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2

The Hardware Revolution

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should be able to complete the following:

Understand the history of the personal computer.

Explain what is inside a computer and identify central components.

Describe the types of computer peripherals and their functions.

Describe the benefits of laptops, notebooks, and Ultrabooksand distinguish between

them.

iStockphoto/Thinkstock


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CHAPTER 2Pre-Test

Introduction

I

n the first chapter, you learned about the penetration of computers into society and theimportance of digital literacy. The goal was to help you realize the social significanceof the computer and understand its importance in our lives today. In this chapter, you

will take the next step. Instead of observing computers from the outside, we will explorethem from the inside to see what they are made of and to understand how they haveevolved over the last century. We begin the chapter by discussing early computers, whichwere so large they were weighed by the ton, and we end the chapter by examining someof todays computers, which are so thin they can be easily carried in a pocket or a purse.Indeed, it has been a hardware revolution.

Pre-Test

1. Which of the following was one of the first significant computing companies inthe United States? a. IBM

b. Microsoft

c. Xerox

d. Apple

2. Which term describes the process of turning on your computer? a. Booting b. Upgrading c. Installing d. Opening

3. External storage is important for storing data and files to be used later. Which ofthe following storage devices holds the MOST information?

a. 5.25 disk b. 3.5 disk c. Zip disk d. DVD disk

4. Which of the following terms is used interchangeably with laptop? a. smartphone b. netbook c. notebook

d. e-book reader

Answers 1 a. IBM. The answer can be found in Section 2.1. 2. a. Booting. The answer can be found in Section 2.2. 3. d. DVD disk. The answer can be found in Section 2.3. 4. c. Notebook. The answer can be found in Section 2.4.


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CHAPTER 2Section 2.1 A Brief History of Computing

2.1 A Brief History of Computing

A

lthough many people think the computer is a very recent development, it actuallyhas a long history that demonstrates how quickly the computer industry changes.History provides a context for how far we have come with computers in a rela-

tively short period of time. Most importantly, by understanding computer history we cangain a better and deeper understanding of todays computing environment. Since youare reading these words on a computer right now, take a moment and look around you.If your computer is a desktop, the items you seeyour mouse, keyboard, monitor, andeven the icons on your screenall have a history. If you are reading this on a tablet com-puter or an e-reader, it, too has a history, though with a much shorter timeline. This his-tory shapes our lives and influences the way we interact with the world.

In the Beginning. . .

The concept of a calculating machine with gears first took physical shape during the 17th

century. The use of mechanical devices as an aid in the calculation of numbers was anelusive and attractive dream for Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician (Coleman, 1986,p. 32).

One of those who Pascal inspired was Charles Babbage. In 1812, at Cambridge Universityin England, Babbage worked with his friend, Ada Byron Lovelace, who also had highexpectations for the future of a computing machine (Stein, 1985, p. xi). While they neverattained these lofty ideals, what Babbage did accomplish was to develop designs for allthe components of a programmable computer. Babbage and Lovelace defined the centralfunctions of a computer and called them input, output, memory, logic, and processor.These are terms we still use today. Together, Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace can beconsidered the Father and Mother of the Computer.

The IBM Era

By the late 19th century, the enthusiasm for computers moved to the United States (Bowles,1996). Herman Hollerith had great success with his construction of a machine to tabulatethe 1890 census. He came up with the idea of representing each persons data on a punchcard with holes in it. In 1924, Holleriths company changed its name to International Busi-ness Machines, which is known today as IBM.

The von Neumann Architecture

The next important computer was the EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable AutomaticComputer), completed in 1949, and operational in 1951. It was significant because of Johnvon Neumanns work on the logical operations of the machine (Macrae, 2000). These fiveclassic components of a computermemory, input, output, arithmetic logic unit, andcontrol unitare known as the von Neumann architectureand remain the basic struc-ture for computers to this day. The EDVAC was also called the stored-program computer


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began to explore how Xeroxmight be able to survive in a digital era. Located near Stan-ford University in California, these bright engineers at XeroxPARC (Palo Alto ResearchCenter) prepared for a paperless doomsday that they believed would occur in 1990(although it did not happen, we are still moving in this direction). Fear spurred them tocreate peripheral devices that changed the shape of computing, including the cursor,

mouse, pointer, Graphical User Interface (GUI), WYSIWYG, laser printers, and wordprocessors. Although we will be discussing what some of these terms mean later, it isimportant to remember that while the initial innovations occurred at Xerox, it was othercompanies that brought these devices to market. This is a valuable lesson; innovationdoes not guarantee commercial success.

What happened to all of this peripheral innovation? The Xeroxexecutives were inter-ested in what these engineers accomplished, but they never gave the go-ahead to fund thedevices beyond the research stage. They did, however, invite guests to tour their facilities.Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, visited Xeroxin 1979 and gathered ideas that becamethe central features of the Macintosh, which he released in 1984. Bill Gates would laterincorporate these same design elements into MicrosoftWindows (Cringely, 1991, pp.

7392). The personal computer was on the horizon.

Inventing the Processor

The development of the processor enabled the computer to become personal. Ted Hoff,working at a widely unknown company called Intelduring the 1960s, came up with aninteresting idea to solve a problem for a customer. Hoffs idea was to develop a general-purpose integrated circuit, instead of a specific logic chip that would work only in thiscalculator. In other words, multiple electronic circuits were placed on one chip.

What is an integrated circuit? Often, you will find that it is difficult to understand the defi-

nitions of technical terms because the explanations can be as complex (or more so) thanthe original terms themselves. An integrated circuit is an example. Basically, it is a smallsilicon wafer in which circuits consisting of millions of transistors, resistors, and capaci-tors can be embedded. The transistor is a switch that can amplify current (think of a radioamplifier in your car stereo) or turn electricity on or off. A resistorcan control the currentand limit it (think of a volume control on a TV). A capacitorcan collect and hold energyfor a short burst (just like the flash on a camera).

Hoffs integrated circuit was a revolutionary development because it was more than justa chip for a calculator. Instead, it could be used in a variety of devices ranging from musicsynthesizers to missile guidance systems. To make these machines perform different func-tions, each chip needed only a different set of instructions, or a program. This was revo-

lutionary because now one piece of hardware(the processor) could be used in any typeof computer as long as the softwarechanged. It was much easier to change a softwareprogram than to redesign a processor. Hoff was elated with his development, but no oneelse seemed to care or realize its significance. Hoff was able to convince Intelto develophis project, and by 1970, they had a prototype called the processor (Palfreman & Swade,1991, pp. 106118).


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One of the main benefits of the processor was its small size. Remember, the mainframecomputers of the 1950s weighed several tons and filled an entire room. The silicon pro-cessor, developed in a California region soon to be called Silicon Valley, could be heldin the palm of your hand. Smaller, faster, and cheaper, the processor seemed to haveunlimited potential. But Intelremained ahead of the curve. IBMand Digital Equipment

Corporation (DEC) evaluated the idea and concluded that there would be no market forsuch a device. After all, what possible reason would an average person have for a com-puter, especially at home? IBM thought that if someone really wanted to use a com-puter, he or she could rent time-sharingfrom a local business mainframe during off hours(Campbell-Kelly & Aspray, 1996, pp. 236258).

Altair, the First PC

The large computer makers failed to realize there was a home market for computers.Instead, those who were most excited about the development of the processor were thehobbyists. They wanted a computer in their home and were willing and knowledgeable

enough to build it themselves. They were finally able to do this in January 1975, when Pop-ular Electronicshit the newsstands with a cover depicting a computer called the Altair thatcould be purchased in pieces and assembled at home. By 1976, 5,000 to 15,000 Americanshad an Altair (Berger, 1976, p. 112). At one large meeting for the Altair in Atlantic City, twomen named Stephen Wozniak and Steve Jobs began selling circuit boards.

Apple

Jobs and Wozniak were an interesting, idealistic pair who had been tinkering with a com-puter in Jobss garage. In 1976, they released their computer, called the AppleI, whichsoon evolved into the more popular AppleII. This was a personal computer designed foreveryone to use out-of-the box, not just the skilled hobbyist geeks who assembled it withtheir own soldering guns. The AppleII met with a resounding success upon its releasein March 1977. The company had $700,000 in sales the first year, and $7 million the next.Suddenly, a personal computer industry began to flourish, and along with Apple, othercomputers hit the market, including the RadioShack TRS-80, the Commodore PET, andlater, the Atari400/800 computers.

These new computers came with a monitor (or could be plugged into a television) anda keyboard, but the biggest frustration for users was how data and other programs werestored. The device used to store a program or load one into the computer was a simpleaudiotape cassette deck that plugged into the computer through a special port. The soundcarried the data, but it was a slow and often inexact process to enter or save data. Some-

times, the entire tape played in, only to display a data entry error at the end, requiring theentire process to be repeated:

Rewind. Advance the leader of the cassette tape. And try again.

Rewind. Advance the leader of the cassette tape. And try again.


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Wozniak eventually came to the res-cue by developing a disk drive thatstored data on 5.25-inch floppy disks.This was a faster and much morereliable method of transmitting and

storing data to and from the com-puter. By 1980, Apples sales were$96 million. But where was IBM?This question was on the minds ofmany. When would this sleepinggiant awake? And, when it did, howwould its entry change the face of thecomputer industry that was firmlyunder Apples control?

IBM Gets PersonalSome have considered IBMs entryinto the market as the most impor-tant development in the history ofpersonal computers. While the homebrew clubs (these were clubs of computer hobbyists)and the early Appleadvocates would take exception to this statement, the IBMPC was asignificant moment in the history of computing. The original release took place in August1981, and for $1,565, the first IBMPC came with several nice features, including 64 KB ofRAM memory and an external hard drive that could store 160 KB of data on a single-sideddisk. The monitorwhich had a green-and-white monochrome displaycost extra. Theresult was a huge commercial success. IBMhad hoped to sell 240,000 computers over a

period of five years. Instead, they received that many orders in the first month alone. Thefirst IBMPC was not revolutionary in itself because Appleand Altair had been therefirst, but what made it so important was that it came from IBM. In a sense, what IBMdid was legitimize the personal computer and demonstrate that a personal PC had a roleto play in a company long known for developing massive mainframes (New York Times,2007, p. 449).

The IBM PC

How did the IBMPC come to be? The company had considered manufacturing the PCfor years, but nothing transpired until July 1980, when John R. Opel and Frank T. Carey,the IBMpresident and chairman, respectively, asked their managers for a report on howthe company could enter the personal computer market within a year (Campbell-Kelly &Aspray, 1996, p. 232). Just one month later, a plan was in place, and IBM began workingon the PC. Launching the first PC within a year was an ambitious plan for a large, slow-moving company that typically took up to four years to develop a new computer. Oneway it accomplished this ambitious goal was to delegate the development of some partsof the computer to third-party vendors. One of these requirements was a software sys-tem, and instead of developing one internally, IBMfound a vendor that impressed them:

The invention of the floppy disk in the late 1970s made

personal computers more convenient to use, and

therefore, more popular. What methods of data storagehave replaced the floppy disk today?

Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Thinkstock/Getty Images


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Microsoft (Wise, 1982, p. 23). For the central processor, IBM selected the Intel 8088and 8086 chips. Although this strategy enabled IBMto put the PC on the market in recordtime, partnering so closely with its vendors meant that IBMlost a significant portion ofits profit margin. The company achieved short-term success, but jeopardized its long-term strength.

Another AppleMacintosh

AppleComputer, still headed by Jobs and Wozniak, continued to push its brand of com-puter while IBMworked on entering the market. However, Applebegan to encounterless consumer enthusiasm for its newer products. The first was the AppleIII, releasedin 1980. The main reason people did not rush out to purchase an AppleIII was its retailprice, which ranged from $4,000 to nearly $8,000. These numbers have not been adjustedfor inflation. Computers sold in 1980 cost a great deal more and were significantly lesspowerful than computers today. The high price compensated for the low demand andkept Applealive as it continued to push the limits of computer technology by offering a

product that was unique and innovative. Apple

maintained this philosophy with its nextmajor computer release, the LISA (Largely Integrated Systems Architecture), in 1983. Themost significant feature of this computer was that it was the first personal computer tohave a GUI (Graphical User Interface). This meant that users could manipulate the com-puter by clicking on icons instead of typing characters on a screen. When users turnedon an IBMPC, they saw a black screen with three lonely characters, C:\ (called the Cprompt), and a blinking cursor. When a LISA was turned on, its screen showed iconsrepresenting applications and tasks the computer could perform. The LISA incorporateda mouse to let users navigate the menus and icons quickly and easily.

Despite the glamour of LISA, there were problems, including its price (initially $12,000),which was even more expensive than the AppleIII (Freiberger, 1983, p. 1). Appleeven-

tually lowered LISAs cost by $2,000, but sales were still slow. The company learned itslesson, but did not want to give up on the LISA features. In 1984, Apple launched anew computer called the Macintoshthat maintained the GUI interface and mouse. Thisrelease, which included a remarkably futuristic Super Bowl commercial, established themajor divisions in the personal computer wars. On one side was the IBMPC; on the otherwas the AppleMacintosh. This division continues to this day, even though IBMitselfis no longer a major player.

Early sales of the Macintoshwere slow. Although it was the fastest-selling $10,000 com-puter of all time, only 25,000 people bought it the year it was introduced (Mace, 1983, p.65). It had no hard drive and had only limited memory, which made the computer oper-ate slowly. IBMremained the safer choice in the personal computer and small business

environment (Wise & Steemers, 2000, pp. 4950), while Applemaintained and cultivateda small and loyal following.

One of the remarkable features of computers is that they decrease in price over time, whilealso getting more powerful. Table 2.1 shows the decrease in price, and increase in speedand capability.


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Table 2.1: Macintosh and iMac comparison from 1984 and 2009

Computer Macintosh iMac

Year sold 1984 2009

Price in 2009 dollars $5,186.17 $3,849.00

CPU Motorola 68000 2.8 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7

Total CPU MHz 7.83 11,200

RAM (KB) 128 16,000,000

Fixed Disk (MB) 0 2,000,000

Removable Drive 3.5 floppy 8x double-layer SuperDrive

Removable Capacity

(KB/media)

400 8,500,000

Operating System Apple Macintosh System Software

1.0

Apple Mac OS X 10.6 Snow

Leopard

Adapted from http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2010/04/computers-just-keep-getting-cheaper-and-better-and-we-should-eagerly-await-the-days-ahead/

Enter the Clones

IBMcontinued its domination of the market by introducing three new personal com-puters during the 1980s: the 80286 (in 1982), the 80386 (in 1985), and the 80486 (in 1989).These were the names that computer users called them, but in reality they were the namesof the Intelprocessor inside the machine. Higher numbers indicated a faster machinewith more computing power, which was needed as applications became more graphicallyintensive and required greater amounts of memory. But IBMwas not the only companyselling machines. A variety of cloneshit the market almost as soon as the original IBMPCdid. This became a highly competitive field very quickly. Other companies duplicated theIBMproduct and marketed their computers as being 100% compatible with IBM. Ahost of IBMcompatibles flooded the market, and some of these companies have survivedto this day, including Gatewayand DellComputers (Compaq merged into Hewlett-Packard). Today, there are even more companies manufacturing desktop and portablecomputers and it remains a very competitive market.

Open the Windows

By 1991, the PC entered a new phase. Using Microsofts new graphical operating systemcalled 3.1 (to be covered in a later chapter), the PC was now borrowing the appearanceand features of the Macintosh. But ultimately, it was not IBMthat saw the lions shareof the profits. Companies that sold clones, such as Delland Compaq, made more moneythan IBMdid. Microsoftwas the biggest winner during this period because it was ableto sell its software for both the clones and IBM(Ceruzzi, 2003, p. 272). Thus, much of thepersonal computer environment was established with the IBM PC and clones on oneside, the AppleMacintoshon the other, and Microsoftin the enviable software positionin the middle.
http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2010/04/computers-just-keep-getting-cheaper-and-better-and-we-should-eagerly-await-the-days-ahead/http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2010/04/computers-just-keep-getting-cheaper-and-better-and-we-should-eagerly-await-the-days-ahead/


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CHAPTER 2Section 2.2 Looking Inside the Computer

Questions to Consider

1. Are computers a recent development?

2. Who are considered the Father and Mother of the Computer?

3. What are the five main components of the von Neumann computer architecture?

4. What was the first computer to use a binary operating system?5. What did the number 360 represent in the name of the IBM 360 computer?

6. Who invented the processor, and what company did he work for?

7. What was the name of the first personal computer?

8. Who founded Apple, and when did the company release its first computer?

9. What were some of Apples early competitors?

10. When did IBM first sell its PC? Who were some of the key vendors that created parts for

the PC?

11. What does GUI stand for, and what were the first personal computers to use GUI?

12. Which was a faster processor: the 80286 or the 80386?

13. What were two of the companies that manufactured IBM clones?

2.2 Looking Inside the Computer

One of the ironies in writing a book about digital literacy for online students isthat you clearly have some level of familiarity with the computer; otherwise, youwould not be reading these electronic words. You know how to turn on a com-

puter, identify a monitor, and how to use a keyboard and mouse to perform tasks online.With this in mind, lets skip over some of the most basic information and branch off into adiscussion of how a computer works. The focus here will be on a standard desktop com-puter. Everything discussed also applies to a tablet, although the components are smaller

and condensed into a single portable case. Both tablets and desktops work the same waythough interaction with a tablet is with touch and with a desktop computer it is with amouse (Miller, 2007). However, now with the new Windows8 operating system, Micro-softis integrating touch into the desktop environment.

The Main Computer Box

Lets start with the large box to which the monitor, keyboard, printer, speakers, and mouseare connected. This is the computer itself. It can come in different shapes and sizes, includ-ing large (tower) and smaller (mini tower) options. In the early days, these boxes wereeither white or beige, but now they can be any color, although many are black. On the

front is the on/off button, a blinking light that indicates when the hard drive is in opera-tion, and options for external storagesuch as a DVD drive (more on this topic later). Theback of the computer (or the front on many tower computer cases) is where you will findports to connect other devices, such as stereo mini jacks for speakers or microphones,Ethernet for your Internet connection, and USB (Universal Serial Bus)ports for peripher-als such as cameras or printers (again, more information on these topics will be providedlater). The major components of a computer are shown in Figure 2.2. All the computermagic happens inside the box, but our goal in the next few paragraphs will be to dispel thenotion that magic is involved. Instead, computers work by means of a relatively simpleand direct process (Parsons & Oja, 2010).


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Figure 2.2: Computer parts

Printer/Scanner

Externalhard drive

Keyboard

Mouse

Monitor

Speakers

Motherboard

CPU Processor

RAM (memory)

Expansioncards/slots

Powersupply unit

Optical disc drive(DVD-ROM)

Hark diskdrive

Optical disc drive(DVD-ROM)

These are the major parts of a computer, including typical peripheral devices such as a printer and

scanner.

Before you pull off your computer case, be sure to take the following precautions. First,unplug the power and press and hold the start button for 10 seconds. This drains power

from the capacitors (a device similar to a battery in that it stores electrical energy). Second,eliminate any static electricity in your body that might have built up. We have all expe-rienced what happens when we shuffle our feet on carpet when wearing socks and thentouch someone. A small spark of static electricity is produced. This electrical charge is notstrong enough to hurt you or anyone else, but it is powerful enough to destroy your com-puter. To eliminate any traces of static electricity, you can buy an antistatic wristband oran antistatic mat. The other way to do this is to touch the bare metal of the computer casethe entire time you are working on anything inside.

After taking these safety precautions, when you open the computer you will find numer-ous colored wires, computer chips, and circuit boards. The most important of these is thelargest one, which is usually located at the base of the computer. This is known as the

motherboard, because it is the board that all the other circuit boards plug into and alsobecause this is where the computer memory and processor reside. The nice thing aboutthe motherboard is that you can add things to it in its open expansion slots, which allowyou to customize your computer. If you are interested in playing Second Life or World ofWarcraft, it would be a very good idea to add a more advanced video card (such as thosemanufactured by Nvidia, ATI, PNY, GeForce, or Radeon). This will make the graphicalprocessing faster with more video memory, enable more detailed screen resolution, andalso allow you to connect two or more monitors to the same computer.


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Processor

What is the processor? This is the brain of the computer, and it is located on the moth-erboard. The processor is also sometimes called the central processing unit or the CPU.The CPUis like an orchestra conductor; it tells all the other parts how to act and when.

A stored program in the CPU called the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System)is the codethat the processor follows when the computer is first turned on or booted. The BIOS helpsinitialize all the peripherals so the CPU can send data to and from them as needed. As youwill see in the following sections, companies like Intelhave developed many differenttypes of CPUs. CPUs are usually identified by a name or a number. For example, the earli-est ones by Intelwere called the 8086 and 8088 during the 1970s. The 1980s brought the80286, 80386, and 80486. Then, in the 1990s, the next generation was the IntelPentiumchips. Today, you might find options such as the IntelCeleron, IntelCentrino, or Intel

Corei5 or i7 processor when purchasing a new computer. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.(AMD) also has a long history of developing processors since the 1970s.

What makes one processor better than another? One key factor is speed. The CPUs speed

is not measured in miles per hour (mph) like the speed of a car. Instead, CPU speed ismeasured in gigahertz(GHz). If you see a CPU stating that it runs at 1 GHz, this meansit operates at one billion cyclesper second. The higher the number of GHz, the faster theprocessor. Older computers were much slower than this. For example, in the late 1980s,you would have been thrilled to own a computer that operated at 33 megahertz(MHz), or33 million cycles per second. It is important to note that a computer cannot always executean entire instruction in one cycle. The cycle is simply a measure of the smallest unit oftime that exists for the processor. While some computer instructions can take place withinthe span of one cycle, others require many cycles. Another way to measure a processor isby the number of transistors it contains. Table 2.2 shows how far these processors haveadvanced over the past three decades.

Table 2.2: The evolution of the processor

Year Processor Transistor Speed

1978 8086 29,000 10 MHz

1989 80486 1.2 million 25 MHz

1999 Pentium II 9.5 million 600 MHz

2006 Core 2 Extreme 585 million 3 GHz

2012 Intel Core i7-3770K 1.4 billion 3.53.9 GHz

Source: Compiled from: http://download.intel.com/pressroom/kits/IntelProcessorHistory.pdf

In 2008, the processor entered the multi-coreera with a single processor actually contain-ing multiple processor cores, allowing it to perform several different tasks at the same time.
http://download.intel.com/pressroom/kits/IntelProcessorHistory.pdfhttp://download.intel.com/pressroom/kits/IntelProcessorHistory.pdf


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The Chips Are Everywhere

Computer chips are not just for computers anymore. Today, a majority of all householdappliances have a computer chip in them. For example, your coffee maker likely has one.Even though it does not have a traditional input device like a QWERTYkeyboard, you canstill input your instructions into your coffee maker and tell it what you want it to do. Youcan program it to turn itself on 15 minutes before you wake up to have a hot pot ready. Oryou can tell it to keep the pot warm for one hour or six. The computer chip receives theseinputs from you and then controls various internal devices in order to follow your instruc-

tions. Advanced users can even connect that same coffee pot to the Internet and control itfrom anywhere in the world.

Chips can also be used for tracking. In other words, you can purchase a tracking chip,place it in your childs backpack, and in an emergency you can find out exactly wherethe backpack is located through satellite data. All cell phones and smartphoneshave thisinformation, and while this is proprietary information controlled by wireless companies,like Verizon, there is a growing push to make the information available to law enforce-ment agencies to help find missing persons. Known as the Kelsey Law, as of August 2012,eight states have enacted it. It is named for Kelsey Smith, a Kansas teenager who wasabducted in June 2007. Four days later, police found her body. Had they been able to gaintracking location from her cell phone, it is possible she would be alive today. Her parents

have spearheaded the effort to make this a law in all states. We will see the use of trackingchips expand in the future. Some passports already have them embedded.

If you started taking apart your household appliances and other electronic devices youuse on a daily basis (this is not recommended!), you would find lots of other computerchips hiding inside. You might find them in clocks, watches, printers, digital scales, smart-phones, tablet computers, automobiles, televisions, refrigerators, microwaves, garage dooropeners, TV remote controls, and so on. Of course, they are found not just in the home butalso in nearly every work site. Hospitals have computer chips embedded in every medi-cal device. Technicians and mechanics use them to test and calibrate the equipment theyservice. Even though a traditional computer with a keyboard, mouse, and monitor maynot be everywhere, computer chips essentially surround us in our daily lives at work and

at home, whether we know it or not.

A Look Further:Processor Names and Speeds

Processor names and speeds are changing all the time. One way to keep up with this is a website called

CPU Benchmarks, which has now rated over 600,000 CPUs: http://cpubenchmark.net/.
http://cpubenchmark.net/http://cpubenchmark.net/


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Memory

An important part of the motherboard as well as the computers overall effectiveness isits memory. Memory is a very important capability for humans. After all, this is wherewe store our knowledge, identity, and skills. The importance of memory for a computeris similarly significant. Random Access Memory (RAM) is the temporarymemory thatthe CPU uses while performing calculations or running your programs. This means itis volatile, so if you lose power, all of the information stored in RAM will simply disap-pear. Another type of memory in your CPU is called Read Only Memory (ROM). Theseinstructions are also called firmwarebecause they are permanently encoded into ROM.The BIOS is an example of firmware.

Another type of memory is called the cache(pronounced cash). The computer uses thisby putting data and programs into it that you frequently use so it can access them morequickly. One way you can test this is by turning on your computer and then openingWord. Time how long it takes for Word to open. Then exit and reopen the program andnotice how much faster it has loaded. This is possible because the computer has cachedmuch of the Word program to enable a faster response.

Technology Today:The Internet of Things

GE is working with a company called Tendril that specializes in energy management services to develop

a software program that will allow consumers to control all of their household appliances through

Web browsers on PCs or even on cell phones when they are away from home (LaMonica, 2009).

Three things are making these developments possible:

1. The continuing increase in powerand simultaneous decrease in costof computer chips.

2. The emergence of the Internet as a global communications platform.

3. The advent of Wi-Fi technology, which makes it easier to build home computing networks.

Computer chips are becoming so inexpensive to produce that some scientists expect soon to see smart

chips that cost two dollars or less routinely placed in household appliances. If that happens, consum-

ers will be able to connect all of their appliances to Wi-Fi networks in their homes, and then link those

networksvia the Internet.

Futurists have been predicting this exact scenario for years. They even have a name for the multitude

of home networks that will connect all these smart appliances. They call it The Internet of Things.

Links to Addional Informaon

The Internet of Things

hp://www.mckinsey.com/insights/high_tech_telecoms_internet/the_internet_of_things

GE Appliances

hp://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10281466-54.html
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/high_tech_telecoms_internet/the_internet_of_thingshttp://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10281466-54.htmlhttp://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10281466-54.htmlhttp://www.mckinsey.com/insights/high_tech_telecoms_internet/the_internet_of_things


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Storage

It is very important at this stage to differentiate between memory and storage. Stor-age is for the permanent retention of data like your class papers, music, video, images, etc.This is typically kept on a hard drive, or the long-term internal storage device, which

is typically denoted by the letter C in a computer. These letters were first used as wayto name storage devices. In the 1970s and 1980s, hard drives were rare and most personalcomputers had external storage drives. The first one plugged in received the name A (thiswas usually a 5.25 drive). Next, were the 3.5 external drives that had a slightly largercapacity, and were often identified with the letter B. At that point, hard drives becamemore popular, so they were designated with the letter C. Even today, while you click onthe Computer option in a Windowsoperating system, you will see the operating sys-tem and the hard drive denoted with the letter C. The DVD drive then has the letter D, andany other external devices or drives are assigned successive letters.

Keep in mind this important distinction between memory and storage. Again, memoryis typically for the temporary storage of data that is used to perform current operations

either from a program or a specific operation.

One example of storage is called flash, and it does not disappear when your computerloses power. USB jump drives are an example of this. Other examples include digital cam-eras and cell phones. When you lose the charge to these devices after the battery runsdown, the photos or the phone numbers do not disappear. You can thank your flash mem-ory for that.

Later in this book, we will be exploring a type of storage called cloud. This refers to per-sonal data that you do not store in your home or on any of the devices you own. Instead,you store the data on computer servers hosted by companies throughout the world. Youdo not know wherethe data is, but you know how to access and modify it. The benefits are

that the data is safe in case you have a fire in your home, you lose the device your data isstored on, or your computer malfunctions and crashes.

Binary Data

Now, lets discuss how the computer stores information. The computer operates on abinary system of ones and zeros. Everything you see or hear on a computerwords,images, data, pictures, movies, and musicis represented inside the computer as a oneor a zero. Each one or zero is represented by a single bit(a binary digit) of memory. (Thecomputer can tell the difference between a one and a zero by a high or a low voltage.)

How does a one or a zero represent data? Lets look at a simple example involving num-bers. If you wanted to count to 10 in the decimal system, the sequence would be 0, 1, 2,3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. In the binary system, this would be 0000, 0001, 0010, 0011, 0100, 0101,0110, 0111, 1000, 1001, 1010.

Lets explore what these ones and zeros mean so that you can learn to count in binary. Inbinary, when the digit is a 0, it represents a zero (or the off position), and when it is a 1(or the on position), it represents a power of 2 (2 to the zero power equals 1; 2 to the firstpower equals 2; 2 to the second power [or two squared] equals 4; 2 to the third power [ortwo cubed] equals 8; and so on). For example, 1110 in binary is 8 + 4 + 2 + 0, which is equal


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to 14 in the decimal system. While this 1110 looks more complex to us than 14 does, fromthe perspective of a computer, the binary system is a much simpler way to manipulatedata. The use of binary, representing each unit of information as a sequence of either volt-age on or off, allows a computer to perform tasks much more quickly and efficiently thanthe decimal system would. Table 2.3 lists how numbers are represented in binary code.

Table 2.3: Binary representation of decimals

Decimal Binary

0 0000

1 0001

2 0010

3 0011

4 0100

5 0101

6 0110

7 0111

8 1000

9 1001

10 1010

11 1011

12 1100

13 1101

14 1110

15 1111

For more information on data conversions and numbers greater than 15, see http://www.ascii.cl/conversion.htm.

A Look Further:Time in Binary

You can even impress your friends and tell time in binary. To see the current time and the binaryequivalent, visit: http://minkukel.com/scripts/binary-clock/.

Bits and Bytes

A single character or letter of the alphabet requires 8 bits, or 1 byte. This is an example ofone byte in binary: 00000000. Each zero is a bit, and all eight zeros is the byte. There areseveral types of numbering systems (or binary coding schemes), called ASCII(American
http://www.ascii.cl/conversion.htmhttp://www.ascii.cl/conversion.htmhttp://www.ascii.cl/conversion.htmhttp://www.ascii.cl/conversion.htm


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Standard Code for Information Interchange) and EBCDIC(Extended Binary Coded Deci-mal Interchange Code). In ASCII, the letter A is 0100001, or as a decimal number it is 65.B is 66, C is 67, and so on. You will find EBCDIC used for mainframe computers, and ASCIIin the PC (OLeary & OLeary, 2008). Another coding system is called Unicode and is cur-rently supported by Apple, HP, IBM, Microsoft, and others (see http://unicode.org/).

To see more ASCII codes, visit: http://www.ascii.cl/.

We have a few more binary measurements to discuss. One thousand bytes (actually 1024)is called a kilobyte. We have seen an amazing exponential growth in computer memory.During the 1970s, most computers had 48 kilobytes of memoryroughly 48,000 charac-ters of data, or the number of words a 150-page book might contain. Just the text from thisdigital literacy book would have been too large for these early computers, and no one evenconceived of storing high-resolution images on a computer at that time. During the 1990s,the storage unit increased to megabytes(MB), or millions of bytes of data, and today, theamount of RAM in a computer is measured in gigabytes(GB), or billions of bytes of data.You might have 4 GB of RAM on your motherboard. Today, there are terabyte (TB) harddrives. The following is the conversion of these terms to the amount of bytes of memory.

1 kilobyte (KB)51,024 bytes

1 megabyte (MB)51,048,576 bytes

1 gigabyte (GB)51,073,741,824 bytes

1 terabyte (TB)51,099,511,627,776 bytes

Again, the more memory the better, because with it, your computer can run more pro-grams simultaneously, and programs that require many calculations (like computergames) can run faster.

Lets consider a more visual real world example of what these mean. Remove somechange from your pocket (or piggy bank) and find some pennies. Place 1 penny on yourdesk. Lets call that 1 bit. Now, find 7 more pennies and place them next to the first. All8 now can be our visual representation of a byte. Now, unless you have millions of pen-nies lying around and lots of spare time, dont try this at home. Imagine if you wanted torepresent a kilobyte in pennies. If the 8 pennies were 6 inches long, a kilobyte of pennieswould stretch 512 feet. If you wanted to continue this down your street, you could putdown over 1 million pennies and after 99 miles, you would have achieved a megabyte(MB). If you wanted to see a gigabyte (GB) in pennies, it would extend over 101,000 miles.This would wrap around the earth 4 times! Finally, a terabyte (TB) would stretch over

100 million miles7 million miles further than the average distance of the earth to thesun. As you can see, these numbers are gigantic.

There is one more important measure for how quickly the CPU can access its memory,and this is its word size. We are not talking about MicrosoftWord here; instead, a wordin this context means the number of bits a CPU can access simultaneously. For example,when you hear about something called a 32-bit processor, this means that the CPU canaccess a string of 32 ones and zeros at once. A 64-bit processor is able to access twice thatamount at one time and therefore, results in a faster machine. Early computers were 8-bitor 16-bit and ran more slowly.
http://unicode.org/http://www.ascii.cl/http://www.ascii.cl/http://unicode.org/


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Much like the short-term memory ina human, RAM is temporary storage.For items you want to save for longerperiods of time, there is the internalhard drive, which is located inside

the main computer box and attachedto the motherboard with one of thosecolored wires. The hard drive iswhere your Word document mightreside after you save it, or where all ofyour pictures from your camera areplaced after you upload them. Thehard drive typically has much morestorage capacity than RAM does.Back in the 1980s, a hard drive mighthave been 20 MB. Todays hard drivesare much largerperhaps 500 GB.

The largest ones are measured by theterabyte (TB), which is 1024 gigabytesof memory.

Parallel Processing

Amazing as it may seem, until recently, most computers could do only one thing at a time.It is only because they operate at high speeds that it appears to us that things are happen-ing simultaneously. This is comparable to what happens when you watch a movie. In real-ity, you are seeing a series of still pictures flashed at a rate of 32 frames per second, whichgives the appearance of motion. In a similar sense, the speed of the computer enables it

to perform tasks so quickly that it looks as if they are happening all at once. This is whata serial processormeans. The CPU reads each instruction sent to it, performs the action,and then moves on to the next instruction.

Parallel processingmeans that multiple processors work on different problems at the sametime. Hyper-threadingis a way for software to simulate this parallel processing for eachcore to perform two tasks at the same time. Intelhas a short video that describes this tech-nology: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/hyper-threading/hyper-threading-technology-video.html

Newer computers have true parallel processing capability, which enables them to carryout more than one instruction simultaneously. Today, a single CPU might contain multiple

cores. This enhances the computers speed and performance and is sometimes known asdual-coreor quad-coreprocessing. Intelis one of the leading manufacturers of proces-sors. For desktop computers, the top-of-the-line processors are the IntelCorei5 (a dualcore) and the IntelCorei7 (a quad core). For laptop users, there are the IntelCorei5and IntelCorei7 mobile processors.

Two essential aspects of computer memory are binary code

and RAMtemporary storage of data on a chip like this

one. If a computer has similarities to a brain, what charac-teristics of human thought could be compared to RAM?

S.T. Yiap/Purestock/SuperStock
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/hyper-threading/hyper-threading-technology-video.htmlhttp://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/hyper-threading/hyper-threading-technology-video.htmlhttp://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/hyper-threading/hyper-threading-technology-video.htmlhttp://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/hyper-threading/hyper-threading-technology-video.html


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CHAPTER 2Section 2.3 Computer Peripherals Today

2.3 Computer Peripherals Today

In the previous section, you learned what is inside your computer, including the mostimportant componentthe motherboard. Now, lets turn to some of the devices, orperipherals, that you can connect to a computer. Many of these you will be familiar

with, and perhaps the description of others might inspire a trip to Best Buy . The mainfunction of a peripheral device is to enable you to manipulate and control the computerin a specific way. These devices can be broken down into two main categories. The firstare input devices, or tools you can use to send information into a computer. Variousinput devices might be a mouse, scanner, keyboard, or DVD disk. Output devices arethe second type. These are tools for getting data from your computer, and they include

the monitor, printer, speakers, or DVD drive. You will notice that the DVD drive (or USBdrive) can be both an input or output device, depending on whether you want to storedata from your computer (output) or transfer data to your computer (input).

Monitors

Today, many exciting peripherals can enhance the computing experience. Monitors, whichprovide a visual display for everything you do on a computer, come in a variety of sizes,but most of them have evolved from a square to a rectangular shape. While monitors usedto display text-only characters in either amber or green on a black background, now theyare extremely high-resolution devices that can display razor-sharp images and video. Most

current monitor screens are flat panel, which means they are very thin. This is achieved byusing LCD (liquid crystal display), LED (light emitting diode) technology. The monitorsresolution conveys the sharpness of the image. The resolution numbers, such as 640x480or 1920x1200, represent the size of the screen grid, with the first number indicating thenumber of horizontal pixels(the smallest point on a monitor that can be altered) and thesecond indicating the number of vertical pixels. The larger the number of pixels, the betterthe resolution. The monitors are connected to the computer through a variety of cables. AVGA(video graphics array) cable is for lower resolution, while HDMI (high-definitionmultimedia interface) delivers much better resolution (Rogers, 1983, p. 144).


1. Why would you need to open a computer?

2. What is the largest board inside the computer called?

3. What is a processor?

4. What does the acronym BIOS stand for?5. What are some names of different processors?

6. What is the measure of the speed of a CPU?

7. Which is faster, 33 GHz or 33 MHz?

8. What is the difference between RAM and ROM?

9. How many bits are in a byte? How many bytes are in a kilobyte?

10. Which is more computer memory: 100 MB or 100 GB?

11. What is the number 3 in binary?

12. What is the importance of the word size of the CPU?


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In the future, we might be using bendable monitors. In March 2012, LG began produc-ing bendable e-paper displays. Where might we see such technology? In April 2012, USATodayspeculated that it could be found on car dashboards, backpacks, coffee mugs andother items (Swartz, 2012).

Graphics cards (also known as display cards or video cards) are expansion cards on themotherboard, which can enhance and quicken the display of complex images on the com-puter monitor.

Printers and Scanners

Like the monitor, printers also come in a variety of styles. Laser printers operate by depos-iting toner (fine particles that look like black dust) on a piece of paper and then burningthem into place with a laser. This is the printer of choice for printing a great deal of text(and black-and-white images) quickly and inexpensively. The inkjetis used when coloris needed. It sprays tiny drops of colored ink on the paper. The drops combine to form an

image. Inkjet printers use two cartridges: one for color that holds yellow, magenta, andcyan inks, and the other for black ink. Some inkjet printers enable you to replace indi-vidual colors, an economical option if you use one color significantly more than others.A more expensive though higher quality color option is a color laser printer. While colorprinting is slower and more expensive, these printers now can print with such quality thatthe results can barely be distinguished from professionally developed film. Often, theseinkjet printers will also include a scanner. A scanner is similar to a photocopier in that youlay a document down and close the scanner cover over it. The scanner will then take animage of the document and convert it into ones and zeros to use in the computer. The user,of course, sees an exact image of the document on the monitor and can then manipulatethe image. Some scanners will also use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) softwareto convert graphical words into computer-searchable text. This is done by comparing the

scanned images with known shapes of text characters. OCR is the attempt, which is notalways accurate, to match the shapes to the text.

External Storage

One other vital peripheral is external storage, which is a way to preserve and maintainyour information outside of the main computer. The earliest form of external storage for aPC was the common cassette recorder, but storage devices have evolved dramatically overtime. The 5.25 floppy disk held 640 KB of data, and the 3.5 diskette held 1.44 MB of data.Next, came the Iomega Zip disk, which held 100 MB, and the CD-ROM, which could storeapproximately 650 MB of information. When you purchase a computer today, you will

likely get one with a DVD or Blu-ray drive. Each DVD holds 4.7 to 17 GB, and a Blu-raystores 25 GB to 50 GB. These are storage amounts for single-layer recording. A dual-layerrecording effectively doubles this storage capacity because a second layer of storage actu-ally exists within the single disk. These are often noted by the acronym DL for dual layer.

You can also purchase external hard drives, like the popular Western Digital My Pass-port, with three terabytes of memory or more. As we will learn in Chapter 9, the cloudcomputing is now replacing many of these external storage options.


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Keyboard and Mouse

The keyboard and mouse also have become sophisticated devices over time. The mouse,which is the device that translates your physical hand movement to movement of a pointeron the monitor screen, used to incorporate a trackball(a rolling rubber ball on the bottom

of the mouse) to register movement. Then, the mouse became optical, using a beam of lightthat reflected off a mirrored surface. The latest mice use infrared technology, like the DarkField from Logitech. These mice usually have two buttons (called the left and right click)and a center wheel that is used for scrolling up or down on long Word documents or Webpages. Other buttons might include a page zoom or forward and backward buttons for Webpages. Most of todays mice and keyboards no longer have cables that physically attachthem to the computer. They are wireless (we will discuss Bluetoothconnectivity later).

Keyboards, which are used to type information into the computer, also come in variousshapes and sizes. Some are curved to allow for a more ergonomic(comfortable for theuser) positioning of the users hands. Some have detachable number pads or special keysusers can customize themselves. Another distinguishing feature is that they have a row of

F or function keys at the top, which are used to perform special functions in different soft-ware packages. For example, press F1 in Word and the Help Menu appears. Remember,help is usually always close at hand with the F1 key.

On many modern laptopcomputers, you will find a square black surface below the key-board. This is a touch pad, which replaces the need for a mouse. Users literally touch it,and the heat sensitivity of the finger s movement replicates the movement of a pointer onthe screen. With the advent of touch screens today and in the future, these touch pads maydisappear. In fact, they already have on tablet computers.

Connections

Other peripheral devices can be connected to your computer, and not all of them are wire-less. From the 1980s through the mid-1990s, the most common types of connectors werecalled parallel and serial ports. Serial ports send data one bit at a time. You can differenti-ate a serial port from a parallel portbecause the serial port has fewer pins (for the maleside) or holes (for the female end). Examples of serial connections include the mouseand keyboard connections. Parallel ports can send data much more quickly than serialports. These multiple bits can be transferred at the same time, thus the term parallel.Although printers were once commonly connected through a parallel port, today, theyalmost always have a USB connection.

In 1996, a new type of connectionthe USB 1.0emerged from a collaboration between

Microsoft

, Intel

, IBM

, Compaq, Digital, and Northern Telecom. Version USB 3.0, whichis now the standard, was first released in November 2008. One interesting use of this tech-nology is the flash drive(also called a jump drive or thumb drive). This is a USB connec-tion that contains storage (as high as 64 GB or more) for quickly storing files. Flash drivesare very popular and some are so small they can even hang on a keychain. It is estimatedthat nearly 6 billion USB devices for flash drives, cameras, external hard drives, printers,keyboards, and related devices are sold each year.

New connectivity devices are on the horizon. One is the IntelThunderboltdata port thatpromises even faster data connection speeds. Appearing on AppleMacBookPro laptop


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computers in May 2011, they promise to have a much wider integration in the future (http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/io/thunderbolt/thunderbolt-overview-brief.html ).

This can be found in several places today, such as on Apples MacBookAir, MacBookPro, iMac, and Macmini (http://www.Apple.com/thunderbolt/). The PC world is also

slowly adopting the Thunderbolt

technology. In July 2012, PCWorldmagazine reportedon the five most important Thunderboltdevices for transferring data with incredibly fastspeeds. This article can be found at the following link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/ 259593/use_speedy_thunderbolt_hardware_for_faster_data_transfers.html

Wireless and Bluetooth

Another important connection type is Bluetooth, which has contributed to the rise ofwireless connectivity. Though this technology dates back to pioneering work done forthe military in the 1940s, it has only recently become a popular connection option fordevices like headsets, smartphones, and cameras to communicate with a host computer.

In 1994, Swedish engineers at Ericsson were the first to incorporate this technology forpersonal computer use. Today, there is not a single company that owns the technology butit is shared among multiple organizations in the BluetoothSpecial Interest Group (SIG).It works by transferring data through radio waves in a Personal Area Network (PAN),which typically extends up to 164 feet.

One frequent question is: Where does the name Bluetooth come from? It was initially aterm the SIG members adopted and it has remained. They chose it for a 10th century Dan-ish King Harald Bltand, which translates to Harald Bluetooth in English. Why him? Hislegacy was in uniting warring groups throughout what are now Norway, Sweden, andDenmark. This connectivity is why the SIG chose his name as a symbol ( http://www.bluetooth.com/Pages/Fast-Facts.aspx).

eCycling

The more you use computers, themore you will find yourself begin-ning to accumulate old peripheralsand hardware you no longer need.Current estimates are that everyhousehold in the United States con-tains 24 electronic devices. This ismerely an average. It is important to

recycle these devices when you aredone with them, and not simplythrow them away. In fact, in somestates, it is illegal to dispose of certainkinds of computer equipment in acommon trash bin (and of course it isalso dangerous to dispose of anymachine that contains personal data).

Computers, cell phones, and other devices can (and in

some states must) be recycled or donated for reuse. How

have you disposed of used electronics in the past?

Ton Koene/age fotostock/SuperStock
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/io/thunderbolt/thunderbolt-overview-brief.htmlhttp://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/io/thunderbolt/thunderbolt-overview-brief.htmlhttp://www.apple.com/thunderbolt/http://www.pcworld.com/article/259593/use_speedy_thunderbolt_hardware_for_faster_data_transfers.htmlhttp://www.pcworld.com/article/259593/use_speedy_thunderbolt_hardware_for_faster_data_transfers.htmlhttp://www.bluetooth.com/Pages/Fast-Facts.aspxhttp://www.bluetooth.com/Pages/Fast-Facts.aspxhttp://www.bluetooth.com/Pages/Fast-Facts.aspxhttp://www.bluetooth.com/Pages/Fast-Facts.aspxhttp://www.pcworld.com/article/259593/use_speedy_thunderbolt_hardware_for_faster_data_transfers.htmlhttp://www.pcworld.com/article/259593/use_speedy_thunderbolt_hardware_for_faster_data_transfers.htmlhttp://www.apple.com/thunderbolt/http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/io/thunderbolt/thunderbolt-overview-brief.htmlhttp://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/io/thunderbolt/thunderbolt-overview-brief.html


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CHAPTER 2Section 2.4 The New PCMobile Computing

2.4 The New PCMobile Computing

It is now common to walk around town with a computer in your pocket that is thou-sands of times more powerful than the room-sized computer of the 1960s. GordonMoore, a cofounder of Intel, predicted in 1965 that every two years, the number of

transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit would double while decreasing incost (Brock & Moore, 2006). Sometimes called Moores Law, this trend has held true overthe past four decades, and it means that over time computers keep getting smaller, morepowerful, and less expensive. Today, that computer in your pocket can access a universeof information at the click of a button, pinpoint your exact position on earth, and evenmake phone calls. In this section, we will explore the exponential growth of mobile com-puting and consider where this technology may lead us in the future, including methodsof augmenting our own reality.

Laptops or Notebooks

Portable computers take many forms. The original portable was called a laptop, and whenthese computers were first introduced during the 1980s, they were much less powerfulthan a desktop computer. Today, however, with the miniaturization of components, a lap-top can rival the power of many desktops. They can run the same programs, such as Word,Excel, and PowerPoint, and are controlled by the same operating systems. These includeVista, Windows7, and Windows8 for the PCs. An Applelaptop is called a MacBook.All of them have Wi-Fi connectivity (capability for a wireless connection to the Internet)so that when you are in a hot spot(a place with a strong Wi-Fi signal), you can log onto anunsecured network. The term notebookis sometimes used interchangeably with laptop,

but notebook computers are often slightly smaller in size than laptops.

Netbook

A netbookcomputer resembles a laptop, but is much smaller in size, thus making it easierto carry around or slip into a briefcase or backpack. As the name implies, netbooks aredesigned to quickly connect to the Internet for social networking, watching online videos,checking email, and getting important information updates. In addition to being smallerthan laptops, netbooks give up some performance to maximize portability and efficiency.


1. Why are computer peripherals important?

2. What are some examples of computer peripherals?

3. What were some of the key computer peripherals developed at Xerox PARC?

4. Which represents higher screen resolution: 640x480 or 1920x1200? A VGA cable or anHDMI cable?

5. What is the difference between a laser printer and an inkjet printer?

6. What are some of the companies that were involved in the development of USB ports?

7. What does Bluetooth mean?

8. What is eCycling?


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26/32

CHAPTER 2Post-Test

is also about software and the various tools and applications that allow you to solve real-world problems. This software revolution will be our focus in the next chapter.

Post-Test

1. Which of the following was one of the first significant computing companies inthe United States?

a. IBM

b. Microsoft

c. Xerox

d. Apple

2. Which term describes the process of turning on your computer? a. Booting b. Upgrading c. Installing d. Opening

3. External storage is important for storing data and files to be used later. Which ofthe following storage devices holds the MOST information?

a. 5.25 disk b. 3.5 disk c. Zip disk d. DVD disk

4. Which of the following terms is used interchangeably with laptop?

a. smartphone b. netbook c. notebook d. e-book reader

5. How was the AppleMacintoshfirst introduced to the public? a. In a Super Bowl commercial. b. By Steve Jobs at a press conference. c. At Best Buy. d. Through a press leak.

6. The letter of the alphabet typically associated with the computer hard drive is

a. A. b. B. c. C. d. D.

7. The connection known as Bluetooth has its name derived from? a. A 10th century king. b. A 15th century pirate. c. An 18th century knight. d. A 21st century president.


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CHAPTER 2Critical Thinking Questions

8. Which of the following is NOT true regarding netbooks? a. Netbooks are larger than laptops. b. Netbooks have fewer applications than laptops. c. Netbooks can connect to cell phone wireless networks. d. Netbooks have a simpler operating system.

Answers 1. a. IBM. The answer can be found in Section 2.1. 2. a. Booting. The answer can be found in Section 2.2. 3. d. DVD disk. The answer can be found in Section 2.3. 4. c. notebook. The answer can be found in Section 2.4. 5. a. In a Super Bowl commercial. The answer can be found in Section 2.1. 6. c. C. The answer can be found in Section 2.2. 7. a. A 10th century king. The answer can be found in Section 2.3. 8. a. Netbooks are larger than laptops. The answer can be found in Section 2.4.

Key Ideas

While sometimes we see the latest computing marvels and think of them as recentdevelopments, the evolution of computing has been occurring for well over 100years. This history is important to understanding present and future trends.

Knowing how a computer works, and having a basic understanding of its com-ponents, is essential for helping you to evaluate your current and future devicesin terms of required performance needs.

The language of computing is 0s and 1s. This is called binary. Every bit of infor-mation (words, images, sounds, movies, etc.) that you see on a computer screenis in reality a series of these two numbers, represented by high or low voltage.

Computer peripherals are the devices that you can connect to a computer to

make it useful and to integrate it into your life. These include monitors, printers,scanners, storage devices, and input devices (like the mouse and keyboard).

Mobile computing, as represented by laptops, notebooks, netbooks, andUltrabooks, enables us to move away from the desktop or office and have thepower of computing wherever we go.

Critical Thinking Questions

1. Reflect on the history of computing, taking as a starting point, your birth year.

How has the technology changed over this period? Ask someone older than youto reflect on how computers have changed during their lifetime. Try to imaginewhat computing might be like for the next generation.

2. Make a list of all the computer devices you or your family owns. This could bea desktop, laptop, smartphone, etc. Make a comparison chart of the main speci-fications of these devices (you can look them up online) in terms of processor,memory, and storage.

3. As you go through your day, look at various computer systems that you encoun-ter (perhaps a library terminal, a friends desktop computer, or even your owncomputer devices). Based on what you have learned in this chapter, identify all


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CHAPTER 2Key Terms

of the components and mentally trace the way the input and output functionsoperate.

4. Think about the many ways mobile computing has impacted your life. Whatdevices do you use for specific tasks? Are there activities you used to do withouta computer (like reading a book) that you now do with one? Can you envision

any other tasks that you perform manually now for which you might use a com-puter in the future?

5. If you could only own one computer device that we have covered in this chapter(desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone), which would it be and why?

6. Compare and contrast the different ways to interact with a computer. The mainways are a physical keyboard, a mouse, and a touch screen. What are the benefitsand drawbacks of each? Will one become more predominant in the future?

Key Terms

arithmetic logic unit The computersinternal calculator for performing math-ematical functions.

ASCII American Standard Code for Infor-mation Interchange.

binary numbers Numerical system usedby the computer to represent all informa-tion, including images and text, as a seriesof ones and zeros.

BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) Astored program in the CPU that providesthe code the processor follows when thecomputer is first turned on or booted up.

bit A binary digit of memory.

boot To turn on the computer.

bus A data path.

byte Amount of memory (8 bits) that isrequired to represent a single character orletter of the alphabet.

C prompt The initial command line forDOS-based computers.

cache Data and programs used frequentlyand placed in memory for faster access.

capacitor An electrical device, which canstore an electric charge.

clones PCs not made by IBMbut compat-ible with IBMPCs.

control unit Part of the computer thatbrings one instruction through a data path(later called a bus) from its memory, per-forms the operation in the arithmetic com-ponent, and then either stores the result forfurther computations or outputs the data.

CPU (central processing unit) Anothername for the processor.

cursor Blinking symbol that marks theposition on the screen where the typedwords appear.

cycle A measure of the smallest unit oftime that exists for the processor.

desktop Items displayed on the monitorscreen, including the start button, programand file icons, wallpaper, and task bar.

dual-core processing Use of two proces-sors with two separate caches of memory.

EBCDIC Extended Binary Coded DecimalInterchange Code.


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CHAPTER 2Key Terms

EDVAC Electronic Discrete VariableAutomatic Computer, which is significantbecause of John von Neumanns work onthe logical operations of the machine.

ergonomics A science of equipmentdesign often applied in the workplace toincrease productivity while reducing userfatigue and discomfort.

expansion slots Places on the mother-board to connect peripherals or upgrades.

external storage A way to preserve andmaintain information outside of the maincomputer itself.

firmware Permanently encoded memoryinstructions.

flash A type of memory that does not dis-appear when the computer loses power.

flash drive Also called jump drive, thisis a portable USB connection for externalstorage.

gigabytes Billions of bytes of data.

gigahertz Measure of a CPU speed; 1 GHzequals one billion cycles per second.

Graphical User Interface (GUI) Com-puter functions initiated when the useraims the pointer at a menu item or agraphical image and then clicks a button.

HDMI High-definition multimediainterface.

hot spot Location that has a strong Wi-Fisignal.

hyper-threading A way for software tosimulate parallel processing.

inkjet printer Printer that deposits drop-lets of colored ink on paper.

input Information coming into thecomputer.

keyboard Input device used to type on acomputer.

kilobyte Approximately 1,000 bytes ofmemory (actually 1,024).

laptop Portable computer.

laser printer Printer that deposits toner(fine particles that look like black dust) ona piece of paper and then burns them intoplace with a laser.

LCD (liquid crystal display) Technology

used to create a thin computer monitor.

megabyte Millions of bytes of data.

megahertz CPU speed measured in mil-lions of cycles per second.

memory The computers ability to storedata internally.

monitor The visual display for everythingdone on a computer.

Moores Law Principle stating that everytwo years, the number of transistors thatcan be placed on an integrated circuitdoubles, reducing the cost of the circuitboard.

motherboard The board that all the otherboards plug into, and the place where thecomputer memory and processor reside.

mouse The device that translates physicalhand movement to movement of a pointerin the monitor.

multi-core A single processor containingmultiple processor cores that allow it toperform several different tasks at the sametime.


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CHAPTER 2Key Terms

netbook Computer that resembles a lap-top but is much smaller in size, making iteasier to carry around or slip into a brief-case or backpack.

notebook Portable computer that resem-bles a laptop but usually is slightly smaller.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR)Software that converts graphical wordsinto computer-searchable text.

output Information that leaves thecomputer.

parallel port Connection that can sendmultiple bits of data at one time.

parallel processing Method that enablesmore than one instruction to be carried outat the same time.

peripheral device Input or output equip-ment that enables the user to manipulateand control the computer in a specific way.

peripherals External devices that canbe connected to a computer to enhanceits capability, such as printers or storagedevices.

pixel The smallest point on a monitor thatcan be altered.

processor The heart or brain of thecomputer, which is located on themotherboard.

program Set of instructions telling a com-puter what to do.

quad-core processing Use of two proces-sors with four separate caches of memory.

QWERTY Configuration of keys on astandard computer keyboard (the name istaken from the first six letters on a stan-dard keyboard).

Random Access Memory (RAM) Thetemporary memory that the CPU useswhile performing calculations or runningyour programs.

Read Only Memory (ROM) Permanentmemory in the computer that cannot bechanged by the user.

resistor A component designed to resistor restrict the flow of an electronic current.

resolution Measurement of the size of thescreen grid on a monitor.

scanner Peripheral device that records animage of a document and converts it into

ones and zeros for use in the computer.

serial port Connection that sends data onebit at a time.

serial processor Method in which theCPU reads each instruction sent to it, per-forms the action, and then moves on to thenext instruction.

Silicon Valley Location in Californiawith a high concentration of computercompanies.

smartphones Phone that combines thefeatures of a PDA with a cell phone andthe ability to check email; it may also serveas a flash drive, media player for musicand video, and picture viewer.

time sharing Renting time on a largemainframe.

trackball A rolling rubber ball on the bot-tom of a mouse.

transistor Small switch that can amplify adata signal to a computer.

Ultrabook An Inteltrademarked termthat defines specific features in a laptop. Itis seen as a response to the success of Mac-BookAir, which is an ultra thin laptop.


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CHAPTER 2Web Resources

Universal Serial Bus (USB) A type of fastconnection for peripheral devices.

VGA Video graphics array.

Virtual Private Network (VPN) VirtualPrivate Network is a private network thatis secured, but built upon an infrastructurethat is publicly accessible.

von Neumann architecture Five classiccomponents of a computermemory,input, output, arithmetic logic unit, andcontrol unit.

word size The number of bits a CPU canaccess simultaneously.

Web Resources

For more information on these basic electrical components and how they are stored onan integrated circuit:http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/physics/integrated_circuit/history/index.html

The following governmental website details important information on eCycling, whichis the process of recycling electronic equipment:http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/ecycling/
http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/physics/integrated_circuit/history/index.htmlhttp://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/ecycling/http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/ecycling/http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/physics/integrated_circuit/history/index.html


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