# Introduction

Computers have become a vital part of everyday life. It is almost inconceivable that you could spend a day without at least one event being influenced by a computer. Perhaps the word ‘computer’ automatically conjures up the image of a personal computer sitting on a desk, but in fact it is the computers you cannot see that influence your life the most. Typical examples of common products that may use these ‘invisible’ computers are:

1. mobile phones
2. cars
3. washing machines
4. bar-code reading systems
5. central-heating controllers
6. microwave ovens
7. games consoles.

This is a very short extract from a very long list, but even this limited set of examples shows how significant the use of computers has become. Without computers many everyday products such as mobile phones would not exist, dramatic progress in the development of products such as artificial limbs could not have happened, and you would not have the luxury of many conveniences now taken for granted, such as email.

OpenLearn - An introduction to computers and computer systems
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