APPLICATION OF COMPUTERS

1.At present a great deal of the work force of most coun­tries is engaged in creating, processing, storing, communicat­ing and just working with information. Computers have become commonplace in homes, offices, stores, schools, research insti­tutes, plants.

The use of computers in business, industry and communi­cation services is widespread today. Computer-controlled robots are able to improve the quality of manufactured products and

17 Unit 1. Information-Dependent Society

to increase the productivity of industry. Computers can control the work of power stations, plants and docks. They help in mak­ing different decisions and in management of economy.

The work of banks depends upon computer terminals for millions of daily operations. Without these terminals, records of deposits and withdrawals would be difficult to maintain, and it would be impossible to make inquiries about the current sta­tus of customer accounts.

Computers form a part of many military systems including communication and fire control. They are applied for automatic piloting and automatic navigation. Space exploration depends on computers for guidance, on-board environment and re­search.

2. Computers find application in astronomy and upper at­mosphere research. Weather forecasting, library information services can benefit from computers too.

It is interesting to note that computers are widely used in medicine. They became valuable medical diagnostic tools. Computers are used for optical scanning and image processing, ranging from pattern recognition to image processing. Techni­cians can operate computer tomography scanners which com­bine x-rays with computer technology to give sectional views of the body of patients. The views then can be combined into a single image shown on the screen.

It should be noticed that learning on a computer can be fun. Students spend more time with computer-aided instruction per­forming the assigned task, as compared with conventional class­room.

At last air traffic control is impossible without computer ap­plication. It fully depends upon computer-generated informa­tion.

Many other uses of computers that we cannot imagine at present will become commonplace in the transition from an industrial to post industrial, or information society.