Module 2 - MBA 703 (Sadhya)

bit

A contraction of "Binary Digit". A bit is the single unit of information in a computer, typically represented as a 0 or 1. the lowest level of data storage, stored as either a one or a zero.

Volatile data

Data that changes frequently and can be lost when the system's power is shut down. RAM can store data as long as it is receiving power. When the computer is turned off, any data stored in RAM is lost

RAM speed measured by

Data transfer rate - The time it takes for data to be transferred from memory to system measured in Megabytes.

e-waste (electronic waste)

Describes discarded electronics that can be reused, resold or recycled but can contaminate the environment from cadmium etc. and can cause health issues.

digital device

Devices that processes electronic signals into discrete values, of which there can be two or more

two-sided market

Network markets comprised of two distinct categories of participant, both of which that are needed to deliver value for the network to work (e.g., video game console owners and developers of video games).

Staying power as it relates to network effects

Networks with greater numbers of users suggest a stronger ability to remain viable in the long term

solid State Drives (SSD)

Performs the same function as a hard disk, namely long-term storage. Instead of spinning disks, the uses flash memory that incorporates EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) chips, which is much faster. Primarily utilized in portable computers, making them lighter, more durable, and more efficient; considered more reliable since there are no moving parts

What is the primary factor controlling the sale of the PC?

Price, it has now become a commodity. As commodities, there are essentially little or no differences between computers made by these different companies. Profit margins for personal computers are minimal, leading hardware developers to find the lowest-cost manufacturing methods EXCEPTION - Apple (superior and unique product), has chosen a strategy of differentiation, an attempt to avoid commoditization

platforms

Products and services that encourage others to offer complementary goods. Allowing other firms to contribute can be a brilliant strategy, because those firms will spend their time and money to enhance your offerings.

Complementary benefits

Products or services that add additional value to the network. These products might include "how-to" books, software add-ons, even labor

solid state electronics

Semiconductor-based devices. Solid state components often suffer fewer failures and require less energy than mechanical counterparts because they have no moving parts. RAM, flash memory, and microprocessors are solid state devices. Hard drives are not.

microprocessor chip

Small piece of silicon that holds millions of tiny electronic circuits; serve as CPU of most computers; can be programmed to perform certain tasks the brain of a computing device

Moore's Law

That next generation chips should be twice as fast in eighteen months, but cost the same as today's models (or from another perspective, in a year and a half, chips that are same speed as today's models should be available for half the price "Chip" performance per dollar doubles every eighteen months broadly speaking, this law applies to processors, or the electronics stuff that's made out of silicon

Leverage Backward Compatibility

The ability to take advantage of complementary products developed for a prior generation of technology.

Motherboard

The main circuit board on the computer. The CPU, memory, and storage components, among other things, all connect into it. Speed measured by "Bus speed"

Byte

a group of 8 bits The highest number that can be sent in a byte is 255, which is 11111111, which is equal to 2^7 + 2^6 + 2^5 + 2^4 + 2^3 + 2^2 + 2^1 + 2^0.

oligopoly

a market dominated by a small number of powerful sellers

one-sided market

a market that derives most of its value from a single class of users

monopoly

a market where there are many buyers but only one dominant seller

nonvolatile memory

a more permanent storage media like a hard disk or flash memory

semiconductors

a substance such as silicon dioxide used inside most computer chips that is capable of enabling as well as inhibiting the flow of electricity

same-side exchange benefits

benefits derived by interaction among members of a single class of participant

"On" state in digital device

binary 1 representing the presence of an electronic signa

Random-access memory (RAM)

chip-based memory, volatile memory provides fast access for executing computer programs and files

Rivals: Be Compatible with the Leading Network

companies will want to consider making new products compatible with the leading standard

Tech products are highly price elastic, meaning

consumers buy more products as they become cheaper

analog signals

continuous and can be represented by a smooth wave pattern

switching costs

costs that make customers reluctant to switch to another product or service. an strengthen the value of network effects as a strategic asset

volatile memory

data is not saved to long term storage when the power is lost

Examples of hardware

desktop computers laptop computers mobile phones tablet computers e-readers storage devices, such as flash drives input devices, such as keyboards, mice, and scanners output devices such as printers and speakers Less traditional, but becoming more computerized: automobiles refrigerators beverage dispensers

Grid computing is a type of computing in which:

special software is installed on several computers or servers enabling them to work together on a common problem.

Bluetooth

technology that uses short-range radio signals to transmit data between two Bluetooth-enabled computers or devices A type of input/output hardware

Internet of Things (IoT)

the network of products embedded with connectivity-enabled electronics with the purpose of collecting and sharing data, all without the involvement of human beings e.g. a simple light bulb to a fitness band such as FitBit to a driverless truck

Word size

the number of bits the processor can interpret and execute at a given time Today's PCs can process 64 bits of data at a time which is where the term 64-bit processor comes from.

Huang's Law

the speed of Graphics Processors Units (GPUs) are 25 times faster than 5 years ago

Network effects

the value of a product or service increases as the number of users grows

Any product that is incompatible with the dominant network has to exceed

the value of the technical features of the leading player, plus the value of the incumbent's exchange, switching cost, and complementary product benefit

convergence

when two or more markets, once considered distinctly separate, begin to offer similar features and capabilities

Hard Disk speed measured by (2 things)

1. Access time - The time it takes for the drive to locate the data to be accessed. 2. Data transfer rate - The time it takes for data to be transferred from disk to system.

Basic hardware a PC

1. Central Processing Unit (CPU) 2. memory 3. circuit board 4. storage 5. input/output devices

5 components of an information system

1. Hardware 2. Software 3. Data 4. Procedures 5. People

How to improve the speed of your computer

1. In hardware, speed is improved by giving the electrons shorter distances to travel in completing a circuit To do this, engineers shrink circuits and put more and more circuits onto the same chip - these are known as integrated circuits 2. Replace the CPU, the motherboard, RAM, and the hard disk with newer, faster components.

Strategies for Competing in Markets with Network Effect

1. Move early 2. Subsidize product adoption 3. Leverage viral promotion 4. Expand by redefining the market to bring in new categories of users or through convergence 5. Form alliances and partnerships 6. Establish distribution channels 7. Seed the market with complements 8. Encourage the development of complementary goods 9. Maintain backward compatibility 10. For rivals, be compatible with larger networks 11. For incumbents, constantly innovate to create a moving target and block rival efforts to access your network 12. For large firms with well-known followers, make preannouncements

3 factors that can limit Moore's Law

1. Size (cannot get smaller) 2. Heat (as you move pathways closer together they generate more heat. 3. Power (as things heat they need more power to be used to keep them cool)

hard disk

A data storage unit inside a computer that can store a large quantity of data (60GB or more) place to store data for the longer term. considered non-volatile storage because when the computer is turned off the data remains in storage on the disk, ready for when the computer is turned on. Speed measured by both "Access time" and "Data transfer rate"

blue ocean strategy

An approach where firms seek to create and compete in uncontested "blue ocean" market spaces, rather than competing in spaces and ways that have attracted many, similar rivals.

Why does Moore's Law work?

Because the distance between the pathways inside silicon chips gets smaller with each successive generation. Since the pathways are closer together, electrons travel shorter distances. If electronics now travel half the distance to make a calculation, that means the chip is twice as fast

move early strategy (network effects)

Being first allows your firm to start the network effects snowball rolling in your direction

"Off" state in digital device

Binary 0 represented by the absence of an electronic signal.

Motherboard speed measured by

Bus speed - The speed at which data can move across the bus.

hardware components that impact speed of the computer

CPU, the motherboard, RAM, and the hard disk

technological leapfrogging

Competing by offering a new technology that is so superior to existing offerings that the value overcomes the total resistance that older technologies might enjoy via exchange, switching cost, and complementary benefits.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Computer location where instructions and data are stored on a temporary basis. This memory is volatile. Working memory, can transfer data much faster than the hard disk. Speed measured by "Data transfer rate"

massively parallel processing

Computers designed with many microprocessors that work together, simultaneously, to solve problems.

exchange

Every product or service subject to network effects fosters some kind of exchange.

What rea the 3 primary sources of Network Effects?

Exchange Staying Power Complementary benefits

Netbooks

Extremely light because they do not have a hard drive, depending instead on the Internet "cloud" for data and application storage

FUD

Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt the impact firms try to impart on markets through preannouncements

Leverage Distribution Channels

Firms can also think about novel ways to distribute a product or service to consumers; bundles its new products into its operating systems, Caution is advised, however. Regional antitrust authorities may consider product bundling by dominant firms to be anticompetitive

Seed the Market Strategy

Giving away products for half of a two-sided market is an extreme example of this kind of behavior, but it's often used. In two-sided markets, you charge the one who will pay.

The speed ("clock time") of a CPU is expressed in cycles called ________.

Hertz (one cycle per second) kilohertz ( kHz) = one thousand cycles per second megahertz (mHz) = one million cycles per second gigahertz (gHz) = one billion cycles per second.

CPU speed measured by

Hertz - the time it takes to complete a cycle.

Double Data rate (DDR)

How RAM is installed on a PC, it is dependent upon the Motherboard Four generations of DDR: DDR1, DDR2, DDR3, and DDR4. Each generation runs faster than the previous with DDR4 capable of speeds twice as fast as DDR3 while consuming less voltage

Expand by Redefining the Market Strategy (Network Effects)

If a big market attracts more users (and in two-sided markets, more complements), why not redefine the space to bring in more users? Nintendo did this when launching the Wii. While Sony and Microsoft focused on the graphics and raw processing power favored by hard-core male gamers, Nintendo chose to develop a machine to appeal to families, women, and age groups that normally shunned alien shoot-'em ups. By going after a bigger, redefined market, Nintendo was able to rack up sales that exceeded the Xbox 360, even though it followed the system by twelve months.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

It can be thought of as the "brains" of the device. carries out the commands sent to it by the software and returns results to be acted upon. Today they are faster and the chips contain multiple processors increasing the processing power of a computer by providing the capability of multiple CPUs all sharing the processing load. two primary manufacturers for PCs: Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Large, Well-Known Followers: Preannouncements

Large firms that find new markets attractive but don't yet have products ready for delivery might preannounce efforts in order to cause potential adaptors to sit on the fence, delaying a purchasing decision until the new effort rolls out.

Network Effects pseudonyms

Metcalfe's Law Network Externalities

multicore microprocessors

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

Moore's Law

The number of integrated circuits on a chip doubles every two years. We are starting to see the limits of this law just now. generalized into the concept that computing power will double every two years for the same price point OR looking another way the price for the same computing power will be cut in half every two years

bus

The paths, or lines, on the motherboard on which data, instructions, and electrical power move from component to component. an important factor in determining the computer's speed - the combination of how fast the bus can transfer data and the number of data bits that can be moved at one time determine the speed

encourage the development of complementary goods

These efforts often involve some form of developer subsidy or other free or discounted service. A firm may charge lower royalties or offer a period of royalty-free licensing Venture funds can also prompt firms to create complementary goods

Computer input and output devices

USB (connection port) Bluetooth (wireless connection)

cross-side exchange benefit

When an increase in the number of users on one side of the market (console owners, for example) creates a rise in the other side (software developers).

congestion effects

When increasing numbers of users lower the value of a product or service. This most often happens when a key resource becomes increasingly scarce

How are multicore, massively parallel, grid and cluster computing related?

each attempts to lash together multiple computing devices so that they can work together to solve problems they're all subject to the same limitation: software must be written to divide existing problems into smaller pieces that can be handled by each core, processor, or computer, respectively.

network markets experience

early, fierce competition -caused by positive-feedback loop inherent in network effects where the biggest networks become even bigger

Alliances and Partnerships Strategy

efforts bring rivals together to take out a leader.

Tech products are highly price

elastic

Network Interface Cards (NIC)

expansion cards located within the system unit that connect the computer to a network. Sometimes referred to as a LAN adapter. expansion card to the computer that enabled the network connection

Subsidize Adoption Strategy (network effects)

firms may offer to subsidize initial adoption in hopes that network effects might kick in shortly after; might include a price reduction, rebate, or other giveaways.

Incumbents: Close Off Rival Access and Constantly Innovate

firms that control dominant networks will make compatibility difficult for rivals who try to connect with their systems

Leverage Viral Promotion Strategy (Network Effects)

leverage a firm's customers to promote the product or service

Envelopment is a strategy in which a firm seeks to:

make an existing market a subset of its product offering

Output devices include

monitors, printers, speakers

Input devices include

mouse, keyboard, scanner, touch screen, microphones, webcams

bandwagons

new adopters begin to overwhelmingly favor the leading product over rivals, tipping the market in favor of one dominant firm or standard

flash memory

not as fast as the RAM used in most traditional PCs, but holds data even when the power is off; nonvolatile memory

What links Software as a Service (SaaS) and Cloud Computing?

organizations replace traditional software and hardware that they would run in-house with services that are delivered online

stacked or three-dimensional semiconductors

slice a flat chip into pieces, then reconnect the pieces vertically, making a sort of "silicon sandwich." The chips are both faster and cooler since electrons travel shorter distances.