15 COMPUTER AND INTERNET

A computer is a device that can be instructed to carry out an arbitrary set

of arithmetic or logical operations automatically. The ability of computers to follow a sequence of
operations, called a program, make computers very applicable to a wide range of tasks. Such
computers are used as control systems for a very wide variety of industrial and consumer devices.

his includes simple special purpose devices like microwave ovens and remote controls, factory
devices such as industrial robots and computer assisted design, but also in general purpose devices
like personal computers and mobile devices such as smartphones. The Internet is run on computers
and it connects millions of other computers. Since ancient times, simple manual devices like
the abacus aided people in doing calculations. Early in the Industrial Revolution, some mechanical
devices were built to automate long tedious tasks, such as guiding patterns for looms. More
sophisticated electrical machines did specialized analog calculations in the early 20th century. The
first digital electronic calculating machines were developed during World War II. The speed, power,
and versatility of computers has increased continuously and dramatically since then.

Conventionally, a modern computer consists of at least one processing element, typically a central
processing unit (CPU), and some form of memory. The processing element carries out arithmetic
and logical operations, and a sequencing and control unit can change the order of operations in
response to stored information. Peripheral devices include input devices (keyboards, mice, joystick,
etc.), output devices (monitor screens, printers, etc.), and input/output devices that perform both
functions (e.g., the 2000s-era touchscreen). Peripheral devices allow information to be retrieved
from an external source and they enable the result of operations to be saved and retrieved.

The Internet is the global system of interconnected computer networks that use the Internet protocol
suite (TCP/IP) to link devices worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of private, public,
academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of
electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries an extensive range of
information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents and applications of
the World Wide Web (WWW), electronic mail, telephony, and peer-to-peer networks for file sharing.

The origins of the Internet date back to research commissioned by the United States federal
government in the 1960s to build robust, fault-tolerant communication via computer networks. [1] The
primary precursor network, the ARPANET, initially served as a backbone for interconnection of
regional academic and military networks in the 1980s. The funding of the National Science
Foundation Network as a new backbone in the 1980s, as well as private funding for other
commercial extensions, led to worldwide participation in the development of new networking
technologies, and the merger of many networks.[2] The linking of commercial networks and
enterprises by the early 1990s marks the beginning of the transition to the modern Internet, [3] and
generated a sustained exponential growth as generations of institutional, personal,
and mobile computers were connected to the network. Although the Internet was widely used
by academia since the 1980s, the commercialization incorporated its services and technologies into
virtually every aspect of modern life.
Internet use grew rapidly in the West from the mid-1990s and from the late 1990s in the developing
world.[4] In the two decades since then, Internet use has grown 100-times, measured for the period of
one year, to over one third of the world population.[5][6]Most traditional communications media,
including telephony, radio, television, paper mail and newspapers are being reshaped or redefined
by the Internet, giving birth to new services such as email, Internet telephony, Internet
television music, digital newspapers, and video streaming websites. Newspaper, book, and other
print publishing are adapting to website technology, or are reshaped into blogging, web feeds and
online news aggregators. The entertainment industry was initially the fastest growing segment on the
Internet.[citation needed] The Internet has enabled and accelerated new forms of personal interactions
through instant messaging, Internet forums, and social networking. Online shopping has grown
exponentially both for major retailers and small businesses and entrepreneurs, as it enables firms to
extend their "bricks and mortar" presence to serve a larger market or even sell goods and services
entirely online. Business-to-business and financial services on the Internet affect supply
chains across entire industries.

The Internet has no centralized governance in either technological implementation or policies for
access and usage; each constituent network sets its own policies.[7] Only the overreaching definitions
of the two principal name spaces in the Internet, the Internet Protocol address space and
the Domain Name System (DNS), are directed by a maintainer organization, the Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The technical underpinning and standardization of the
core protocols is an activity of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), a non-profit organization
of loosely affiliated international participants that anyone may associate with by contributing
technical expertise.[8]