Data and
Information
A major part of understanding computers is to know what goes into them (data), what comes out of them (information), and to understand the process of turning data into information, also known as the information processing cycle.
Understanding the difference between data and
information is important. Clifford Stoll - lecturer, computer security expert,
and author (The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy through the Maze of Computer
Espionage and Silicon Snake Oil: Second Thoughts on the Information
Superhighway are two of his most popular works) - notes a wide gap between data
and information. Information has a pedigree, or lineage. Its source is known,
whether a respected professor or a seventh grader. "The Internet has great
gobs of data," Stoll maintains, "and little, little
information."
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