Chapter 4: Hardware and Software

Computer Data

Binary Digits (bits) = how computers represent data - is either 0 or 1 ex: a switch can either be closed or open; therefore, a computer can be designed so that an open switch represents zero and a closed switch represents one

Specifying Hardware with Computer Data Sizes and Processing Speeds

Hertz = CPU speed is expressed in hertz - as predicted by Moore's Law, CPU speeds continually increase - an employee who processes large, complicated spreadsheets, manipulates large database files or edits large picture, sound or video files need a FAST computer like a dual processor with 3.5 GB or more of RAM Volatile = their contents are lost when power is off - a device's cache and main memory are volatile - therefore, if you suddenly lose power, the contents of unsaved memory will be lost Nonvolatile = their contents survive when power is off - magnetic and optical disks

One-of-a-Kind Applications

One-of-a-kind Application (software) = developed for a specific, unique need - developed for a very specific and unique need - cost more to manufacture than horizontal applications , and cost overruns are common - take longer to make and require unique hardware components - highly customizable and fit the requirements of a heavy-duty battle vehicle very well

Owning Versus Licensing

*When you are buying a computer program, you are not actually buying that program; instead, you are buying a LICENSE to use that program License = something that you buy in order to use a certain program or thing ex: when you buy a Mac OS License, Apple is selling you the right to use Mac OS; Apple itself continues to own the Mac OS program Site License = a flat fee that authorizes the organization to install the product (operating system or application) on all of that organization's computers or on all of its computers at a specific site - no company makes money selling Linux licenses because it is owned by the open source community; however, large companies such as IBM can make money by supporting Linux

What Types of Applications Exist, and How Do Organizations Obtain Them?

Application Software = performs a service or a function - Microsoft Excel or Word

Q4-1 What Do Business Professionals Need to Know About Computer Hardware?

Business professionals need to be aware of the latest hardware developments - a "phone" is essentially a powerful piece of computing hardware (substantial processing power, ability to connect to networks, internal memory, and virtual keyboard) - computing hardware is also being integrated into other devices such as watches, glasses, TVs, cars, and even toothbrushes Computer Hardware = consists of electronic components and related gadgetry that input, process, output, and store data according to instructions encoded in computer programs or software - all hardware today has more or less the same components

Types of Hardware

Personal Computers (PCs) = classic computing devices that are used by individuals - gradually being replaced by tablets and other mobile devices Tablets = iPad Phablet = combines the functionality of a smartphone with the larger screen of a tablet (iPhone 6 Plus) Server = a computer that is designed to support processing requests from many remote computers and users - servers take requests from clients and then bring them things - in computing environments, servers can send Web pages, email, files or data to PCs or other devices ex: Dell PowerEdge Server Clients = PCs, tablets, and smartphones that access servers Server Farm = a collection of typically thousands of servers - placed in large truck trailers (holds 5,000 servers or more) - trailer has two large cables coming out of it; one is for power, and the other is for data communications - operator backs trailer into a pre-prepared slab (in a warehouse or out in the open air), plugs in the power and communication cables, so those servers can be up and running The Cloud = server infrastructure is delivered as a service through the Internet

Self-Driving Cars Will Make Things Cheaper

much less expensive over time than your current car - sharing a self-driving car could eliminate the need to have multiple cars (saving big) - self-drivers will drive better than you (therefore less crashes) - less braking, engine revving, and street racing - avoid costly traffic tickets, parking tickets and DUI citations - take a big chunk out of $100B paid each year in car insurance premiums (INSURANCE NOT NEEDED WITH WITH SELF-DRIVING CARS)

The Internet of Things

Internet of Things (IoT) = an idea that objects are becoming connected to the Internet so that they can interact with other devices, applications, or services - everyday objects are increasingly being embedded with hardware capable of sensing, processing and transmitting data - these objects can then connect to a network and share data with any other application, service or device

Self-Driving Cars Will Disrupt Businesses

have the potential to disrupt several well-established industries - fewer cars on the road (because people will be sharing rides) - fewer cars sold (affecting the transportation industry) - fewer auto loans written (affecting the finance industry) - fewer automobile insurance policies underwritten (affecting the insurance industry) - fewer auto parts sold due to fewer accidents (manufacturing) - fewer parking lots (affecting the real estate industry) - consumers might take more trips by car than by plane or train (affecting the transportation industry)

Self-Driving Cars Will Make Things Safer

90% of motor vehicle crashes are caused by human error - your car in the future will be able to see better than you, react more quickly than you, and have better info about your driving environment - it will communicate with other cars around it, dynamically analyze traffic patterns, avoid construction sites, and contact emergency services if needed - fewer accidents, fewer drunk drivers, fewer road-rage incidents and fewer auto-pedestrian accidents

What Is Firmware?

Firmware = computer software that is installed into devices such as printers, print servers, and various types of communication devices - installed into special, read-only memory in the printer or other device - becomes part of the device's memory; it is as if the program's logic is designed into the device's circuitry; therefore, users do not need to load firmware into the device's memory - firmware can be changed or upgraded, but this is normally a task for IS professionals

3D Printing

3D printing alters the competitive landscape and it may change the nature of businesses themselves - Nike has used 3D printing to improve the way it designs and creates shoes (3D-printed cleat plate) - Nike can produce a lighter, stronger cleat much more quickly than before - can print in more than just plastics (can print in metals, ceramics, foods, and biological material) - new composite filaments combine traditional polylactic acid thermoplastic with materials like wood, bronze, iron, and limestone Examples of Nontraditional 3D Printing: 1) ChefJet = print complex sugary structures in flavors like chocolate, vanilla, mint, cherry, sour apple, and watermelon 2) 3D biological structure with blood vessels that could deliver nutrients and remove waste 3) 3D printer can print an entire house in 24 hours

Q4-4 Is Open Source Software a Viable Alternative?

Is open source software a more reasonable, cost-effective alternative to more expensive, commercially sold or custom designed software? Richard Matthew Stallman = the father of the open source movement and process - Creations: 1) GNU (GNU Not Unix) = for creating a free Unix-like operating system (unable to attract enough developers to finish the free Unix system) 2) GNU general public license (GPL) agreement = one of the standard license agreements for open source software Linus Torvalds (1991) = worked in Helsinki and began work on another version of Unix, using some of Stallman's tools - This version eventually became Linux, the high-quality and very popular operating system discussed previously Open Source = software that is typically free and modifiable, and its source code its publicly available - LibreOffice - Firefox (a browser) - MySQL - Apache (web server) - Android (a mobile-device operating system) Source Code = is computer code as written by humans and understandable by humans

Self-Driving Cars

Self-Driving Car (driverless car) = will use a variety of sensors to navigate like a traditional car but without human intervention - full of advanced hardware and integrated software, and it will be the epitome of a mobile system - in our very near future (2018-2019) - Google's prototype cars have logged more than 700,000 miles without a single accident

Self-Driving Cars Will Make Things Easier

- allows Dad to review sales reports while "driving" to work (much less stressed out and much more productive) - then self-driving car could drop off the kids at school and return home to take Mom to work - NO NEED TO PARK ANYMORE - fills itself up with gas, communicates with intersections so he never gets a red light, and reroutes itself if there's an accident or traffic

What Are the Major Operating Systems?

1) Non-mobile Client Operating Systems (used on personal computers) - Microsoft Windows Modern-Style Applications = these applications, now carried over into Windows 10, are touch-screen oriented and provide context-sensitive pop-up menus - minimization of menu bars, status lines, and other visuals ahead Mac OS = Apple Computer, Inc., developed its own operating system for the Macintosh -> Mac OS Unix = an operating system that was developed at Bell Labs in the 1970s - it has been the workhorse of the scientific and engineering communities - seldom used in business Linux = a version of Unix that was developed by the open source community - this open community is a loosely coupled group of programmers who mostly volunteer their time to contribute code to develop and maintain Linux - Linux is most popular as a server OS

Q4-3 What do Business Professionals Need to Know About Software?

Categories of Computer Software: 1) Operating Systems a) Client = programs that control the client computer's resources b) Server = programs that control the server computer's resources 2) Application Programs a) Client = applications that are processed on client computers b) Server = applications that are processed on server computers Operating Systems (OS) = which is a program that controls that computer's resources - some of the functions of an operating system are to read and write data, allocate main memory, perform memory swapping, start and stop programs, respond to error conditions, and facilitate backup recovery - creates and manages the user interface, including the display, keyboard, mouse, and other devices - both clients and server computers need an operating system (though they do not need to be the same) Two Important Software-Related Constraints 1) Particular versions of an operating system are written for particular types of hardware ex: Microsoft Windows works only on processors from Intel and from companies that make processors that conform to the Intel instruction set) 2) Be aware that two types of application programs exist: native and Web Native Applications (Thick-Client Applications) = programs that are written to use a particular operating system ex: Microsoft Access will only run on the Windows operating system Web Application (Thin-Client Application) = designed to run within a computer browser such as Firefox, Chrome, Opera, or Edge (formerly Internet Explorer) - web applications run within the browser and can therefore run on any type of computer - ideally, a web application can run within any browser, although this isn't always true

Hardware Components

Central Processing Unit (CPU) = sometimes called the "brain" of the computer - CPU does have the "smarts" of the machine - selects instructions, processes them, performs arithmetic and logical comparisons, and stores results of operations in memory - some computers have two or more CPUs - vary in speed, function and cost Dual-Processor = a computer with two CPUs Quad-Processor = a computer with four CPUs *Some high-end computers have 16 or more CPUs *Hardware vendors such as Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, and National Semiconductor continually improve CPU speed and capabilities while reducing CPU costs Main Memory (RAM - random access memory) - works in conjunction with CPU - CPU reads data and instructions from memory and then stores the results of computations in main memory Storage Hardware = used to save data and programs - magnetic disks (also called hard disks) are the most common storage device - solid-state storage (SSD) is much faster than a hard drive and gaining in popularity; however, it is several times more expensive - USB flash drives are small, portable solid-state storage devices that can be used to back up data and transfer it from one computer to another - optical disks (CDs and DVDs) are also popular portable storage media

Horizontal Applications

Horizontal-Market Application = software provides capabilities common across all organizations and industries - work processors, graphics programs, spreadsheets, and presentation programs are all horizontal-market application software - other examples include Adobe's Acrobat, Photoshop, and PageMaker and Jasc Corporation's Paint Shop Pro - everybody buys them and then uses them for different purposes

Selecting an Application Type

Off-the-shelf Software (Off-the-shelf with Alterations Software/Custom-Developed Software) Organizations develop custom application software themselves or hire a development vendor - such development is done in situations where the needs of the organization are so unique that no horizontal or vertical applications are available - custom development is difficult and risky - staffing and managing teams of software developers is challenging - every application program needs to be adapted to changing needs and changing technologies Issues with Custom Application Software - application development projects might take twice as long or longer than anticipated - Cost overruns of 200 percent and 300 percent are not uncommon - due to risk and expense, custom development is the last-choice alternative *USE ONLY WHEN THERE IS NO OTHER OPTION

So, Is Open Source Viable?

Open source will likely take a greater and greater role in software - whether open source works for a particular situation depends on the requirements and constraints of the situation - many choose open source simply because it is "free" - support and operational costs related to an open source application swamp the initial licensing fee for an existing copyright application that meets a company's needs - open source is a movement that has created numerous quality software products and is a viable alternative for many situations - you'll need to continually refresh your knowledge as the future goes by

Mobile Client Operating Systems

Symbian = is popular on phones in Europe and the Far East, but less so in North America BlackBerry OS = was one of the most successful early mobile operating systems and was used primarily by business users on BlackBerry devices - in recent years, it has lost market share to iOS, Android, and Windows 10 iOS = the operating system used on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad - broke new ground with its ease of use and compelling display, features that are being copied by BlackBerry OS and Android - created easy-to-use interfaces Android = is a mobile operating system licensed by Google - very loyal following, especially among technical users Windows 10 (mobile) = on smartphones or a full version of Windows 10 on Surface Pro devices

Vertical Applications

Vertical-Market Application = software serves the needs of a specific industry ex: programs include those used by dental offices to schedule appointments and bill patients, those used by auto mechanics to keep track of customer data and repairs, and those used by parts warehouses to track inventory, purchases and sales - specialized for use in a particular field - can be altered or customized

Virtualization

Virtualization = the process by which one physical computer hosts many different virtual (not literal) computers within it Virtual Machines (vm) or Host Operating System = runs one or more operating systems as applications - has disk space and other resources allocated to it - controls the activities of the virtual machines it hosts to prevent them from interfering with one another Three Types of Virtualization Exist: 1) PC Virtualization - a personal computer, such as a desktop or laptop, hosts several different operating systems ex: a user needs to have both Linux and Windows 10 running on a computer for training or a development project; therefore, the user can load software like Oracle VirtualBox or VMWare Workstation on the host operating system in order to create Linux and Windows 10 virtual machines - can run both systems on the same hardware at the same time if the host operating system has sufficient resources (i.e., memory and CPU power) 2) Server Virtualization - a server computer hosts one or more other server computers ex: a Windows Server computer is hosting two virtual machines; users can log onto either of those virtual machines, and they will appear as normal servers 3) Desktop Virtualization (has the potential to be revolutionary) - a server hosts many versions of desktop operating systems; desktop can be accessed from any computer to which the user has access ex: you could be at an airport and go to a terminal computer from which you can access your virtualized desktop - wont have to worry about losing a corporate laptop or confidential internal data - different users could access their own "personal" computers using only a single terminal - IBM offers PC virtualization for as low as $12 a month per PC

Server Operating Systems

Windows Server = a version of Windows that has been specially designed and configured for server use - has much more stringent and restrictive security features than other versions of Windows and is popular on servers in organizations that have made a strong commitment to Microsoft *Unix can also be used on servers but it is gradually being replaced by Linux Linux is frequently used on servers by organizations that want to avoid a server commitment to Microsoft - IBM is the primary proponent of Linux and has used its means to better compete against Microsoft - IBM has developed many business systems solutions that employ Linux - By using Linux, neither IBM nor its customers have to pay a licensing fee to Microsoft

Computer Data Sizes

all forms of computer data are represented in bits (whether it is numbers, characters, currency amounts, recordings, photos, or whatever) Bytes = 8-bits - for character data, one character will fit into one byte - used to measure sizes of non-character data as well (ex: a given picture can be 100,000 bytes in size) Kilobyte (KB) = 1,024 bytes Megabyte (MB) = 1,024 kilobytes Gigabyte (GB) = 1,024 megabytes Terabyte (TB) = 1,024 gigabytes Petabyte (PB) = 1,024 terabytes Exabyte (EB) = 1,024 petabytes Zettabyte (ZB) = 1,024 exabytes *FB processes about 600 TB each day in a 300 PB data warehouse *The super secret NSA data center in Utah is estimated to hold 12 EB of data *Cisco estimates that annual global Internet traffic volume will exceed 1.6 ZB by the end of 2018

Q4-2 How Can New Hardware Affect Competitive Strategies?

organizations are interested in new hardware because they represent potential opportunities, or threats to their ability to generate revenue - keep an eye on new tech hardware for the same reason you watch the weather forecast: you care about how the future will affect you Three New Hardware Developments that have the Potential to Disrupt Existing Organizations: 1) Internet of Things 2) Self-Driving Cars 3) 3D Printing

Why Do Programmers Volunteer Their Services?

programming is an intense combination of art and logic, and designing and writing a complicated computer program can be exceedingly pleasurable (and addictive) - it is all great fun contributing to open source projects! - open source is a place where programmers can exercise their creativity while working on projects they find interesting and fulfilling - exhibit one's skill both for pride and to find a job or consulting employment - start a business selling services that support an open source product

How Does Open Source Work?

source code is compiled into machine code that is processed by a computer Machine Code = is not understandable by humans and cannot be modified ex: when a user accesses a Web site, the machine code version of the program runs on the user's computer - 1101001010010 Closed Source = the source code is highly protected and only available to trusted employees and carefully vetted contractors - source code protected like gold in a vault - ex: Microsoft Office - only trusted programmers can make changes to a closed source project *With open source, anyone can obtain the source code from the open source project's Web site - programmers can then alter or add to this code depending on their interests and goals - open source succeeds because of collaboration - a programmer can create new features, redesign or reprogram an existing feature or fix a known problem - code is then sent to others in the open source project who evaluate the quality and merits of the work and add it to the product if appropriate (many cycles of iteration and feedback)