Page 203 - Business Principles and Management

Unit 3

8.1 Electronic Technology Fundamentals

Goals Terms
• Describe the basic elements of • knowledge workers • Moore’s Law
computers. • data • Internet (Net)
• Describe how the Internet • information • World Wide Web
provides information to users. (WWW, Web)
• computer
• hardware • hyperlink
• software • modem
• personal digital • Internet Service
assistant (PDA) Provider (ISP)
• operating system • browser
software • search engine
• application software

hrough the ages, discoveries and inventions have had major impacts on society.
No inventions in recent years have had a greater impact than the computer,
TInternet, World Wide Web, and wireless communications. These new tools
have profoundly affected the personal work lives of Mia Herrera and millions of
other workers. New technologies have made dizzying changes in the way we live
and work, and the pace of change is not likely to slow in the years ahead.
The traditional business office that once operated with filing cabinets, typewrit-
ers, and secretaries was labor intensive when compared to today’s electronic office.
Simple business transactions that once took weeks of paper handling are now
processed in minutes. Now workers create and store most documents electronically.
Whether an office is in a bank, factory, or day-care center, it must still collect,
process, store, retrieve, and distribute data. The modern electronic office is an
information center operated by knowledge workers—people who work with infor-
mation. Clerks, supervisors, and managers at all levels are knowledge workers who
handle data and information. Data are the original facts and figures that businesses
generate. Information is data that have been processed in some meaningful way
that is useful to decision makers.
In this chapter, you will learn how technology has changed the way businesses
handle data and information. You will also learn how computers and the Internet
affect organizations, people, and jobs. Finally, you will learn how information
systems help managers make sound decisions by getting the right information in
the right form at the right time to the right people.

Computer Technology

The current electronic revolution started with the creation of the computer over
50 years ago. More recently the Internet developed into a tool that people and
businesses could use to communicate with each other. The computer and the
Internet plus additional electronic devices set the stage for reconstructing how
businesses operate.

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