Great Things About Computers #2: Data Storage

Information is everything. From the moment you are born, there is information pertaining to you, and a place for that information to be stored. As you go through life, you collect more and more information, and the pace of that information keeps increasing. The first time you get a bank account, the first time you get a job, every examination you sit – it all becomes information.

When information is created, it has to be stored. Walk into any office for any company or authority that has been in existence for any more than a decade, and you will find files that contain reams of paper with essential information on them. These are stored in boxes, cabinets and even entire rooms that take up space. One of the key innovations of the computer age is that this space can now be shrunk.

Any computer can store an amount of information which, if it were written down on paper, would fill rooms and rooms, and which may be needed at a moment’s notice. The job of the filing clerk has become immeasurably easier with the greater use of computers, which can automatically cross-reference information and make searching faster and easier.

From key information like banking details, to more personal data such as diaries and photograph albums, all information can now be moved onto a home PC, protected with passwords and unique information, and kept for a time when you want or need it. Information is everything, and with the right computer knowledge, it is now easier to keep track of.