The basic Characteristics of computer are:
- Speed.
- Accuracy.
- Diligence.
- Reliability.
- Versatility.
- Automatic.
- No IQ.
- No Feeling.
- Storage.
- Speed: As you know computer can work very fast. It takes only few seconds for calculations that we take hours to complete. You will be surprised to know that computer can perform millions (1,000,000) of instructions and even more per second. The speed of computer is measured in Mega Hertz (MHz) or Giga Hertz(GHz)
| Speed | Second | Power of 10th | Used |
| Millisecond | 1/1000th second | 10-3 | Harddisk/CD ROM |
| Microsecond | 1/1000000th second | 10-6 | Used in Second generation |
| Nanosecond | 1/1000000000th second | 10-9 | read or write access time to(RAM) |
| Picosecond | 1/1000000000000th second | 10 | Camera used |
| Femtosecond | 1/1000000000000000th second | 10-15 | Laser Technology |
- Computer is a very fast device.
- It is capable of performing calculation of very large amount of data.
- The computer has units of speed in microsecond, nanosecond and even the picoseconds.
- It can perform millions of calculations in a few seconds as compared to man who will spend
Therefore, we determine the speed of computer in terms of microsecond) or nanosecond. - Accuracy: Computer don't make in calculation. It produces more accurate results but if we/user gave wrong instruction it give wrong result/information/output, so it is related with GIGO(garbage in garbage out). The errors in computer are due to human and inaccurate data. If user feed/ input/ give wrong data/instruction then obtain/retrieve/receive wrong information.
- Diligence: A computer is capable of perform required task repetitively over and over again same time and same accuracy result. A computer is free from tiredness, lack of concentration, fatigue, etc. It can work for hours without creating any error. It never get tired, board and lazy to task, result. Bug refers to the any error fault in computer software/hardware which is also called Glitch and the method of error removing finding is debug.
- Reliability: The reliability result process by a computer is very high. If a program is executed any number of time with same data, every time the result would be the same. It has no power failure rate.
- Versatility: It means the capacity to perform completely different type of work. A computer is a general purpose machine. It can be programmed to perform various tasks. You may use your computer to prepare payroll slips, inventory management or to prepare electric bills.
- Automatic: Computer is an automatic machine which works without the intervention of the user/human. The user is required to give the data and instruction to get result but the process is automatic by computer.
- NO IQ: Computer is an dumb machine and it cannot do any work without instruction from the user. A computer cannot take its own decision as you can.
- No Feeling: It does not have feeling or emotion, taste, knowledge and experience. Thus, it does not get tired even after long hours of work.
- Storage: It can store large number of program and data. It holds the data or program for execution/run for future use. The computer has an inbuilt memory where it can store a large amount of data. You can also store data in secondary storage devices such as floppies, pen drive, which can kept outside your computer and can be carried to other computers.
| Unit | Equivalent Meaning | in power of 2 byte |
| 0,1 | 1 Bit | - |
| 4 bit | 1 Nibble | - |
| 8 bit/2 nibble | 1 Byte/Character | - |
| 1024 byte | 1 kilobyte(KB) | 210 |
| 1024 KB | 1 Megabyte(MB) | 220 |
| 1024 MB | 1 Gigabyte(GB) | 230 |
| 1024 GB | 1 Terabyte(TB) | 240 |
| 1024 TB | 1 Petabyte(PB) | 250 |
| 1024 PB | 1 Exabyte | 260 |
| 1024 EB | 1 Zetabyte | 270 |
