ISDS 705 - Module 2

Moore's Law Enabled Server Farms

Entirely new businesses that promise to radically redraw the software and hardware landscape while bringing gargantuan computing power to the little guy.

Evolving waves of computing

1960s - Mainframe computers 1970s - Minicomputers 1980s - PCs 1990s - Internet computing 2000s - Smartphone revolution 2010s - Pervasive computing

Marginal Costs

Associated with each individual unit produced. Marginal costs for digital goods are often (but not always) zero.

Industry Advantage

Brand strength combined with an early market entry and effective execution.

Brand Strength

Brands are built through customer experience

Moore's Law

Chip performance per dollar doubles every eighteen months

Collaborative Filtering

Classification of software that monitors trends among customers and uses this data to personalize an individual customer's experience.

Coopetition (Frenemies)

Companies that are both partners and competitors (Ex. Amazon and Netflix)

Massively Parallel Processing

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

Supercomputers

Computers that are among the fastest of any in the world at the time of their introduction. Supercomputing was once considered the domain of governments and high-end research labs.

Cluster Computing

Connecting server computers via software and networking so that their resources can be used to collectively solve computing tasks.

Multicore Microprocessors

Contain two or more calculating processor cores on the same piece of silicon.

Windowing

Content is available to a given distribution channel for a specified time window. -Under a different revenue model.

Fixed Costs

Costs that do not vary according to production volume.

Latency

Delay in networking and data transfer speeds; low latency systems are faster systems.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Fast, chip-based volatile storage in a computing device.

Grid Computing

Firms place special software on its existing PCs or servers that enables these computers to work together on a common problem as if they were a massively parallel supercomputer.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Form of cloud computing where a firm subscribes to a third party software and receives a service that is delivered online.

Optical Fiber Line

High-speed glass or plastic-lined networking cable in telecommunications.

Stacked or Three-Dimensional Semiconductors

In this approach, engineers 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.

Long Tail Concept

Large selection of content beneficial for Internet retailers. -Selection attracts customers. -The internet allows large-selection inventory efficiencies that offline firms can't match.

Multicore Microprocessors

Made by putting two or more lower power processor cores (think of a core as the calculating part of a microprocessor) on a single chip.

Software as a Service (SaaS) and Cloud Computing

Massive clusters of computers running software that allows them to operate as a unified service also enable new service-based computing models

Server Farms

Massive network of computer servers running software to coordinate their collective use.

Flash Memory

Non-volatile, chip-based storage.

Microprocessor

Part of the computer that executes the instructions of a computer program

Churn Rate

Rate at which customers leave a product or service.

Price Elasticity

Rate at which the demand for a product or service fluctuates with price change.

Disintermediation

Removing an organization from a firm's distribution channel, which collapses the path between supplier and customer. Offers two potential benefits: -Eliminates the need to share revenues with a third party. -Provides exclusive access to valuable consumer data assets.

Cloud Computing

Replacing computing resources with services provided over the Internet.

First Sale Doctrine

Ruling that states that a firm can distribute physical copies of legally acquired copyright-protected products, allows for lending or renting products -Applicable only to the atoms of the physical product and not to the bits needed in streaming.

Big Customer Base

Scale economies can be attained by leveraging the cost of an investment across increasing units of production. -Enables firms to: -Have better cost structure. -Have better profit prospects. -Offer better pricing.

Fabs

Semiconductor fabrication facilities

Solid State Electronics

Semiconductor-based devices

Volatile Memory

Storage that is wiped clean when power is cut off from a device.

Nonvolatile Memory

Storage that retains data even when powered down

Semiconductors

Substance such as silicon dioxide used inside most computer chips that is capable of enabling and inhibiting the flow of electricity.

Atoms to Bits

The phrase represents the shift from physical products to digital products

Silicon Wafer

Thin, circular slice of material used to create semiconductor device