what is the characteristics of the computer?

Answer 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer

Answer 2

A computer is a machine for manipulating data according to a list of instructions known as a program.

Computers are extremely versatile. In fact, they are universal information-processing machines. According to the Church–Turing thesis, a computer with a certain minimum threshold capability is in principle capable of performing the tasks of any other computer, from those of a personal digital assistant to a supercomputer, as long as time and memory capacity are not considerations. Therefore, the same computer designs may be adapted for tasks ranging from processing company payrolls to controlling unmanned spaceflights. Due to technological advancement, modern electronic computers are exponentially more capable than those of preceding generations (a phenomenon partially described by Moore's Law).

Computers take numerous physical forms. Early electronic computers were the size of a large room, and such enormous computing facilities still exist for specialized scientific computation — supercomputers — and for the transaction processing requirements of large companies, generally called mainframes. Smaller computers for individual use, called personal computers, and their portable equivalent, the laptop computer, are ubiquitous information-processing and communication tools and are perhaps what most non-experts think of as "a computer". However, the most common form of computer in use today is the embedded computer, small computers used to control another device. Embedded computers control machines from fighter aircraft to digital cameras.

Answer 3

I haven't any source for this other than 30+ years in computer field of work.
Computers are a tool .. just as a hammer. They were designed originally to perform three things...add, subtract and compare. They compare in three states of comparison: over there (<), over there (>), and absolute equal(==). They perform these processes very rapidly and can repeat steps just as fast. Therefore when programmed (given a set of predetermined instructions in their native language (binary - 0 or 1's) they can perform the sequence of steps taking raw data (information without meaning) and attach meaning to it and report it back to the user (GUI) . There are a lot of tech. type terms here but that would be the assessments of it.

Answer 4

garage in garbage out