Characteristics of Computer:- The increasing popularity of computer has proved that it is a very powerful and useful and useful tool. The Power and usefulness of this popular tool are mainly due to its following characteristics:
Characteristics of Computer
Quick Answer
| Sr. No | Characteristics | Description |
| 1 | Automatic | it carries out a job normally without any human Intervention |
| 2 | Speed | It can perform several billion (109), even trillion (1012), simple arithmetic operations per second. |
| 3 | Accuracy | It performs every calculation with the same accuracy |
| 4 | Diligence | It is free from monotony, tiredness, and lack of concentration. |
| 5 | Versatility | It can Perform a Wide Variety of task |
| 6 | Memory | It can Store a huge amount of information and can recall any piece of this information whenever required. |
| 7 | No I. Q. | It cannot take its own decisions and has to be instructive what to do and in what sequence. |
| 8 | No Felling | It cannot make a judgment based on feelings and instincts |
Automatic Machine:
An automatic machine works by itself without human intervention. A computer is an automatic machine because once started on a job, they carry out the job (normally without any human assistance) until it is finished. However, computer being machines cannot start themselves and cannot go out and specify how it will do a particular job. Some of the other characteristics of computer (such as speed and accuracy) are because they are automatic and work on a problem without any human intervention.
Speed:
A computer is a very fast device. it can perform in a few seconds, the amount of work that a human being can do in an entire year – if he/she worked day and night and did nothing else. In other words, a computer can do in a few minutes what would take a man his entire lifetime.
While talking about the Speed of a Computer we do not Talk in term of a second or even milliseconds (10-3) but in term of a microsecond (10-8), nanoseconds (10-9), and even Picoseconds (10-12). A powerful computer is capable of Performing Several billion (109), even trillion (1012), simple arithmetic operations per second.
Accuracy:
In addition to being very fast, the computer is very accurate. Accuracy of a computer is consistently high and the degree of its accuracy depends upon its design. A computer performs every calculation with the same accuracy.
However, the error can occur on a computer. These errors are mainly due to human rather than technological weaknesses. For example, error may occur due to imprecise thinking by a programmer (a person who writes instruction for a computer to solve a particular problem) or incorrect input data. we often refer to computer errors caused due to incorrect input data or unreliable programs as garbage-in-garbage-out(GIGO).
Diligence:
unlike a human being, a computer is free from monotony, tiredness, and lack of concentration. It can continuously work for honor without creating any error and without grumbling. Hence, computers score over human beings in doing the routine type of jobs that require great accuracy. if ten million calculation has to be performed, a computer will perform the last one with exactly the same accuracy and speed as the first one.
Versatility:
Versatility is one of the most wonderful things about a computer. one moment it is preparing the result of an examination, next moment it is busy preparing electricity bills, and in between, it may be helping an office secretary to trace an important letter in seconds. All that is required to change its talent is to slip in a new program (a sequence of instruction for the computer) into it. I brief, a computer is capable of performing almost any task, if the task can be reduced to a finite series of logical steps.
Power of remembering:
As a human being acquires new knowledge, his/her brain subconsciously selects what it feels to be important and worth retaining in Memory. The brain relegates unimportant details to the back of the mind or just forgets them. This is not the case with computers. A computer can store and Recall any amount of information because of its secondary storage (a type of detachable memory) capability. It can retain a piece of information as long as a user desires and the user can recall the information whenever required. Even after several years, a user can recall exactly the same information he/she had stored on the computer several years ago. A computer retains or forgets some information.
No I.Q.:
A computer is not a magical device. It possesses no intelligence of its own. it’s I. Q. is zero, at least until today. It has to be told what to do and in what sequence. Hence, Only a user determines what task a computer will perform. A computer cannot take its own decision in this regard.
No feelings and Emotion:
Computers are devoid of emotions. They have no feeling and no instincts because they are machines. Although men have succeeded in building a memory for the computer, no computer possesses the equivalent of a human heart and Soul. Based on our feelings, taste, knowledge, and experience we often make certain judgments in our day to day life whereas, computers cannot make such judgments on their own. They make judgments based on the instruction given to them in front of programs that are written by us (human beings).