Read the original article here.

---

Information Technology (IT): A Foundation for Building from Scratch

Understanding Information Technology (IT) provides the essential context for anyone delving into the process of building a computer from its fundamental components. IT encompasses the entire ecosystem of how we create, process, store, transmit, and manage information using technology. While building a computer focuses on the hardware and low-level software, IT explores the broader applications, systems, history, and impact of these foundational elements. Think of building a computer as mastering a single instrument; understanding IT is learning about the entire orchestra, its history, and the music it creates.

1. Defining Information Technology (IT)

Information Technology (IT) is a broad field focused on the use of technology for managing information. It is a key part of the larger domain of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

Definition: Information Technology (IT) A set of related fields within Information and Communications Technology (ICT) that encompasses computer systems, software, programming languages, data and information processing, and storage. It is essentially the application of computer science and computer engineering principles to manage information.

While often used interchangeably with "computers" or "computer networks," IT has a wider scope. It includes any technology used for information distribution, such as television and telephones, although the modern focus is heavily on digital systems.

Various products and services form the IT sector within an economy, including:

• Computer Hardware: The physical components of computers and related devices (CPUs, memory, storage, peripherals).
• Software: The programs and instructions that tell the hardware what to do (operating systems, applications).
• Electronics & Semiconductors: The underlying components (chips, circuits) that make hardware possible.
• Internet & Telecom Equipment: Infrastructure for communication and data transmission.
• E-commerce: Business conducted electronically, relying heavily on IT systems.

1.1 IT Systems and Projects

When discussing IT in practice, two key terms emerge:

Definition: Information Technology System (IT System) Generally an information system, a communications system, or specifically, a computer system. This includes all the hardware, software, and peripheral equipment operated by a group of users to manage information.

Definition: IT Project Typically refers to the process of commissioning, designing, developing, and implementing an IT system.

IT systems are crucial for efficient data management, communication, and supporting organizational processes across all industries. Successful IT projects require careful planning and ongoing maintenance, emphasizing that building the system is only one part of its life cycle. For someone building a computer from scratch, this means understanding that the hardware you build is just one part of a potential IT system, and its usefulness depends on the software running on it and how it interacts with other systems.

1.2 The Origin of the Term

Although humans have manipulated information for millennia, the term "Information Technology" in its modern sense first appeared in a 1958 article in the Harvard Business Review by Harold J. Leavitt and Thomas L. Whisler. They recognized a new convergence of technologies and defined IT based on three categories:

1. Techniques for processing (how data is handled).
2. Applying statistical and mathematical methods to decision-making (using data for insights).
3. Simulating higher-order thinking through computer programs (early ideas related to AI).

This highlights that from its formal naming, IT wasn't just about the machines, but about the purpose and methods used with those machines to manage information.

2. A Journey Through IT History: From Tally Sticks to Transistors

Understanding the history of IT reveals the progression of how we've sought increasingly efficient ways to process information. This historical perspective is particularly valuable when building a computer from scratch, as it shows the evolution of design principles and technological breakthroughs.

Historically, IT development can be categorized into four phases based on the dominant storage and processing technologies:

1. Pre-Mechanical (3000 BC – 1450 AD): Characterized by basic tools like tally sticks and the invention of writing systems. Information storage was primarily manual (writing, carving) and processing was mental or through simple aids.
2. Mechanical (1450 – 1840): Saw the development of mechanical aids for calculation. Devices like the Antikythera mechanism and early mechanical calculators emerged.
3. Electromechanical (1840 – 1940): Introduced electrical components alongside mechanical ones. Technologies like the telegraph, telephone, and early punched-card machines for data processing fall into this era.
4. Electronic (1940 – Present): Marked by the advent of computers using vacuum tubes, then transistors, and finally integrated circuits. This phase represents IT as most people understand it today.

2.1 Early Computing Ideas and Pioneers

Before the first electronic computers, institutions like MIT and Harvard were already exploring the theoretical underpinnings of computing, focusing on logic circuits and numerical calculations. This theoretical work laid the groundwork for practical implementation.

Key pioneers in the mid-1900s, such as Alan Turing, J. Presper Eckert, and John Mauchly, were instrumental in designing the first digital computers. Their initial focus was on creating machines capable of complex calculations. Turing also pondered the nature of machine intelligence, planting seeds for the field of artificial intelligence.

2.2 The Dawn of the Electronic Computer (1940s)

The electronic era truly began in the 1940s. Early computers used either relays (electromechanical switches) or valves (vacuum tubes) (electronic switches).

• Zuse Z3 (1941): Considered the world's first programmable computer. By modern standards, it was one of the first machines that could be seen as a complete computing machine, although programming was done using plugs and switches.
• Colossus (WWII): Developed for code-breaking, it was one of the first electronic digital computers. While electronic and digital, it was not general-purpose, designed only for a specific task, and it lacked the ability to store its program in memory. Programming involved manually changing its wiring. This highlights the crucial difference between a programmable machine and a stored-program machine.

Context: Stored-Program Concept The revolutionary idea that a computer's instructions (program) could be stored in the same memory as the data it operates on. Before this, programs were often "hardwired" or set up manually with switches/plugs for each task. The stored-program concept allows for much greater flexibility and generality, as changing the program simply means loading new instructions into memory. This is a foundational concept for modern computing.

• Manchester Baby (1948): The first recognizably modern electronic digital stored-program computer. Its first successful run demonstrated the power and flexibility of storing both program and data electronically in memory. This is a critical milestone for the kind of computer architecture we still use today.

2.3 The Transistor Revolution

The invention of the transistor in the late 1940s at Bell Laboratories fundamentally changed computing. Transistors were smaller, faster, more reliable, and consumed far less power than vacuum tubes.

• The Ferranti Mark I, an early commercially available stored-program computer using vacuum tubes, consumed 25 kilowatts.
• A transistorized computer developed at the University of Manchester (operational by 1953) consumed only 150 watts in its final version.

This massive reduction in size and power consumption paved the way for more complex and widely usable computers. When building a computer, you're working with components that are descendants of this transistor technology.

2.4 Further Semiconductor Breakthroughs

Building upon the transistor, other key semiconductor inventions drove the rapid miniaturization and increased power of computing:

• Integrated Circuit (IC) (1959): The "microchip," combining multiple transistors and other components onto a single piece of semiconductor material (like silicon). Invented independently by Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce.
• Silicon Dioxide Surface Passivation (1955) and Planar Process (1959): Crucial techniques for manufacturing reliable semiconductor devices.
• MOSFET (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor): A type of transistor that became the fundamental building block of most modern digital circuits.
• Microprocessor (1971): An integrated circuit containing the entire central processing unit (CPU) of a computer on a single chip. Invented by Ted Hoff, Federico Faggin, Masatoshi Shima, and Stanley Mazor at Intel.

These breakthroughs led directly to the development of the personal computer (PC) in the 1970s and the explosion of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). For someone building a computer today, the components you assemble – CPU, memory chips, graphics chips – are all highly complex integrated circuits, direct results of this historical progression.

2.5 The Modern IT Landscape

By the 1980s, Information Technology became closely associated with the convergence of telecommunications and computing. The rise of the internet in the late 20th and early 21st centuries further revolutionized IT, leading to widespread connectivity, new services (like email and e-commerce), and a significant shift in the global workforce. This era is characterized by rapid information flow and increasing reliance on digital systems.

3. Core Concepts: Data Processing

At its heart, IT is about processing data. This involves three fundamental aspects: storage, transmission, and manipulation. Understanding these processes is essential, regardless of whether you're building a simple machine or working with complex modern systems.

3.1 Data Storage

How information is kept and accessed is fundamental. Storage technologies have evolved dramatically.

• Early Methods:
  • Punched Tape: An early way to represent data using holes in paper strips (obsolete).
  • Delay-Line Memory (e.g., Mercury Delay Line): Stored data as pulses traveling through a medium (like mercury). Information had to be continuously refreshed (volatile).
  • Williams Tube: Used a cathode ray tube to store data as charges on a screen. Also volatile, requiring constant refreshing.
  • Magnetic Drum: One of the earliest forms of non-volatile computer storage. Data was stored magnetically on a rotating cylinder, persisting even without power.

Definition: Volatile Storage Storage that loses its contents when the power supply is removed. Examples include RAM (Random Access Memory), delay-line memory, and Williams tubes.

Definition: Non-Volatile Storage Storage that retains its contents even when the power supply is removed. Examples include magnetic tapes, hard disk drives, solid-state drives (SSDs), and optical media.

• Modern Storage:
  • Hard Disk Drives (HDDs): Introduced by IBM in 1956, HDDs store data magnetically on spinning platters. They remain a common form of high-capacity, non-volatile storage.
  • Optical Media (CD-ROMs, DVDs, Blu-rays): Store data by physically altering the surface of a disc, read by lasers.
  • Solid-State Drives (SSDs): Use flash memory to store data electronically, offering much faster access times than HDDs.
  • Digital Magnetic Tape: Still used for backups and archival storage due to its low cost per capacity.

The transition from analog to digital storage capacity occurred around 2002, marking a significant shift in how the world's information is primarily held. The sheer volume of data stored digitally has grown exponentially, doubling approximately every 3 years.

3.2 Databases

As the volume of data grew, managing it became a significant challenge. This led to the development of Database Management Systems (DBMS).

Definition: Database Management System (DBMS) Software that allows users and other applications to store, manage, and retrieve data in a structured way.

• Early Systems: IBM's Information Management System (IMS) (1960s) used a hierarchical model, storing data in tree-like structures.
• Relational Model: Proposed by Ted Codd in the 1970s, this model organized data into tables with rows and columns, based on set theory and predicate logic. This proved highly flexible and powerful.
• Relational Database Management System (RDBMS): Systems implementing the relational model. Oracle released the first commercially available RDBMS in 1981.

Definition: Database Schema A description of the structure of a database, defining the tables, columns, data types, relationships, and constraints. The schema is stored separately from the data itself.

Databases allow multiple users to access data concurrently while maintaining its integrity (accuracy and consistency). Modern data formats like XML are often stored within relational databases to leverage their robustness and management features.

Relevance to Building from Scratch: While building hardware, you might not build a full DBMS, but you deal with memory and storage interfaces. Understanding databases shows how high-level data management is built upon these fundamental storage capabilities. It illustrates why efficient and structured storage at the hardware level is necessary.

3.3 Data Transmission

Data transmission is about moving information between systems or locations. It involves sending data (transmission), the data traveling through a medium (propagation), and receiving the data (reception).

Transmission can be broadly categorized as:

• Broadcasting: Unidirectional flow of information from one source to many receivers (e.g., traditional radio or TV).
• Telecommunications: Bidirectional flow, allowing two-way communication (e.g., phone calls, internet connections).

XML is increasingly used for data interchange between systems, particularly in web-based communication (like web services using protocols like SOAP), acting as a format for "data-in-transit."

Relevance to Building from Scratch: Building a computer involves understanding how data moves within the machine (buses, memory interfaces). Transmission concepts extend this to how data moves between machines (networking interfaces like Ethernet or Wi-Fi).

3.4 Data Manipulation

Manipulation is the processing or transformation of data. The ability of computers to manipulate data rapidly is a core driver of the IT revolution.

• Exponential Growth: The capacity of technology to process, transmit, and store information has grown exponentially over decades (often cited in relation to Moore's Law, although this specifically refers to transistor density on chips).
• The Challenge of Scale: With massive amounts of data being stored ("data tombs"), the challenge shifts from just storing data to extracting value from it.
• Data Mining: The field dedicated to discovering meaningful patterns and knowledge from large datasets. This involves applying algorithms and statistical techniques to identify trends and relationships that aren't immediately obvious.

Relevance to Building from Scratch: The purpose of building a computer is to create a machine capable of manipulating data according to instructions (programs). Understanding data manipulation shows the ultimate goal – taking raw data and turning it into useful information or actions.

4. Applications and Services Enabled by IT

IT forms the backbone for numerous services that are integral to modern life. Two examples highlighted are Email and Search Systems.

4.1 Email

Definition: Email (Electronic Mail) An IT service for sending and receiving electronic messages over computer networks. It borrows concepts and terminology from traditional paper mail (mail, letter, inbox, attachment).

Advantages:

• User-Friendly Addresses: Easy-to-remember addresses like user_name@domain_name.
• Content Flexibility: Can transfer plain text, formatted text, and arbitrary files as attachments.
• Server Independence: Systems generally interact directly or via interconnected networks.
• High Reliability (Generally): Messages usually arrive, though delivery is not absolutely guaranteed.
• Ease of Use: Accessible to both humans and automated programs.

Disadvantages:

• Spam: Unsolicited bulk mailings are a major issue.
• No Guaranteed Delivery: Theoretical possibility of messages getting lost or delayed.
• Delivery Delays: Messages can sometimes take hours or even days to arrive.
• Size Limits: Constraints on the size of individual messages or total mailbox storage.

Relevance to Building from Scratch: Email is a complex distributed system built on layers of IT infrastructure: networking hardware, operating systems, mail server software, and client applications. Understanding it shows how basic hardware components are used to create sophisticated communication services.

4.2 Search Systems

Definition: Search System A software and hardware complex, often with a web interface, designed to find information on the internet or within specific datasets. The user-facing part is typically a search engine website.

The core of a search system is the search engine software, which uses proprietary algorithms (often trade secrets) to index information and retrieve relevant results. While primarily focused on the World Wide Web, search systems can also index other types of content like files on FTP servers or items in online stores. Improving search capability is an ongoing area of development in IT.

Relevance to Building from Scratch: Search engines represent massive, distributed IT systems. They require immense computing power for crawling the web, processing and indexing data, and serving user queries rapidly. This demonstrates the scalability and power that can be achieved by combining many individual computing units (like the ones you might build).

5. The Broader Impact: Commercial Effects and Ethics

Beyond the technical aspects, IT has significant commercial and ethical dimensions.

5.1 Commercial Effects

The field of IT is often referred to as the "tech sector" or "tech industry." It's important to distinguish this broad category from specific "tech companies," which are often large, profit-focused corporations selling consumer tech or software.

Within businesses, IT departments are frequently viewed as cost centers.

Definition: Cost Center A department or function within an organization that incurs expenses but does not directly generate revenue or profit. The IT department's purpose is typically to enable other parts of the business to operate efficiently, rather than selling IT services externally.

While IT departments cost money, they are seen as essential for modern business operations ("just the cost of doing business"). Funding is allocated by leadership, and IT must manage its resources effectively. This pressure for efficiency is a major driver behind the adoption of automation and artificial intelligence within companies.

IT departments handle a wide range of responsibilities:

• Network administration
• Software development, installation, and maintenance
• Managing the technology lifecycle (planning for upgrades, replacements)

Some companies also adopt "BizOps" or business operations departments to better integrate IT efforts with overall business strategy and outcomes.

Relevance to Building from Scratch: Understanding the commercial context shows where the technology you build fits into the economy. Businesses are major consumers and drivers of IT development. The need for reliable, efficient, and cost-effective systems shapes the design and deployment of hardware and software.

5.2 Information Services

Definition: Information Services A somewhat loosely defined term referring to IT-related services offered commercially. This can include things like data processing services, cloud computing, managed IT support, or services provided by data brokers.

This term covers a wide range of businesses that leverage core IT capabilities to provide value to clients.

5.3 Ethics in Information Technology

As IT becomes more pervasive, ethical considerations become critical. The field of information ethics was established by mathematician Norbert Wiener in the 1940s, even before modern computing was widespread.

Definition: Information Ethics A branch of ethics that studies moral issues arising from the development and application of information technologies, including computers, networks, and data.

Key ethical issues in IT include:

• Copyright Breaches: Illegal copying and distribution of digital content.
• Employee Monitoring: Employers tracking emails and internet usage, raising privacy concerns.
• Unsolicited Emails (Spam): Ethical issues around mass, unwanted communication.
• Hacking: Unauthorized access to systems and data.
• Tracking and Surveillance: Use of technologies like cookies and spyware to monitor user activities, raising privacy and data usage concerns (often by data brokers who collect and sell personal information).

Relevance to Building from Scratch: Building technology isn't just about technical skill; it has real-world consequences. Understanding information ethics encourages responsible development and deployment of IT systems, recognizing the potential impact on individuals and society.

6. IT Projects: Implementation Challenges

Successfully implementing IT systems, especially large-scale ones, can be challenging. Research indicates that large IT projects ($15 million or more) often face significant issues with cost overruns and delays. This highlights the complexity involved in translating technical capabilities into deployed, functional systems that meet organizational needs.

Relevance to Building from Scratch: While building a single machine is complex, scaling that complexity to large interconnected systems introduces new layers of challenge, requiring careful planning, management, and integration – skills beyond just building individual components.

Conclusion

Information Technology provides the grand narrative within which the act of building a computer from scratch makes sense. It explains the historical drive for better computation, the core processes of handling data, the services and applications enabled by technology, and the economic and ethical landscape in which it operates. By understanding IT, the components and systems you build are not just technical curiosities, but crucial elements in the ongoing evolution of how humanity manages and leverages information to shape the world.

---