ITP 101 Application Software

System Software

Hardware CPU Disks

Mouse Printer

Operating System Utilities

Computer Games

Word Processors

Spreadsheets Web Browsers

Overview •  Application Software •  Word Processors •  Spreadsheets •  Database Management Systems (DBMS) •  Software Suites •  Adobe Photoshop

2

Application Software •  Software for basic productivity for end users •  Anything you double-click on the desktop •  Examples:

– Web browsers – Chrome, Firefox, Safari, IE – Email programs – Outlook, Thunderbird, Mail – MS Office Suite – Word, PowerPoint, Excel – Adobe Creative Suite – Photoshop, Illustrator – Games – World of Warcraft, Diablo, Quake,

Minecraft

3

Graphical User Interface (GUI) •  What the user sees and interacts with •  Type of user interface that allows users to

interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands

•  Components –  Icons –  Pointer –  Window –  Menus –  Dialog Boxes –  Toolbars

4

Early GUI •  Modern day GUI first conceived at Stanford

Research Institute (SRI) – Douglas Englebart – Published a paper called “Augmenting Human

Intellect” in 1962 •  Envisioned computers as a tool for enhancing human intellect,

not replacing it •  Hypothetical example: using a computer to aid in creating

architectural blueprints –  Modern Day CAD software!

– Built a mainframe interface with a GUI •  Utilized a keyboard, pseudo-keypad, and a mouse

–  Yes, he invented the mouse too!

5

Earliest GUI

http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/gui.ars/2

6

GUI Development •  Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)

–  The PARC user interface •  Consisted of graphical elements such as windows,

menus, radio buttons, check boxes and icons •  Employs a pointing device in addition to a keyboard •  WIMP stands for windows, icons, menus and pointing

device –  Xerox Alto released in 1973

•  An early personal computer •  The first computer to use the desktop metaphor

and mouse-driven graphical user interface (GUI) –  Xerox 8010 Star Information System

released in 1981 •  The first GUI-centric computer operating model

7

GUI Development •  Apple

– Apple Lisa released in 1983 •  $10,000 price tag! •  Many innovations for GUIs

–  Pull-down menu bar –  Different icons for files and applications –  Checkmarks for selected files –  Double-clicking

•  Cheaper version needed – Macintosh 128K released in 1984

•  $2,495 •  http://myoldmac.net/webse-e.htm

8

GUIs Today

9

Word Processors •  Originated with the typewriter •  1872 – Thomas Edison patented the electric

typewriter – More refined version came in the 1930s with the

IBM Electromatic – M. Schultz Company created a “player typewriter”

•  One could store a series of keystrokes onto punch coded paper rolls

–  1964 – IBM created a typewriter with built-in storage for editing and reusing text

10

Word Processors •  1976 – Electric Pencil

– The first word processor for home computers •  1982 – WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3 •  1983 – MS Word released •  Today

– Microsoft Word has ~95% market share in 2012, but faces competition

•  Apple’s resurgence •  Web-based word processors (e.g. Google Docs)

11

Spreadsheets •  The most important program for the adoption of computers in

business •  Organize numerical data •  November 1979 – VisiCalc went on sale

–  Written by Dan Bricklin who started writing it during his MBA program at Harvard –  $100 –  Pushed the sale of Apple II computers to businesses –  Limitations

•  Apple II had limited memory •  Expensive

•  May 1983 – Lotus 1-2-3 went on sale for IBM PCs running MS-DOS –  Could handle a lot more memory and larger spreadsheets –  Eventually, VisiCalc was sold to Lotus

•  1985 – Excel released –  Popularity rose in 1997 with the bundling of Excel with Word and PowerPoint

12

VisiCalc

13

Killer App •  Short for killer application •  Any computer program that is so necessary

or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as computer hardware, gaming console, software, or an operating system

•  Can substantially increase sales of the platform on which it runs

•  VisiCalc is the earliest generally agreed example of a killer app

14

Killer Apps for Video Game Consoles

15

Console Games Atari 8-bit computer Star Raiders Atari 2600 Space Invaders Sega Mega Drive Sonic the Hedgehog Super Nintendo Street Fighter II Game Boy Tetris Game Boy Color Pokemon Nintendo 64 Super Mario 64 & The Legend of Zelda PlayStation Final Fantasy VII PlayStation 2 Grand Theft Auto 3 Xbox Halo Wii Wii Sports Xbox 360 Gears of War PlayStation 3 Little Big Planet, Killzone, Uncharted 2 Wii U New Super Mario Bros. U

•  iPhone 3 & Android

•  iPhone 4

Killer App for Mobile Devices

16

•  iPhone 4s

•  iPhone 5

Database Management Systems (DMBS)

•  Spreadsheets are set up for numerical analysis

•  Databases are set up for maintaining relationships between datasets

•  Examples – MS Access, Oracle, mSQL, MySQL

•  To be covered in great depth later

17

Presentations •  Used to organize thoughts and ideas into

a graphical representation •  Used to pace the flow of information •  General rule of thumb is 5 min

per slide •  Products

– Microsoft PowerPoint from Office suite – Apple's Keynote from iWork – Prezi (online)

18

Software Suites – Microsoft Office 10 •  Home and Student

–  Word –  Excel –  PowerPoint –  OneNote

•  Home and Business –  Home and Student –  Outlook

•  Professional –  Home and Business –  Access –  Publisher

19

•  Design Standard •  Produce high-impact print designs and digital publications

•  Design & Web Premium –  Deliver innovative ideas in print, web, interactive, and

mobile design •  Production Premium

–  Create video for any screen using high- performance production tools

•  Master Collection –  Design and deliver across media

•  Cloud –  Subscription-based + mobile tools

Adobe Creative Suite

20

http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite.html

Adobe Products •  Photoshop – state-of-the-art editing, compositing, and graphic design capabilities •  Illustrator – create distinctive vector artwork •  InDesign – design and preflight engaging page layouts for print or digital distribution •  Acrobat – deliver professional PDF communications •  Flash – authoring environment for producing expressive interactive content •  Dreamweaver – web authoring and editing software •  Fireworks – create expressive, optimized graphics for web and devices •  Contribute – integrate authoring, reviews, and site management for

easier web publishing •  Premiere Pro – ultimate toolset for video pros •  After Effects – create sophisticated motion graphics and cinematic

visual effects •  Audition – handle a wide range of audio production tasks efficiently,

including recording, mixing, and sound restoration •  Bridge – media manager that provides centralized access to all

your creative assets

21

Photoshop •  Editing scanned and digital photos and

artwork •  Retouching and repairing photographs and

other images •  Add special effects to images •  Create collages of images •  Adjust and/or add colors in

images •  Create images/graphics from

scratch

22

Terminology •  Compression Methods

–  Make your image smaller for web or email delivery –  Lossy

•  Requires data to be removed from the image to compress the file and make it smaller by trying to remove the least important data first

–  Lossless •  Opposite of lossy since no data is lost when the file is

compressed

•  Resolution –  Standard for web graphics is 72 dots per inch (dpi)

23

Image Terminology •  Transparency

–  Able to see through parts of an image

–  In Photoshop, you see a gray and white checkerboard

•  Interlacing –  A process where the graphic is displayed at

multiple levels of clarity, from blurry to clear –  Non-interlaced images must be fully loaded

before the browser displays them –  Interlaced graphics appear more quickly,

first fuzzy and ultimately clear

24

Bitmap Images •  The image file has to define the exact color of

every pixel in the image –  A pixel is generally thought of as the smallest single

component of a digital image –  The term "pixels" can be used in the abstract, or as a

unit of measure, in particular when using pixels as a measure of resolution

•  400 pixels per inch, 640 pixels per line, or spaced 10 pixels apart

25

Image Formats •  GIF – Graphics Interchange Format

– Web format for graphics and illustrations – Bitmap image – Has a limit of 256 distinct colors

•  Unique to each file –  Insufficient for color photographs – Small files – Transparency – Animation

26

Image Formats •  JPG – Joint Photographic Experts Group

– Web format for images and photographs – Compression method is usually lossy

compression, meaning that some visual quality is lost in the process

– Bitmap image – Small files – No transparency

27

A photo of a flower compressed with successively more lossy compression ratios from left to right.

Image Formats •  TIFF – Tagged Image File Format

– Flexible, adaptable file format for handling images and data within a single file, by including the header tags (size, definition, image-data arrangement, applied image compression) defining the image's geometry

– High-quality common format for images or illustrations

– Ability to store image data in a lossless format

– No transparency – Good for archiving

28

Image Formats •  PNG – Portable Network Graphics

–  Open, extensible image format with lossless compression

–  Provides a patent-free replacement for GIF and can also replace many common uses of TIFF

–  Indexed-color, grayscale, and true color images are supported

–  Transparency

– http://www.libpng.org/

29

Color •  RGB Color Model – Red Green Blue

–  (0, 0, 0) is black –  (255, 255, 255) is –  (255, 0, 0) is red –  (0, 255, 0) is green –  (0, 0, 255) is blue –  (255, 255, 0) is yellow –  (0, 255, 255) is cyan –  (255, 0, 255) is magenta

30

Careers •  Nearly every job today needs sufficient

skill in basic productivity applications •  Corporate Technical Trainer (Salary.com)

– Technical Trainer average salary = $59,921 – Senior Technical Trainer average salary =

$80,946 •  Graphic Design Specialist (Salary.com)

– Average salary = $47,523

31