You may know that e-business is short form for ‘‘electronic business.’’ But what does it really mean? Simply put, e-business can be defined as the use of the Internet to conduct business. This includes buying and selling, serving your customers, and working with business partners. For the most part, e-business is about your company’s website and how you use the Internet to help operate and grow your business.
E-business can range from a simple website that helps you market your business, to an online store that enables customers to order your products 24 hours a day. E-business also includes e-mail marketing, Internet-based software to improve your business processes, and lots more. For most small businesses though, e-business means having a good website that creates a positive impression of your company and tells people who you are and what you offer.
The Role of E-Business in Your Business
E-business can help your business in many ways, and it can give you a significant competitive advantage. Here are six important goals that e-business can help you accomplish:
1. Supporting your marketing efforts and increasing your sales
2. Reaching new markets and extending your reach
3. Communicating with your target audience more cost-effectively
4. Helping you get more from your overall sales and marketing budget
5. Strengthening customer relationships and improving customer service
6. Increasing productivity and efficiency
WHAT IS COMPUTER?
Introduction Of Computer
A computer is a device that accepts information (in the form of digitalized data) and manipulates it for some result based on a program or sequence of instructions on how the data is to be processed. Complex computers also include the means for storing data (including the program, which is also a form of data) for some necessary duration. A program may be invariable and built into the computer (and called logic circuitry as it is on microprocessors) or different programs may be provided to the computer (loaded into its storage and then started by an administrator or user). Today's computers have both kinds of programming.
Most histories of the modern computer begin with the Analytical Engine envisioned by Charles Babbage following the mathematical ideas of George Boole, the mathematician who first stated the principles of logic inherent in today's digital computer. Babbage's assistant and collaborator, Ada Lovelace, is said to have introduced the ideas of program loops and subroutines and is sometimes considered the first programmer. Apart from mechanical calculators, the first really useable computers began with the vacuum tube, accelerated with the invention of the transistor, which then became embedded in large numbers in integrated circuits, ultimately making possible the relatively low-cost personal
computer.
Modern computers inherently follow the ideas of the stored program laid out by John von Neumann in 1945. Essentially, the program is read by the computer one instruction at a time, an operation is performed, and the computer then reads in the next instruction, and so on. Recently, computers and programs have been devised that allow multiple programs (and computers) to work on the same problem at the same time in parallel. With the advent of the Internet and higher bandwidth data transmission, programs and data that are part of the same overall project can be distributed over a network and embody the Sun Microsystems slogan: "The network is the computer."
Computer Generation
First Generation - 1940-1956: Vacuum Tubes
The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory, and were often enormous, taking up entire rooms. They were very expensive to operate and in addition to using a great deal of electricity, generated a lot of heat, which was often the cause of malfunctions.First generation computers relied on machine language, the lowest-level programming language understood by computers, to perform operations, and they could only solve one problem at a time. Input was based on punched cards and paper tape, and output was displayed on printouts.The UNIVAC and ENIAC computers are examples of first-generation computing devices. The UNIVAC was the first commercial computer delivered to a business client, the U.S. Census Bureau in 1951.
Second Generation - 1956-1963: Transistors
Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and ushered in the second generation of computers. The transistor was invented in 1947 but did not see widespread use in computers until the late 50s. The transistor was far superior to the vacuum tube, allowing computers to become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient and more reliable than their first-generation predecessors. Though the transistor still generated a great deal of heat that subjected the computer to damage, it was a vast improvement over the vacuum tube. Second-generation computers still relied on punched cards for input and printouts for output. Second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary machine language to symbolic, or assembly, languages, which allowed programmers to specify instructions in words. High-level programming languages were also being developed at this time, such as early versions of COBOL and FORTRAN. These were also the first computers that stored their instructions in their memory, which moved from a magnetic drum to magnetic core technology. The first computers of this generation were developed for the atomic energy industry.
Third Generation - 1964-1971: Integrated Circuits
The development of the integrated circuit was the hallmark of the third generation of computers. Transistors were miniaturized and placed on silicon chips, called semiconductors, which drastically increased the speed and efficiency of computers. Instead of punched cards and printouts, users interacted with third generation computers through keyboards and monitors and interfaced with an operating system, which allowed the device to run many different applications at one time with a central program that monitored the memory. Computers for the first time became accessible to a mass audience because they were smaller and cheaper than their predecessors.
Fourth Generation - 1971-Present: Microprocessors
The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers, as thousands of integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip. What in the first generation filled an entire room could now fit in the palm of the hand. The Intel 4004 chip, developed in 1971, located all the components of the computer - from the central processing unit and memory to input/output controls - on a single chip. In 1981 IBM introduced its first computer for the home user, and in 1984 Apple introduced the Macintosh. Microprocessors also moved out of the realm of desktop computers and into many areas of life as more and more everyday products began to use microprocessors. As these small computers became more powerful, they could be linked together to form networks, which eventually led to the development of the Internet. Fourth generation computers also saw the development of GUIs, the mouse and handheld devices.
Fifth Generation - Present and Beyond: Artificial Intelligence
Fifth generation computing devices, based on artificial intelligence, are still in development, though there are some applications, such as voice recognition, that are being used today. The use of parallel processing and superconductors is helping to make artificial intelligence a reality. Quantum computation and molecular and nanotechnology will radically change the face of computers in years to come. The goal of fifth-generation computing is to develop devices that respond to natural language input and are capable of learning and self-organization.
Main component of computer
Computer Applications
•Computer is an electronic device that can store data, and process it and can also be programmed with any instructions.
•Computer is used every where in the world in every field of life. There are many applications of computer for example. Computer can perform any kind of calculations in no time; where as a human being would take months and years to do the same calculations. Now a day's computer is used in almost every day application of life E.g. in
•Banking:- Before when there was no computer, every where manual system was followed which was a very complicated and hard work but now with the coming of computer every thing is in a very systematic way. Every bank is now using a computerized system because it is very fast and user friendly. ATM cards are used every where now which let us bank any time we want. PC banking (Personal Computer banking) let us view our bank balance, request transfers between accounts and pay bills electronically etc…
•Traffic light control: - In traffic light control the computer is being employed to drive the traffic light. There are some programmed codes like " turn off the red light" or "turn on the red light" to control the traffic light and to carry out the instructions that follows.
•Another most important application of computer in real life is:•Sports: - In sports computers are used wildly in conjunction with video cameras. These are used to record the motion of all the sports men. 3D programs are used later on to help the trainers see there movements and could improve there styles of playing.
•Schools and Collages: - There are many uses of computer in schools and collages e.g.
•Every student details need to be stored so a computer program could help in this way.
•Multimedia, animations, graphics and charts could be used to teach the students and many boring topics can be made interesting using multimedia. Students could access internet for online help and courses for more information.
Computer Categories
There are five basic categories of computers:
Personal computers: Desktop computers for use at home and by individuals.
Servers: Make programs and make data available for people who are linked to a computer network. They are not used directly.
Minicomputers: Are multi-user systems. They are usually used in small organizations by using remote terminals or personal computers.
Mainframes: Large, multi-user systems used in large organizations. They can handle large data processing jobs.
Supercomputers: Ultra fast computers that are designed to process huge amounts of scientific data.
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