TOPIC: TECHNOLOGY OF DIFFERENT INFORMATION AGE I

Information Age:
Information age refers to the developmental stages in man’s history. In the early years, man was
conscious of the necessity of tools, until the need for counting began to arise. Man, as
historians and scientists agree, has gone through major developmental stages. It is essential to
go through the ages and examine the major developments that characterized them as a prelude
to how Computers and Computing came into existence.

The ages are:

 Stone age
 Iron age(hoe and cutlass)
 Middle age(feather,pen and ink)
 Industrial age.(machine)
 Electronic age
 Computer and Information age
 Stone Age:
This is a broad pre-historic time period (Approximately 500,000 BC 10,000 BC) when humans
widely used stones for tool making. During this period, man’s basic task was gathering food and
hunting animals using tools made from natural rocks and stones, which were used for making
fire, killing animals and enemies. Examples of stone age tools are flints which were used for
cutting, basalt and sandstone which were used for grinding.

 Iron Age:
The Iron Age is a pre –history period (Approximately 3500years ago 1. E. 1500 BC) during
which cutting tools and weapons were mainly made of Iron or steel. For the first time, humans
were able to exploit efficiently the temperature forests, villages were fortified, warfare was
conducted on horseback and in horse-drawn chariots, and alphabetic writing based on the
Phoenician script became widespread.
Artwork in the Iron Age communicated the cultural and societal influences of that time.

 Middle Age:
This is a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the 5th
century to the beginning of the 16th Century. One of the most important developments in the
“Middle Age” was the experimentation and developments in iron production. In the medieval
history, development were made in the areas of agriculture tools, harnessing of time, use of iron,
building construction, weaving and textiles industry. The plow is considered to be one of the
most important but the oldest technology developed but was radically improved and was used
with multiple- oxen teams.

 Industrial Age:
This is the period of evolution of machines used in our societies today. During the period of
industrial revolution which started in Britain and later spread to the other parts of the world, an
economy based on manual labour was replaced by one dominated by industry and manufacture
of machinery. It began with the mechanization of textiles industries, the development of iron-
making techniques and the increased use of refined coal.
There was trade explosion, introduction of canals, improved roads and railways. The
introduction of steam power and powered machinery underpinned the increase in production
capacity and the development of all metal- machine tools which facilitated production of
machines in other industries.

 Electronic Age:
This is the development of mechanical calculators, slide rules, paper and pencils which formed
the world’s main tools for calculation in early 60’s. The first large electronic desktop calculators
began to replace electronic mechanical machines.
Those models based on the newest electronic technology used thousands of transistors. The first
electronic desktop calculators were noted for the abundant publication, consumption and
manipulation of information especially by computers and computer networks. Examples of
electronic age tools are electronic typewriters and electronic calculators.

 Computer and Information Age:

This is also known as the computer age or digital age. It is characterized by the ability of
individuals to transfer information freely, and to have instant access to knowledge. This age has
allowed rapid global communications and networking to shape modern society.

A CHART SHOWING THE DESCRIPTIVE EXPLANATION OF INFORMATION AGE

Information Tools used: Purposes: Time period: Examples of useful
age: tools in that age
 Stone age Stone Identification, Below 12th Basalt, sandstone,
sewing, cutting, century flint,chert
counting,
defence,
transaction
,storage,
pottery
exhibitions
 Iron age Iron Defence, agric 12th century Hoes and cutlasses

 Middle Writing Knowledge 12th and 13th Pen, ink, feather

age materials transfer, century
education,
 Industrial Machine, coals Power Late 18th and Cars,
age. development, early 19th ships,trains,airplan
faster century e,
movement power generator
 Electronic computer Storage,accurac Late 19th Circuits, processor
age y,speed century and
timeliness above

TOPIC: COMPUTING DEVICES I (PRE-COMPUTER AGE TO 19TH CENTURY)

CONTENT
Man has put in every effort to have better methods of calculations. As a result of man’s search
for fast and accurate calculating devices, the computer was developed. Essentially, there are
three kinds of computing devices: manual, mechanical and automatic.

Manual Devices or Mechanical Calculating Tools : Examples are

1. Abacus
2. Slide rule

Mechanical Counting Machines: Examples are

1. John Napier bone
2. Blaise Pascal machine
3. Gottfried Leibniz machine
4. Joseph Jacquard loom
5. Charles Babbage analytic machine

Automatic Devices or Electronic Counting Machines: Examples are

1. Herman Hollerith punch card
2. John Von Neumann machine

ABACUS
The first calculating device was probably Abacus. The Babylonians invented it. It is still being
used in some countries because of its simple operation. It is made up of a frame divided into two
parts by a horizontal bar and vertical threads. Each thread contains some beads. To do simple
addition and subtraction you shift the beads from one portion to another.

SLIDE RULE
The slide rule is a calculating device that was based on the principles of logarithms. It was first
built in England in 1632 and is still in use in the 1960’s by the NASA engineers of Mercury,
Gemini, and Apollo programs which led men on the moon.

NAPIER’S BONE
The need for a better calculating device was felt as time passed. John Napier, a Scottish
mathematician in 1617, invented a set of eleven rods, with four sides each which was used as a
multiplication tool. These rods were made from bones and this was the reason why they were
called Napier Bones. The rods had numbers marked in such a way that, by placing them side by
side, products and quotients of large numbers can be obtained.

PASCALINE
The first mechanical calculating machine was invented in 1642, by Blaise Pascal, a French
mathematician. Numbers were entered by dialing a series of numbered wheels in this machine.
A sequence of wheels transferred the movements to a dial, which showed the result. Though
addition and subtraction were performed the normal way, the device could perform division by
repeated subtraction and multiplication by repeated addition.

LEIBNITZ CALCULATING MACHINE

Gottfried Wilhelm Von Leibnitz invented a machine that could add, subtract, multiply and divide
and called it Stepped Reckoner. Leibnitz was the first to advocate use of binary number system.

JACQUARD’S LOOM
Jacquard’s loom was one of the first machines that was run by a program. Joseph Jacquard
changed the weaving industry by creating a loom that controlled the raising of the threads
 through punched cards. Jacquard’s loom used lines of holes on a card to represent the weaving
pattern.

CHARLES BABBAGE’S DIFFERENCE ENGINE

In 1822 Charles Babbage proposed a calculating machine known as Difference Engine. It would
be able to compute tables of numbers such as logarithm tables but was not finished.

CHARLES BABBAGE’S ANALYTICAL ENGINE

In 1833, Babbage designed another machine called Analytical Engine. The machine is as
large as a house powered by six steam engines more general purpose in nature and
programmable due to the punched card technology of Jacquard.

MARK I.
Mark I. invented the world first electro- mechanical computer and was used during World War II
by the U.S Navy.

HERMAN HOLLERITH’S MACHINE

Herman Hollerith invented a machine which worked on electricity for the first time in 1889. One
machine was used for recording data and the other one was used for doing calculations of the
recording of the recorded data. His machine was capable of reading both numbers and letters.

Hollerith invented the tabulation machine that could read information from punched cards. His
machine was used to collate the census data for the United States of America in 1890.

BURROUGH’S MACHINE
In 1885, William Seward Burroughs invented this mechanical adding machine. The early
Burroughs modes were large machines characterized by having glass panels in the sides, so the
mechanism could be seen. Common components of the Burroughs machines are: keypads, lever,
registers and printer.

JOHN VON NEUMANN’S MACHINE:

John Von Neumann was a Hungarian-born American mathematician developed MINIAC
(Mathematics Analyzer, Numerical Integrator and Computer), which at the time was the fastest
computer of its kind. The first machine built using Von Neumann’s architecture was the
EDVAC.

PHILIP EMEAGWALI’S COMPUTER:

Nigerian born Dr. Philip Emeagwali first entered limelight in 1989 when he won the prestigious
Gordon Bell Prize for inventing a very fast computer. He programmed a computer that could
compute a world record 3.1 billion calculations per second using 65,535 processors to simulate
oil reservoirs.

TOPIC: COMPUTING DEVICES II (20TH CENTURY TO DATE)

EXAMPLES: GENERATION OF COMPUTERS
Generat Year of The Characteristics Software Storage
ion of Development Technology Instructio Capacity
Comput (input, n
ers control,
design)
First 1940 – 1950 Vacuum tube Gigantic ,Low Machine Small internal
e.g. speeding language memory and
EDSAC,UNIVA, milliseconds(1/1000 internal storage
th
EDVAC of a seconds), of magnetic
IBM 350 high energy drum and delay
production lines.
Second 1950 - 1960 e.g. Transistor Less heat High Core storage
The IBM 605, generation, level and
Honeywell assembler
National Cash
Register(NCR
304)
Third 1960 - 1970 e.g. 100-1000 Introduction of Multi internal
IBM 360, IBM chips Integrated program
370 systems circuit(IC),use of ming
operating system, facilities
communication
cable and reduction
in the cost of
storage.
Fourth 1970 – 1980 e.g. 1000-106 LSI Introducti Flexible,
IBM PS/2, chips on of internal and
Computers that Non- external and
used Intel procedura very large,
(80286,80386) l network
microprocessor language facilities
Five 1980 – 1990 e.g 106 chips Artificial Introducti Small but
Compaq, Dell, intelligent(AI),speec on of powerful
Toshiba, HP h production, expert object network
system Oriented
program
ming
language(
OOP)

GENERATIONS OF COMPUTERS
FIRST GENERATION
The first generation computers were developed between 1940s and 1950s. Computers of that
generation were characterized by:
1. They used vacuum tubes.
2. They were very large and expensive.
3. They were very bulky.
4. They had a low retentive memory
5. They generated a lot of heat due to the use of vacuum tubes.
6. They had reliability problem.

Examples of first generation computers are: ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and
Calculator), EDVAC (Electronic Discreet Variable Automatic Computer), EDSAC (Electronic
Delayed Storage Automatic Computer) and IBM 650.
SECOND GENERATION
Second generation computers were developed between 1950s and 1960s. In this generation,
transistors were used instead of vacuum tubes. Second generation computers utilized primary
discrete TRANSISTORS. They had limited capability but were more advanced than the first
generation computers.
The following could be noted of second generation computers.
1. They were more reliable than first generation.
2. They could perform calculations.
3. They had a more efficient storage facility.
4. They generated lesser heat when compared with first generation computers.
Examples of this generation are: NCR 304 (National Cash Register 304) and IBM 605.

THIRD GENERATION
Third generation computers were developed between 1960s and 1970s. In this generation,
Integrated circuits were used in place of vacuum tubes and transistors. Integrated circuits (IC) are
produced as a single chip containing dozens of components fused together in a single process. In
this generation, SSI (Small Scale Integration) and MSI (Medium Scale Integration) were used. In
SSI, components in tens were fused as a single unit on a chip and in the MSI, components in
hundreds are fused as a single unit on a chip.
The following can be noted in third generation computers:
1. Faster input and output.
2. Increased storage capability.
3. Increased process capability.
4. Ability to display pictures and musical sound.
Examples of third generation computers are IBM360 and IBM370.

FOURTH GENERATION
Fourth generation computers appeared between 1970s and 1980s. In this generation, Large Scale
Integrated (LSI) technique was used in the integrated circuits. In LSI, more than hundred
components were placed on a single chip. This generation of computers brought about the
development of microprocessors. The computers produced at this period were of a higher
capability in terms of speed, storage and of superior performance over their counterparts of the
third generation. Examples are: IBM PS/2, and computers that used Intel (80282, 80386)
microprocessors.

FIFTH GENERATION
These generations of computers appeared between 1980s and 1990s. The technique used in the
integrated circuits of these computers is Very Large Scale Integration, VLSI. Artificial
Intelligence (AI), speech processing, pattern recognition and Expert System (ES) are
characteristics of these computers. Artificial Intelligence is the ability of the computer to exhibit
intelligence behavior like humans, while Expert System is the ability of the computer to make
decisions and judgments like an expert in a particular field of profession.

TOPIC: BASIC COMPUTER CONCEPT

Definition of Computer:
Computer can be defined as a combination of electronic and electro-mechanical devices that are
capable of accepting data or information , processing it, storing or providing output under the
control of sets of Instructions called programs.

Description of a Computer as Input Process Output (IPO) Device

The following pictorial representation shows how the computer is functionally organized to
perform all the stages involved in Data Processing (Input process output) as described in the
figure below.

PROCESS

ARITHMETIC LOGIC
I O
N U
T
P P
U U
T T

CONTROL UNIT

U U
N N
I I
T T

MAIN MEMORY

The parts of computer are:

1. Input Devices: These are the devices with which one can send data and information into
the system. The most common input devices are keyboard, sensors and joystick, mouse & pad,
scanner multimedia microphone, light pen, web camera, touch screen .
2. Processing Device: This is also called the processor. It is the brain of the computer
system that works on the data supplied from the input devices. The processor and all other parts
form what is called the Central Processing Unit. The CPU is housed by a casing or box that
may be horizontal (desktop) or vertical (tower
top) called the system unit and mounted on the mother board. A processor is the logic circuitry
that responds to and processes the basic instructions that drive a computer.

The Central Processing Unit consists of three units: Control unit, Arithmetic Logic unit and
Memory unit.
(i) The Control unit: It coordinates and directs the activities of other elements of the system as
directed by the program in store, and also directs control signal between the CPU, input and
output devices.
(ii) The Arithmetic and Logic Unit: It consists of two units; the arithmetic unit which performs
arithmetic operations such as addition,subtraction, multiplication and division.the logical unit
performs logical operations such as the comparison of data e. g greater than(>, less than (<)or
equal to (=)
(iii) The Memory Unit: otherwise known as Main Memory is used for storing data to be
processed and the instruction for processing.

Types of processor
There are two primary manufacturers of computer microprocessor; Intel and Advanced Micro
Devices (AMD). Intel’s desktop CPUs include Celeron, Pentiom and Core, AMD desktop
processors include sempron, Athlonan Phenom. Intel makes Celeron M, Pentium M and Core
mobile processors for notebooks.
AMD makes mobile versions of its Sempron and Athlon as well as the Turion mobile processor
which comes in Ultra and Dual-Core versions. Both companies make both single-core and multi-
core processors.

Features of the Processor

Each processor has a clock speed which is measured in gigahertz. A processor also has a front
side bus which connects it with the system’s random access memory (RAM). CPU also has two
or three levels of cache.
Cache is a type of fast memory which serves as a buffer between RAM and the processor.

Function of the processor

A processor is a silicon chip containing millions of microscopic transistors which processes the
instructions or operations contained within executable computer programs. The rate at which
information is processed by the Central Processing Unit varies and depends on the processor
speed and available Random Access Memory size.

3. Output Devices : the output devices display or provide the result of the processed inputs
either on the Monitor (VDU) or through other output devices some of these output devices are
Monitor, Printers, Projector, Plotters, Multimedia Speaker etc.

Hardware of a modern Personal Computer

1. Monitor
2. Motherboard
3. CPU
4. RAM Memory
5. Expansion card
6. Power supply
7. Optical disk drive
8. Hard disk
9. Keyboard
10. Mouse
TOPIC: DATA AND INFORMATION
Definition of Data
Data is a raw facts that need to be processed.It is a representation of unprocessed facts about
people, places, events, objects or transactions recorded from which information can be prepared.

Examples of Data
1. Name e.g. Segun, Peter, Taye ect.
2. Dates e. g. 21st January 2009, 2009-08-24 etc.
3. Numbers e. g. 1, 2, 3. 4, 5 etc.
4. Occupations e. g. Doctor, Footballer, Lawyer etc.
5. Nationality e. g. Nigerian, Iranian, Togolese etc.

Sources of Data
(i) Books
(ii) Document
(iii) Presentations
(iv) Through Interviews
(v) Worksheet etc.
(vi) Databases

Types of Data
Data can be classified into four types:
1. Alphabetic
2. Numeric
3. Alphanumeric
4. symbols

 Alphabetic Data: They are those data that consists of letters. Examples are A, B, X, W.
 Numeric Data: They consists of numbers only. For example 1, 7, 20 etc.
 Alphanumeric Data: They are data that contains both letters and numbers e.g Y2K
 Symbolic Data: This represents any symbolic value e. g +, { }, . >, <

INFORMATION
Information is the data that have been processed .

Sources of Information
There are two sources of information: primary and secondary
(i) Primary source: This is the origin of an item of information e. g eyewitness to an event,
place in question, the document under scrutiny etc.
(ii) Secondary source: It provides already made information e.g. internet, television,
newspapers, magazines, textbooks etc.

Examples of information documents include: Report card, bank account balance, identity card,
PHCN bill, staff salary , advertisement of vacancy, C- caution, Zebra crossing the road is an
indication for road user to stop for people to cross.Traffic light showing green, red and orange.

Forms of information:
 Visual: This is information in graphical or pictorial form e.g photographic.
 Oral: This is any information communicated by mouth.
 Sensory: This is any information passed through the five sense organs.
 Written: This a hand written or printed form.
 Historical: This refers to information known and recorded about activities, events or
transactions which happened in the past e. g a student’s medical history, educational history etc.

Types of Information Sources

Current information Magazines, Newspapers, Journals, Internet
Summaries/overviews Encyclopedia
Historical information Books, Journals, Older magazines
Detailed information Books, Journals, Internet
Scholarly information Books, Journals, Proceedings
Primary information Diary, interviews, letters, Archives, Raw data.

Qualities of good Information

 A good information should be complete for its purpose.
 It should be relevant.
 It should be accurate.
 It should be meaningful to the user.
 It should be communicated to the right person.
 Its volume should be manageable.
 It should be timely.
 It should be communicated through an appropriate channel of communication.

TOPIC: INFORMATION TRANSMISSION

Information transmission is the exchange of information in any form ( e.g voice, data, text and
images) over a medium (air, cable ,water ,) using natural, or man- made equipment or tools.

Modes of transmitting information are:

 Ancient methods:
This is the method of transmitting information in the olden days and they include:
1. Oral information: This is the information communicated verbally either between individual
or two parties.
2. Beating of drums: This is commonly used by town criers who usually move around the towns
or villages in rural areas with loud sounding drums or gongs which are beaten intermittently to
attract the attention of the audience.
3. Fire lightning: This is used to indicate the presence of someone at a particular spot.
4. Town crying: This is a means of using person to pass information from the village head or
clan head to the people.
5. Whistling
6. Drawing diagrams: This involves the sketching of images on walls or on the ground to
transmit information e.g. maps road traffic symbols etc.
7. Making Representation: In the olden days farmers would leave their farm products by the
road side unattended to a given number of stones beside it which represent the cost of each of
the item representations
8. Metal gong: It is a hollow metal beaten with stick to make announcement to members of a
community.
 Modern methods:
1. Prints: This is the process of producing texts and images on paper to send information from
one place to another.
2. Telephone: This is the process of transmitting sound or speech to a distant point by an electric
device.
3. Telex: It is used to transmit written messages or information via cable from one place to
another through a teleprompter.
4. Radio: This is an electronic device that detects and demodulate and amplifies transmitted
signals.
5. Television: This is a means of transmitting dynamic or sometimes static images, with
accompany sound, via electric or electromagnetic signals.
6. Fax: This is a method or device for transmitting documents, drawings, photographs etc. by
means of radio or telephone for exact production elsewhere.
7. Satellite: This is an object that orbits around another object. The artificial satellites have dish,
which transmit information into space and therefore makes such available for other satellites.
8. Internet: This is the global communication network that allows almost all computers
worldwide to connect and exchange information.
9. GSM: Global System of Mobile Communication (GSM) is an improved way of telephoning
without the use of telephone cables.

TOPIC: INFORMATION EVOLUTION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

INTRODUCTION
Over the years, a lot of improvement has taken place in the way information is transmitted.
These changes are usually technology based and driven by the need to pass more information
faster at less cost. The stages have been divided into categories of information transmission
inventions.

INVENTION OF LANGUAGE
Human beings in different society and parts of the world share messages by one means or the
other. The most elaborate means by which messages are being sent is through the use of
languages which have been invented so that people can express themselves and communicate
with one another very clearly.

INVENTION OF PRINTING
The invention of mass printing practices changed our world and the print invention is regarded
by many as the invention of the millennium.

Johannes Gutenberg a German inventor in 1440, invented a printing press process. The inventor
method of printing from movable type, included the use of metal molds and alloys, a special
press, and oil-based inks, allowed for the first time the mass production of printed books.

INVENTION OF RADIO
The invention of radio started with the discovery of “radio waves” – electromagnetic waves that
have the capacity to transmit music, speech, picture and other data invisibly through the air.
Many devices work by using electromagnetic waves including radio, microwaves, cordless
phones, remote controlled toys etc.
INVENTION OF TELEVISION
Philo Farnsworth is accredited with the invention of the first fully electronic television system. In
1921, he had an idea while working on his father’s Idaho farm, he realized an electron beam
could scan a picture in horizontal lines, reproducing the image almost instantaneously. This
would prove to be a critical breakthrough in Philo Farnsworth’s invention of the television in
1927.

Television broadcast reach makes it powerful and an attractive medium for advertisers. Many
television networks and stations sell blocks of broadcast time to advertisers.
Television was commercially available since late 1930s, the television set has become a common
communication receiver in homes, business and institutions, as a source of entertainment and
news. Since the 1970s, the availability of video cassettes, laserdiscs, DVDs and now Blu-ray
Discs, have resulted in the television set frequently being used for viewing recorded as well as
broadcast material. Although other forms such as Closed –Circuit-Television (CCTV) are in use,
the most common usage of the medium is for broadcast television, which was modelled on the
existing radio broadcasting systems developed in the 1920s, and uses high-powered radio-
frequency transmitters to broadcast the television signal to individual TV receiver.

INVENTION OF COMPUTER
Charles Babbage, an English mathematicians, is considered to be the father of Computer over
150 years ago. He invented a sophisticated calculating machine and called it the “Analytical
Engine” Babbage’s computer was not finished. He is called the Father of Computers because the
first computers produced were based on his computation and design.

Linking up Computer with Information Technology

Information technology deals with the use of electronic computers and computer software to
convert, store, protect, process, transmit and retrieve information. It merges computing with high
speed communication links carrying data, sound and video. This technology has made the world
to be seen as a “Global Village”.

ICT makes it possible to communicate using computers and other electronic devices. Computer
technology and telecommunication technology were developed independently, since then, they
have fused together to produce a new hybrid information environment.

TOPIC: CLASSIFICATION OF MEANS OF TRANSMITTING INFORMATION

Information can be transmitted from one place to another through two major means; they are:
1. Electronic e.g telephone system, fax, broadcast radio, television and satellite.
2. Non-electronic: file cabining, typewriter.

Modes of receiving information:

1. Audio:information can be received by hearing
2. Visual;information received by picture,diagram etc
3. Audio-visual :information received by hearing and seeing
TOPIC: ICT APPLICATION IN EVERY DAY LIFE

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

ICT is an umbrella that includes all technologies for the communication of information. These
technologies include:
(i) Computers ( ii)Telephones (GSM) (iii) Satellite Communication (iv) Internet (v) broadcasting
technologies (TV and Radio)

USES OF ICT
1. Communication: Use of GSM (Global System of Mobile Communication ) has made
communication easier.
2. Timing and Control: Traffic control, weather control, machine control and airplane control
3. Information Processing and Management: (1) Database Management: Computers are used
to prepare, store, edit, and retrieve record on an individual, organization or event. (2) Order
Processing: Marketing, generation of payroll and accounting and banking.
4. Healthcare: Hospitals are computerized to facilitate patient care. Timely patient information
is very valuable in medical emergencies.
5. Airlines: Airline reservation agent communicate with a centralized computer via a remote
terminal to update the database the moment a seat on any flight is filled or becomes available.
6. Law: Lawyers use keyword to search through massive full-text database containing more
cases than in any law.
7. Video and Tele-conferencing: In having meeting with various members of staff or board of
directors in different locations, with the ability to view themselves.
8. Email: Ability to send and receive mails through the internet.
9. Multi-media communications: Various means of communicating with large audience.

IMPACT ON SOCIETY
 Latest news on different subject are gotten
 Employment patterns have changed.
 Advertisement patterns have increased.
 Transactions of business have changed.
 Payment patterns have changed.