Editing Computing (section)

=== Information technology ===
{{Main|Information technology}}

Information technology (IT) is the application of computers and [[telecommunications equipment]] to store, retrieve, transmit, and manipulate data,<ref name="DOP">
{{citation |contribution=IT |title=A Dictionary of Physics |editor-last=Daintith |editor-first=John |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780199233991 |url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t83.e1592 |access-date=1 August 2012}} {{subscription required}}
</ref> often in the context of a business or other enterprise.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://foldoc.org/information+technology|title=Free on-line dictionary of computing (FOLDOC)|access-date=9 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130415234011/http://foldoc.org/Information+Technology|archive-date=15 April 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> The term is commonly used as a synonym for computers and computer networks, but also encompasses other information distribution technologies such as television and telephones. Several [[Computer industry|industries]] are associated with information technology, including computer hardware, software, [[electronics]], [[semiconductor]]s, internet, [[telecommunications equipment|telecom equipment]], [[e-commerce]], and [[computer services]].<ref name="DMC">
{{citation |last1=Chandler |first1=Daniel |last2=Munday |first2=Rod |contribution=Information technology |title=A Dictionary of Media and Communication |date=January 2011 |edition=first |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-956875-8 |url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t326.e1343 |access-date=1 August 2012}} {{subscription required}}
</ref><ref name="Ralston2000">On the later more broad application of the term IT, Keary comments- "In its original application 'information technology' was appropriate to describe the convergence of technologies with application in the broad field of data storage, retrieval, processing, and dissemination. This useful conceptual term has since been converted to what purports to be concrete use, but without the reinforcement of definition...the term IT lacks substance when applied to the name of any function, discipline, or position." {{cite book|author=Anthony Ralston|title=Encyclopedia of computer science|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yQ9LAQAAIAAJ|access-date=12 May 2013|year=2000|publisher=Nature Pub. Group|isbn=978-1-56159-248-7}}.</ref>