Computer Hardware & Software and Emerging Trend & Technologies Yong Choi School of Business CSU, Bakersfield

Computer Hardware Comprehensive term for all the physical parts of a computer Tangible: things that you can actually touch and feel –disks, monitors, keyboards, printers, boards, speaker, and chips. Falling price of HW –Technical driving force of the Information Age

Computing Power Faster Cheaper (PC: less than $500) Smaller Shorter computer product life cycle

Storage Price of 1 MB hard drive space 1983: $300 –** First PC in 1981 –** Early IBM PCs have MB 1989: $ : $.07 Today: minimal

Transmission One hour teleconferencing –1985: $100 –1998: less than $10 –Today: minimal (i.e., skype) Internet dial-up service –1997: AVG. $40 –DSL: less than $15

Hardware Trend More Multimedia Oriented…. –graphics, picture, sound, voice, video clip –DMBDMB Smaller, Smarter…. –Tablet PC (ipad), smart phone…. More powerful –Traditional: single CPU vs. all tasks –Parallel: multiple CPUs vs. many tasks –Massive parallel (process many tasks simultaneously) many networked CPUs vs. many tasks

Computer Software Intangible: untouchable –Written in various computer program languages –C++, Java, VB.NET.... Set of instructions that hardware executes to carry out a specific task for you Changing of SW price Availability of various SW tools –Technical driving force of the Information Age More important than HW –Y2K –WorldCom (now MCI)

Two Major Categories of Software 1.Application software – enables you to solve specific problems or perform specific tasks

Two Major Categories of Software 2.System software – handles tasks specific to technology management and coordinates the interaction of all technology devices Two main types of system software –Operating system software – controls application software and manages hardware devices –Utility software – provides additional functionality to your operating system: Anti-virus, Screen saver….

GUI vs. Command Driven DOS vs. Windows (i.e., 98, 2000, XP, Windows 7..) End-user acceptance End-user training Productivity Technical Compatibility –no DOS market after 2002

Demo of Command Driven Start  programs  accessories  command prompt Try to delete “ sylmis300.ppt ” PowerPoint file –dir –cd my documents (not case sensitive but space) –dir (to see available files) –del sylmis300.ppt (don’t forget the file extension) –dir

Popular Operating Systems

The Evolution of Programming Languages

The instruction “ADD 2 and 5 and assign the result to variable y” written in different programming languages

JAVA Developed and introduced in 1995 (the newest) by Sun Microsystems Platform independent –JAVA program can be run on Windows, Unix, Linux, OS/2, and System 7 Very robust –If necessary, JAVA can handle text, data, sound, and video within one program. ONLY language for the Internet-based EC –Young, hidden problems, and slow execution speed

SW Considerations Compatibility with existing software Outsourcing Off-the-shelf software