1.8 Uses of computers

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BASI C COMPUTER CONCEPTS AND NET WORKI NG

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1.8 USES OF COMPUTERS

(i) Education.

The co mputers are usedi neducati onsyste mi nvari ous ways. The results of many exa ms are upl oaded by the concerned board or uni versity and the exa m i nees get their results downl oaded i n no ti me. W ith the hel p of co mputers onli ne exa m i nati on has beco me possi ble which has reducedthe space require ment bythei nstit uti ons for hol di ng the exa mand also ret urni nstant results. Co mputers also hel pi nspreadi ngeducati onthroughe-learni ng progra ms. For exa mple, PAN Africa e-learni ng project of Govern ment of Indi a to spread hi gher educati on i n African countries w ith the hel p of virt ual cl ass roo ms. The teachi ng ai ds li ke ppt presentati on etc. have i ncreased the i nterest of the st udentsi n a cl ass roo mresulti ngi n better teachi ng. W iththe hel p of co mputer technol ogy e-learni ng is avail able 24 × 7.

(ii) Health.

W iththe hel p of co mputers ne wlifesavi ng equi p ment have been devel oped and many lifesavi ng drugs have been made. The co mputers provi de assistance i n medical treat ment at all stages, be it di agnosi ng a disease, checkup of body, vari ous tests or operati ons, etc. The doctors can nowprovi de consultancytotheir patients onli ne. Also, I Thas enabled know ledge shari ng a mong doctors through speci al know ledge based soft ware.

(iii) Business.

The co mputers are usedi n al most all sorts of busi ness for vari ous purposesli ke billi ng, budgeti ng, accounti ng, reporti ng, presentati o ns, etc. The use of co mputers has made the busi ness processi ng faster and has reduced hu man efforts. Onli ne shoppi ng has opened ne wstores at everyone ’ s desktop as now vari ous products can be purchased onli ne fro msitti ng at ho me. This has hel ped the busi ness i n i ncreasi ng their revenue and reachi ng distant parts of the worl d. The foll ow i ng are worth consi deri ng —

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u Datastorage, mani pul ati on and distri buti on: I Tis usedi n busi ness tostorethe data, processit and distri buti ngit efficientl y. It hel psi n prepari ng reports for the vari ous levels of manage ment by usi ng vari ous types of . Technol ogical Information Systems applicati ons: Vari ous technol ogical applicati ons are used i n busi ness li ke database manage ment syste ms, word processor, spreadsheets, accounti ng soft ware and many other soft ware which has i ncreased the efficiency of operati ons.

JI T : I T has hel ped i n i ntegrati ng the busi ness processes w ith the suppliers alsoto manageitsi nventorylevels throughJust-i n- Ti me (JI T) syste m which has resultedi nl oweri ng i nventory costs.

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Cost reducti on: I T has also hel ped to put a li m it on manpower expansi on, and also the paper work, thereby reduci ng costs.

E- Co mmerce: I T has enabled busi nesses to vent ure i nto e-co m merce. E-co mmerceis buyi ng andselli ng services and goods over the Internet which has made their goods avail able 24 × 7 w ith reduced costs.

Co mmuni cati on: I T has also enabl ed co mmuni cati on bet ween busi nesses worl dw i de vi a e- mails and web ca meras, mobil e phones, etc.

Portability: I T has resultedi n devel op ment of mobile devices li ke l aptops and mobile phones which has enabled busi ness to be conductedfro many where. Empl oyees can nowenj oythe benefit of work-fro m - ho me.

u Enterprise Resource Pl anni ng ( ERP): ERP is busi ness process manage ment soft warethati ntegrates all functi ons of organizati on such as fi nance, producti on, sales, fi nance etc. w ith the hel p of suite of i ntegrated applicati ons. This ensures that the datais kept updated andis readil y avail able as all depart ments arei ntegrated tothe ERP . Vari ous ERP packages are avail able which can either be proprietarysoft ware or FOSS( Free and Open Source Soft ware) e. g. of FOSS ERP : ERPNEXT (for s mall and medi u msize enter prises, Fedena (for schools and uni versities); e. g. of proprietar y soft ware: mySAP fro mSAP , PeopleSoft fro m Oracle.

(iv) Travel.

Now-a- days pl anni ng holi days has beco me very easy as the avail ability of tickets i n trai ns or pl anes can be checked usi ng i nternet fro msitti ng at ho me and the sa me can be booked as per the users con venience and the i nterest. In the sa me manner the hotels can also -be booked onli ne.

(v) Research.

The co mputers are extensi vel y usedi nresearch, beit defence research, soci al research, meteorol ogical research, medical research, etc. Al most every weapon uses a soft ware, e.g., M issiles. The co mputers are used to desi gn and devel op vari ous weapons, to knowthe changes i n earth’ s at mosphere and for weather forecasti ng. Insoci al science researches also co mputers are usedto process the data to get the results.

(vi) Banking. The co mputers have made banki ng possi ble 24 × 7, i.e.

24 hours and seven days a week. The bank account can be operated, the pay ments can be made, the a mounts can betransferredfro mone account to another at any ti me whether the bank is opened or cl osed. W ith the hel p of the co mputers banks pl aced AT Ms ( Auto mated Teller Machi ne)

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