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UNIT 1
Computer Users
9
Re-read the text to find the answers to
these questions:
1
Match the terms in Table A with the
statements in Table B.
2
Mark the following statements as True or
False:
a Desktop organisers are programs that
require desktop computers.
b Computers are sometimes used to monitor
systems that previously needed human
supervision.
c Networking is a way of allowing otherwise
incompatible systems to communicate and
share resources.
d The use of computers prevents people from
being creative.
e Computer users do not have much influence
over the way that computing develops.
Table A
a Edutainment
b Multimedia
c Expert system
d Telecommute
e Information superhighway
Table B
i Software that enables computers to
‘think’ like experts
ii Use computers to stay in touch with the
office while working at home
iii Internet system designed to provide free,
interactive access to vast resources for
people all over the world
iv Multimedia materials with a combination
of educational and entertainment content
v A combination of text with sound, video,
animation, and graphics
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
text with sound, video, animation, and
graphics, which greatly enhances the
interaction between user and machine and
can make information more interesting and
appealing to people. Expert systems software
enables computers to ‘think’ like experts.
Medical diagnosis expert systems, for
example, can help doctors pinpoint a
patient’s illness, suggest further tests, and
prescribe appropriate drugs.
Connectivity enables computers and software
that might otherwise be incompatible to
communicate and to share resources. Now
that computers are proliferating in many
areas and networks are available for people
to access data and communicate with others,
personal computers are becoming
interpersonal PCs. They have the potential to
significantly improve the way we relate to
each other. Many people today telecommute
–
that is, use their computers to stay in touch
with the office while they are working at
home. With the proper tools, hospital staff
can get a diagnosis from a medical expert
hundreds or thousands of miles away.
Similarly, the disabled can communicate more
effectively with others using computers.
Distance learning and videoconferencing are
concepts made possible with the use of an
electronic classroom or boardroom accessible
to people in remote locations. Vast databases
of information are currently available to users
of the Internet, all of whom can send mail
messages to each other. The information
superhighway is designed to significantly
expand this interactive connectivity so that
people all over the world will have free
access to all these resources.
People power is critical to ensuring that
hardware, software, and connectivity are
effectively integrated in a socially responsible
way. People
–
computer users and computer
professionals
–
are the ones who will decide
which hardware, software, and networks
endure and how great an impact they will
have on our lives. Ultimately people power
must be exercised to ensure that computers
are used not only efficiently but in a socially
responsible way.
[Adapted from ‘Computing in the Information Age’,
2
nd edition,
Nancy Stern & Robert A. Stern, (Wiley), pages
19–22
]
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