(1.1) Coen 001 Understanding Digital Technologies Ron Danielson Fall 2000

(1.2) Introductions  Professor – Ron Danielson » computer engineering faculty member » chief information officer » 24 years at SCU » 8 years managing university computing and communication services – office Orradre 129, phone , – office hours » M 12:00 - 1:00, F 2:15 - 3:00 » by appointment

(1.3)  Students

(1.4) Administrative Stuff  Text – Danielson, Understanding Digital Technologies, draft manuscript, 1999  Objectives – learn about significant concepts of digital computers » semiconductor devices and processing » computer hardware » software development and systems » computer networks

(1.5) Administrative Stuff (continued)  Objectives (continued) – gain » understanding of workings of digital technology » appreciation for relationships between components of digital systems » apply that knowledge to new instances of digital technologies » understanding of positive and negative impacts on individuals and society

(1.6) Administrative Stuff (continued)  Core curriculum technology requirement learning outcomes: demonstrate an understanding of – the nature of technology – technology’s social context – the ways computer networks are structured – how to use networks as sources of information – some discipline-specific tools

(1.7) Administrative Stuff (continued)  Web site –  Web board –  Grading – 2 midterms35% – homeworks7.5% – Web board participation7.5% – student presentation25% – final25%

(1.8) Historical Trends  Amazing price-performance improvement of digital computers – over history » ENIAC, ,600 square feet; many tons; 5,000 adds per second » modern PC 2 square feet; 20 pounds; 100,000,000 adds per second; 1,000 times lower cost! – over shorter periods of time » Cray Y-MP ( fastest supercomputer) vs. IBM Power-2 ( fastest workstation) » equal or better performance for 1/10 of price

(1.9) Historical Trends (continued)  Price-performance (continued) – for individual people » IBM 360/75 at U of I for academic computing needs of 35,000 students (1975) » Intel 486 PC in my office at home (1993) » faster, more memory, more storage, graphics for 1/1000 of price

(1.10) Computing Paradigms  Computing approaches that were commonly available – single user(1950s) » “company brew” – batch(1960s) » IBM 360 – time sharing(1970s) » DecSystem 10, VAX – desktop(1980s) » “home brew” » IBM PC, Macintosh – networked(1990s) » workstations – mobile(2000s)

(1.11) Computing Paradigms (continued)  History repeats itself – network computers

(1.12) Historical Trends (continued)  Component trends – number of transistors per chip increases 60% to 80% per year » transistor density 50% per year » chip size 10% - 25% per year – main memory capacity increases 60% per year – disk storage capacity increases 50% per year – cost decreases accordingly, particularly at lowest end of performance scale » factor of over lifetime of technology (4 years) speed increases proportional

(1.13) Historical Trends (continued)  What does this mean for people who use computers? – dedicated computing capacity – software with more functionality – penetration of computer use into daily activities – willingness to let the computer be idle changes in behavior

(1.14) Why Bother?  Ubiquitous computers – apparent (PCs, mainframes) – hidden (thermostats and dishwashers) – tremendous change of » speed » cost » size  Personal impact – work » productivity tools » accelerated communication » shift of jobs content and location » learning – play » games and Internet no sign of slowdown

(1.15) Why Bother (continued)?  Societal impact – access » haves and have-nots » content related to personal and community standards – education – reliability – privacy – medical

(1.16) What’s Understanding?  Coverage – major areas of digital technologies » semiconductors » hardware » software and systems » networks – concepts – current capabilities – future directions

(1.17) What’s Understanding (continued)?  Scientific understanding – physical and logical principles  Engineering understanding – organization – analysis – improvement  Society – what are the impacts of a technology? – what impacts are inherent to the technology? – what impacts are due to misapplication?