Chapter 5 Quiz Notes

1. While Gordon Moore's paper originally stated that Moore's Law meant a doubling of transistor density roughly every two years, and some suggest a doubling every two and a half years, the managerial definition of Moore's Law that you'll often see appearing in the trade press is: ______________________.

Chip performance per dollar doubles every 18 months.

4. _____ refers to replacing computing hardware that a firm might otherwise purchase with a service delivered online.

Cloud computing

15. The phrase ____________________ is often used to refer to the emergence of technology in products where low-cost sensors, computing, and communication put embedded smarts in all sorts of mundane devices so that these products can communicate with one another for data collection, analysis, and collective action.

The Internet of Things

16. Technology such as the Vitality Corp. GlowCap applies technology to:

improve patient adherence to prescription schedules.

5. Managers looking for advice on properly dealing with obsolete technology hardware can:

investigate resources provided by the Basel Action Network look for partners with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications consult the e-Stewards program seek advice from the International Association of Electronics Recyclers

4. The process of separating out the densely packed materials inside tech products, so that value in e-waste can be effectively harvested is an extremely _____ process.

labor-intensive

4. The _____ is considered the brain of a computing device.

microprocessor

3. Moore's Law typically applies to _____.

microprocessors and chip-based storage

3. Microprocessors with two or more (typically lower power) calculating processor cores on the same piece of silicon are known as:

multicore processors.

6. Storage that retains data even when powered down is called:

nonvolatile memory.

3. The multiple-brain approach to solving problems is not suitable for problems:

that are linear.

19. The advancing price/performance curve of technology is empowering the planet. Underscoring this, economist Jeffrey Sachs has stated that "____________ is the single most transformative technology for world economic development."

the cell phone

2. Moore's Law occurs because:

the distance between pathways inside silicon chips is getting smaller.

12. The price/performance curves shown in this chapter allow the manager to calibrate precise estimates on future computing capabilities and costs. T/F

False

14. Technology products are considered to be price inelastic. T/F

False

9. Silicon chips are preferred over solid state electronics devices which are more likely to fail and draw greater amounts of power. True or False?

False

4. Multicore processors have been a boon to technology firms, since any software executing on a multi-core system runs faster by a multiple of the number of cores (e.g. quad core chips run traditional software 4 times as fast). T/F

False, Multicore processors can run older software written for single-brain chips. But they usually do this by using only one core at a time.

13. ______ is the rate at which the demand for a product or service fluctuates with price change.

Price elasticity

5. Which of the following is the temporary storage that provides fast access for executing computer programs and files?

Random-access memory

11. Which of the following refers to a substance such as silicon dioxide that is used inside most computer chips and is capable of enabling as well as inhibiting the flow of electricity?

Semiconductor

2. The price/performance improvements in Moore's Law apply to:

Silicon based computing and storage components

3. Which of the following facts is true with respect to the current electronic waste scenario?

There is more gold in one pound of electronic waste than in one pound of mined ore.

1. The Kickstarter effort Cognitoy was able to get supercomputer smarts inside a child's toy by leveraging IBM's Watson Cloud. T/F

True

17. An exabyte is bigger than a petabyte. T/F

True

2. Rapid obsolescence of technology products contributes to the growing problem of e-waste management. T/F

True

5. Moore's Law will likely come to an end during your lifetime. T/F

True

7. Flash memory is non-volatile memory. True or False?

True

8. Flash memory is solid-state memory. True or False?

True

1. In the chip industry, 'fabs' are:

chip manufacturing factories

18. Firms that manufacture products where silicon-based components represent a large portion of the product's cost of goods are likely to carry as little inventory as possible because:

depreciation rates of chip-based electronics are high.

1. Discarded, often obsolete, technology is more generally known as _____.

electronic waste

10. Cameras, MP3 players, USB drives, and mobile phones often use _____ which holds data even when the power is off.

flash memory

2. With _____, firms place special software on its existing PCs or servers that enable these computers to work together on a common problem.

grid computing