Computer Hardware and Software 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 $300 –** First PC in 1981 –** Early IBM PCs have MB $ 2, $.07, and today – minimal –Megabyte (MB) – about 1 million bytes –Gigabyte (GB) – about 1 billion bytes –Terabyte (TB) – about 1 trillion bytes

Transmission I hr satellite teleconferencing – $100 – less than $10 –Today - minimal 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 (i.e., ipad), Smart phone More powerful –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 More important than HW –Y2K

Two Major Categories of Software 1.Application software – enables you to solve specific problems or perform specific tasks APPA-8

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 –Utility software APPA-9

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 –Etc. APPA-10

GUI vs. Command Driven DOS vs. Windows (i.e., XP, Vista..) User training Productivity Technical Compatibility

Demo of Command Driven Start  programs  accessories  command prompt Try to delete “ sylacct360.ppt ” PowerPoint file from “desktop” (download and save the PPT file first) –dir –cd my documents or desktop (not case sensitive but space) –dir (to see available files) –del sylacct360.ppt (don’t forget the file extension) –dir

SW Considerations Compatibility with current software Outsourcing –Off-the-shelf software

More about computer picotux - the smallest Linux Computer in the World

Six Categories of Hardware Keyboard (input) CDs (storage) Video card (connecting) CPU Cable modem (telecommunications) Monitor (output) APPA-15

COMPUTER CATEGORIES (BY SIZE) PDA Notebook Desktop Tablet PC APPA-16

CPU and RAM APPA-17

CPU and RAM CPU and RAM work together to form the brain of your computer CPU speed measured in gigahertz (GHz) –GHz – number of billions of CPU cycles per second –CPU (machine) cycle – retrieve, decode, and execute instruction, then return result to RAM if necessary APPA-18

CPU Components Control unit – directs what happens in the CPU and the rest of your computer Arithmetic logic unit (ALU) – performs arithmetic, comparison, and logic operations CPU cache – CPU memory where instructions wait until they’re needed CPU clock – beats to keep instructions and information moving in synchronized fashion APPA-19

System Bus System bus – electrical pathways that move information between motherboard components, especially between CPU and RAM APPA-20

CPU and Ram at Work APPA-21

CPU (Machine Cycle) 1.Retrieve: The control unit sends to RAM for the instructions and information it needs 2.Decode: CPU gets the instruction out of cache and examines it to see what to do 3.Execute: Does what the instruction says to do 4.Store: Sends the result of processing to be stored in RAM if necessary APPA-22

Notebook CPUs and RAM Mobile CPU – type of CPU that changes speed, and therefore power consumption, in response to fluctuation in use RAM for notebooks comes in smaller modules than RAM for desktops APPA-23

COMPUTER CATEGORIES (BY SIZE) Minicomputers Mainframe Supercomputer APPA-24

Common Types of Flash Memory APPA-25

CPU and RAM APPA-26