processing software’s biggest advantage is the ability to edit text without tip-ex, rubbing out or
crossing out; and the fact that the formatting of the text can easily be changed.

The most common word processor on the market is Microsoft

Word.

Spreadsheet

A spreadsheet is basically a large grid which allows someone to

insert numerical data in whichever cells they choose so the
computer can perform automated mathematical calculations
based on whatever numbers, and whatever formula the
computer program has been asked to do.

For example, for the PC Word example, I made sure that when
certain cells were edited, the percent off, and saved column
had their values changed.

Some people use spreadsheets to store a database. For large

databases, people can use database software.

Databases

A database is just a list of information which allows the user to

add, edit/modify, view, search and delete information. If a
database is categorised, the user can browse the information. Nearly all websites use a database to
store the information.

The database program within the Microsoft Office 2007 suite is called Microsoft Access. A database
program does not have the autosum feature for performing mathematical calculations. The main
advantage of a database program such as Microsoft Access is the ability to perform database
queries. The biggest disadvantage and turn-off for Access is that sql databases, particularly mysql
cannot be imported or exported. This makes phpmyadmin a better alternative.

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Technology in Health and Social Care Services Page 7

Internet
Searching the internet

When using a search engine to find information, it is important to make sure the webpage is a
reliable source of information. Wikipedia is such a reliable source as all information found on each
page is referenced.

Security

For a safe computer an anti-virus program is needed in order to detect, quarantine or remove
malicious programming on the computer designed to do it harm. Because of the rise of a type of
malicious software which logs each keystroke and window opened in order for a hacker to obtain
passwords, the term spyware was coined. So modern anti-virus programs now include anti-spyware
as well.

A firewall is also essential to ensure that hackers do not have permission to use your internet
connection for whatever means that is. For example, a DDOS attack.

References
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000984.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z3_(computer)
http://www.vintage-computer.com/ancient.shtml
http://digitize.textfiles.com/items/1982-ibm-personal-computer/
http://lowendmac.com/orchard/06/ibm-pc-5150-origin.html
http://www.vintage-computer.com/my_collection.shtml
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000984.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Disc
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD-ROM
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/fingerprint-scanner2.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Disc
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laserdisc

By Adisa Nicholson