Questions and documents

Chapter 1:

What Is an Information System? Learning Objectives Upon successful completion of this chapter, you will be able to: • define what an information system is by identifying its major components; • describe the basic history of information systems; and • describe the basic argument behind the article “Does IT Matter?” by Nicholas Carr. Introduction Welcome to the world of information systems, a world that seems to change almost daily. Over the past few decades information systems have progressed to being virtually everywhere, even to the point where you may not realize its existence in many of your daily activities. Stop and consider how you interface with various components in information systems every day through different Chapter 1: What Is an Information System? | 9 electronic devices. Smartphones, laptop, and personal computers connect us constantly to a variety of systems including messaging, banking, online retailing, and academic resources, just to name a few examples. Information systems are at the center of virtually every organization, providing users with almost unlimited resources. Have you ever considered why businesses invest in technology? Some purchase computer hardware and software because everyone else has computers. Some even invest in the same hardware and software as their business friends even though different technology might be more appropriate for them. Finally, some businesses do sufficient research before deciding what best fits their needs. As you read through this book be sure to evaluate the contents of each chapter based on how you might someday apply what you have learned to strengthen the position of the business you work for, or maybe even your own business. Wise decisions can result in stability and growth for your future enterprise. Information systems surround you almost every day. Wi-fi networks on your university campus, database search services in the learning resource center, and printers in computer labs are good examples. Every time you go shopping you are interacting with an information system that manages inventory and sales. Even driving to school or work results in an interaction with the transportation information system, impacting traffic lights, cameras, etc. Vending machines connect and communicate using the Internet of Things (IoT). Your car’s computer system does more than just control the engine – acceleration, shifting, and braking data is always recorded. And, of course, everyone’s smartphone is constantly connecting to available networks via Wi-fi, recording your location and other data. Can you think of some words to describe an information system? Words such as “computers,” “networks,” or “databases” might pop into your mind. The study of information systems encompasses a broad array of devices, software, and data systems. Defining an 10 | Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) information system provides you with a solid start to this course and the content you are about to encounter. Defining Information Systems Many programs in business require students to take a course in information systems. Various authors have attempted to define the term in different ways. Read the following definitions, then see if you can detect some variances. • “An information system (IS) can be defined technically as a set of interrelated components that collect, process, store, and distribute information to support decision making and control in an organization.” 1 • “Information systems are combinations of hardware, software, and telecommunications networks that people build and use to collect, create, and distribute useful data, typically in organizational settings.” 2 • “Information systems are interrelated components working together to collect, process, store, and disseminate information to support decision making, coordination, control, analysis, and visualization in an organization.” 3 As you can see these definitions focus on two different ways of describing information systems: the components that make up an information system and the role those components play in an organization. Each of these need to be examined. 1. [1] 2. [2] 3. [3] Chapter 1: What Is an Information System? | 11 The Components of Information Systems Information systems can be viewed as having five major components: hardware, software, data, people, and processes. The first three are technology. These are probably what you thought of when defining information systems. The last two components, people and processes, separate the idea of information systems from more technical fields, such as computer science. In order to fully understand information systems, you will need to understand how all of these components work together to bring value to an organization. Technology Technology can be thought of as the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes. From the invention of the wheel to the harnessing of electricity for artificial lighting, technology has become ubiquitous in daily life, to the degree that it is assumed to always be available for use regardless of location. As discussed before, the first three components of information systems – hardware, software, and data – all fall under the category of technology. Each of these will be addressed in an individual chapter. At this point a simple introduction should help you in your understanding. Hardware Hardware is the tangible, physical portion of an information system – the part you can touch. Computers, keyboards, disk drives, and flash drives are all examples of information systems hardware. How 12 | Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) these hardware components function and work together will be covered in Chapter 2. Software Software comprises the set of instructions that tell the hardware what to do. Software is not tangible – it cannot be touched. Programmers create software by typing a series of instructions telling the hardware what to do. Two main categories of software are: Operating Systems and Application software. Operating Systems software provides the interface between the hardware and the Application software. Examples of operating systems for a personal computer include Microsoft Windows and Ubuntu Linux. The mobile phone operating system market is dominated by Google Android and Apple iOS. Application software allows the user to perform tasks such as creating documents, recording data in a spreadsheet, or messaging a friend. Software will be explored more thoroughly in Chapter 3. Data The third technology component is data. You can think of data as a collection of facts. For example, your address (street, city state, postal code), your phone number, and your social networking Chapter 1: What Is an Information System? | 13 account are all pieces of data. Like software, data is also intangible, unable to be seen in its native state. Pieces of unrelated data are not very useful. But aggregated, indexed, and organized together into a database, data can become a powerful tool for businesses. Organizations collect all kinds of data and use it to make decisions which can then be analyzed as to their effectiveness. The analysis of data is then used to improve the organization’s performance. Chapter 4 will focus on data and databases, and how it is used in organizations. Networking Communication Besides the technology components (hardware, software, and data) which have long been considered the core technology of information systems, it has been suggested that one other component should be added: communication. An information system can exist without the ability to communicate – the first personal computers were stand-alone machines that did not access the Internet. However, in today’s hyper-connected world, it is an extremely rare computer that does not connect to another device or to a enetwork. Technically, the networking communication component is made up of hardware and software, but it is such a core feature of today’s information systems that it has become its own category. Networking will be covered in Chapter 5. People 14 | Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO When thinking about information systems, it is easy to focus on the technology components and forget to look beyond these tools to fully understand their integration into an organization. A focus on the people involved in information systems is the next step. From the front-line user support staff, to systems analysts, to developers, all the way up to the chief information officer (CIO), the people involved with information systems are an essential element. The people component will be covered in Chapter 9. Process The last component of information systems is process. A process is a series of steps undertaken to achieve a desired outcome or goal. Information systems are becoming more integrated with organizational processes, bringing greater productivity and better control to those processes. But simply automating activities using technology is not enough – businesses looking to utilize information systems must do more. The ultimate goal is to improve processes both internally and externally, enhancing interfaces with suppliers and customers. Technology buzzwords such as “business process re-engineering,” “business process management,” and “enterprise resource planning” all have to do with the continued improvement of these business procedures and the integration of technology with them. Businesses hoping to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors are highly focused on this Chapter 1: What Is an Information System? | 15 IBM 704 Mainframe (Copyright: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) component of information systems. The process element in information systems will be discussed in Chapter 8. The Role of Information Systems You should now understand that information systems have a number of vital components, some tangible, others intangible, and still others of a personnel nature. These components collect, store, organize, and distribute data throughout the organization. You may have even realized that one of the roles of information systems is to take data and turn it into information, and then transform that information into organizational knowledge. As technology has developed, this role has evolved into the backbone of the organization, making information systems integral to virtually every business. The integration of information systems into organizations has progressed over the decades. The Mainframe Era From the late 1950s through the 1960s, computers were seen as a way to more efficiently do calculations. These first business computers were room-sized monsters, with several machines linked 16 | Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) Registered trademark of International Business Machines together. The primary work was to organize and store large volumes of information that were tedious to manage by hand. Only large businesses, universities, and government agencies could afford them, and they took a crew of specialized personnel and dedicated facilities to provide information to organizations. Time-sharing allowed dozens or even hundreds of users to simultaneously access mainframe computers from locations in the same building or miles away. Typical functions included scientific calculations and accounting, all under the broader umbrella of “data processing.” In the late 1960s, Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRP) systems were introduced. This software, running on a mainframe computer, gave companies the ability to manage the manufacturing process, making it more efficient. From tracking inventory to creating bills of materials to scheduling production, the MRP systems gave more businesses a reason to integrate computing into their processes. IBM became the dominant mainframe company. Continued improvement in software and the availability of cheaper hardware eventually brought mainframe computers (and their little sibling, the minicomputer) into most large businesses. Today you probably think of Silicon Valley in northern California as the center of computing and technology. But in the days of the mainframe’s dominance corporations in the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul produced most computers. The advent of the personal computer resulted in the “center of technology” eventually moving to Silicon Valley. Chapter 1: What Is an Information System? | 17 IBM PC The PC Revolution In 1975, the first microcomputer was announced on the cover of Popular Mechanics: the Altair 8800. Its immediate popularity sparked the imagination of entrepreneurs everywhere, and there were soon dozens of companies manufacturing these “personal computers.” Though at first just a niche product for computer hobbyists, improvements in usability and the availability of practical software led to growing sales. The most prominent of these early personal computer makers was a little company known as Apple Computer, headed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, with the hugely successful “Apple II.” Not wanting to be left out of the revolution, in 1981 IBM teamed with Microsoft, then just a startup company, for their operating system software and hurriedly released their own version of the personal computer simply called the “PC.” Small businesses finally had affordable computing that could provide them with needed information systems. Popularity of the IBM PC gave legitimacy to the microcomputer and it was named Time magazine’s “Man of the Year” for 1982. Because of the IBM PC’s open architecture, it was easy for other companies to copy, or “clone” it. During the 1980s, many new computer companies sprang up, offering less expensive versions of the PC. This drove prices down and spurred innovation. Microsoft developed the Windows operating system, with version 3.1 in 1992 becoming the first commercially successful release. Typical uses for the PC during this period included word processing, spreadsheets, and databases. 18 | Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) Registered Trademark of SAP These early PCs were standalone machines, not connected to a network. Client-Server In the mid-1980s, businesses began to see the need to connect their computers as a way to collaborate and share resources. Known as “client-server,” this networking architecture allowed users to log in to the Local Area Network (LAN) from their PC (the “client”) by connecting to a central computer called a “server.” The server would lookup permissions for each user to determine who had access to various resources such as printers and files. Software companies began developing applications that allowed multiple users to access the same data at the same time. This evolved into software applications for communicating, with the first popular use of electronic mail appearing at this time. This networking and data sharing all stayed mainly within the confines of each business. Sharing of electronic data between companies was a very specialized function. Computers were now seen as tools to collaborate internally within an organization. These networks of computers were becoming so powerful that they were replacing many of the functions previously performed by the larger mainframe computers at a fraction of the cost. It was during this era that the first Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems were developed and run on the client-server architecture. An ERP system is an application with a centralized database that can be used to run a company’s entire business. With separate modules for accounting, finance, inventory, human resources, and many more, ERP systems, with Germany’s SAP Chapter 1: What Is an Information System? | 19 ARPANet, 1969 leading the way, represented the state of the art in information systems integration. ERP systems will be discussed in Chapter 9. The Internet, World Wide Web and E-Commerce The first long distance transmission between two computers occurred on October 29, 1969 when developers under the direction of Dr. Leonard Kleinrock sent the word “login” from the campus of UCLA to Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, California, a distance of over 350 miles. The United States Department of Defense created and funded ARPA Net (Advanced Research Projects Administration), an experimental network which eventually became known as the Internet. ARPA Net began with just four nodes or sites, a very humble start for today’s Internet. Initially, the Internet was confined to use by universities, government agencies, and researchers. Users were required to type commands (today we refer to this as “command line”) in order to communicate and transfer files. The first e-mail messages on the Internet were sent in the early 1970s as a few very large companies expanded from local networks to the Internet. The computer was now evolving from a purely computational device into the world of digital communications. In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee developed a simpler way for researchers to share information over the Internet, a concept he called the 20 | Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) Registered trademark of Amazon.com, Inc. World Wide Web. 4 This invention became the catalyst for the growth of the Internet as a way for businesses to share information about themselves. As web browsers and Internet connections became the norm, companies rushed to grab domain names and create websites. In 1991 the National Science Foundation, which governed how the Internet was used, lifted restrictions on its commercial use. Corporations soon realized the huge potential of a digital marketplace on the Internet and in 1994 both eBay and Amazon were founded. A mad rush of investment in Internet-based businesses led to the dot-com boom through the late 1990s, and then the dot-com bust in 2000. The bust occurred as investors, tired of seeing hundreds of companies reporting losses, abandoned their investments. An important outcome for businesses was that thousands of miles of Internet connections, in the form of fiber optic cable, were laid around the world during that time. The world became truly “wired” heading into the new millenium, ushering in the era of globalization, which will be discussed in Chapter 11. This TED Talk video focuses on connecting Africa to the Internet through undersea fibre optic cable. The digital world also became a more dangerous place as virtually all companies connected to the Internet. Computer viruses and worms, once slowly propagated through the sharing of computer disks, could now grow with tremendous speed via the Internet. Software and operating systems written for a standalone world found it very difficult to defend against these sorts of threats. A whole new industry of computer and Internet security arose. Information security will be discussed in Chapter 6. 4. [4] Chapter 1: What Is an Information System? | 21 Web 2.0 As the world recovered from the dot-com bust, the use of technology in business continued to evolve at a frantic pace. Websites became interactive. Instead of just visiting a site to find out about a business and then purchase its products, customers wanted to be able to customize their experience and interact online with the business. This new type of interactive website, where you did not have to know how to create a web page or do any programming in order to put information online, became known as Web 2.0. This new stage of the Web was exemplified by blogging, social networking, and interactive comments being available on many websites. The new Web 2.0 world, in which online interaction became expected, had a major impact on many businesses and even whole industries. Many bookstores found themselves relegated to a niche status. Video rental chains and travel agencies simply began going out of business as they were replaced by online technologies. The newspaper industry saw a huge drop in circulation with some cities such as New Orleans no longer able to support a daily newspaper. Disintermediation is the process of technology replacing a middleman in a transaction. Web 2.0 allowed users to get information and news online, reducing dependence of physical books and newspapers. As the world became more connected, new questions arose. Should access to the Internet be considered a right? Is it legal to copy a song that had been downloaded from the Internet? Can information entered into a website be kept private? What information is acceptable to collect from children? Technology moved so fast that policymakers did not have enough time to enact appropriate laws. Ethical issues surrounding information systems will be covered in Chapter 12. 22 | Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) The Post-PC World, Sort of Ray Ozzie, a technology visionary at Microsoft, stated in 2012 that computing was moving into a phase he called the post-PC world.5 Now six years later that prediction has not stood up very well to reality. As you will read in Chapter 13, PC sales have dropped slightly in recent years while there has been a precipitous decline in tablet sales. Smartphone sales have accelerated, due largely to their mobility and ease of operation. Just as the mainframe before it, the PC will continue to play a key role in business, but its role will be somewhat diminished as people emphasize mobility as a central feature of technology. Cloud computing provides users with mobile access to data and applications, making the PC more of a part of the communications channel rather than a repository of programs and information. Innovation in the development of technology and communications will continue to move businesses forward. 5. [5] Chapter 1: What Is an Information System? | 23 Eras of Business Computing Era Hardware Operating System Applications Mainframe (1970s) Terminals connected to mainframe computer Time-sharing (TSO) on Multiple Virtual Storage (MVS) Custom-written MRP software PC (mid-1980s) IBM PC or compatible. Sometimes connected to mainframe computer via network interface card. MS-DOS WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3 Client-Server (late 80s to early 90s) IBM PC “clone” on a Novell Network. Windows for Workgroups Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel World Wide Web (mid-90s to early 2000s) IBM PC “clone” connected to company intranet. Windows XP Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer Web 2.0 (mid-2000s – present) Laptop connected to company Wi-Fi. Windows 10 Microsoft Office Post-PC (today and beyond) Smartphones Android, iOS Mobile-friendly websites, mobile apps Can Information Systems Bring Competitive Advantage? It has always been the assumption that the implementation of information systems will bring a business competitive advantage. If installing one computer to manage inventory can make a company more efficient, then it can be expected that installing several computers can improve business processes and efficiency. In 2003, Nicholas Carr wrote an article in the Harvard Business 24 | Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) Registered Trademark of Walmart, Inc. Review that questioned this assumption. Entitled “I.T. Doesn’t Matter.” Carr was concerned that information technology had become just a commodity. Instead of viewing technology as an investment that will make a company stand out, Carr said technology would become as common as electricity – something to be managed to reduce costs, ensure that it is always running, and be as risk-free as possible. The article was both hailed and scorned. Can I.T. bring a competitive advantage to an organization? It sure did for Walmart (see sidebar). Technology and competitive advantage will be discussed in Chapter 7. Sidebar: Walmart Uses Information Systems to Become the World’s Leading Retailer Walmart is the world’s largest retailer, earn 8.1 billion for the fiscal year that ended on January 31, 2018. Walmart currently serves over 260 million customers every week worldwide through its 11,700 stores in 28 countries.6 In 2018 Fortune magazine for the sixth straight year ranked Walmart the number one company for annual revenue as they again exceeded $500 billion in annual sales. The next closest company, Exxon, had less than half of Walmart’s total revenue. 7 Walmart’s rise to prominence is due in large part to making 6. [6] 7. [7] Chapter 1: What Is an Information System? | 25 information systems a high priority, especially in their Supply Chain Management (SCM) system known as Retail Link.ing $14.3 billion on sales of $30 This system, unique when initially implemented in the mid-1980s, allowed Walmart’s suppliers to directly access the inventory levels and sales information of their products at any of Walmart’s more than eleven thousand stores. Using Retail Link, suppliers can analyze how well their products are selling at one or more Walmart stores with a range of reporting options. Further, Walmart requires the suppliers to use Retail Link to manage their own inventory levels. If a supplier feels that their products are selling out too quickly, they can use Retail Link to petition Walmart to raise the inventory levels for their products. This has essentially allowed Walmart to “hire” thousands of product managers, all of whom have a vested interest in the products they are managing. This revolutionary approach to managing inventory has allowed Walmart to continue to drive prices down and respond to market forces quickly. Today Walmart continues to innovate with information technology. Using its tremendous market presence, any technology that Walmart requires its suppliers to implement immediately becomes a business standard. For example, in 1983 Walmart became the first large retailer to require suppliers to the use Uniform Product Code (UPC) labels on all products. Clearly, Walmart has learned how to use I.T. to gain a competitive advantage. Summary In this chapter you have been introduced to the concept of information systems. Several definitions focused on the main components: technology, people, and process. You saw how the 26 | Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) business use of information systems has evolved over the years, from the use of large mainframe computers for number crunching, through the introduction of the PC and networks, all the way to the era of mobile computing. During each of these phases, new innovations in software and technology allowed businesses to integrate technology more deeply into their organizations. Virtually every company uses information systems which leads to the question: Does information systems bring a competitive advantage? In the final analysis the goal of this book is to help you understand the importance of information systems in making an organization more competitive. Your challenge is to understand the key components of an information system and how it can be used to bring a competitive advantage to every organization you will serve in your career.

Study Questions

1. What are the five major components that make up an information system?

2. List the three examples of information system hardware?

3. Microsoft Windows is an example of which component of information systems?

4. What is application software?

5. What roles do people play in information systems?

Exercises

Everyone interacts with various information systems every day: at the grocery store, at work, at school, even in our cars. Make a list of the different information systems you interact with daily. Can you identify the technologies, people, and processes involved in making these systems work ?

Chapter 2:

Hardware Learning Objectives Upon successful completion of this chapter, you will be able to: • describe information systems hardware; • identify the primary components of a computer and the functions they perform; and • explain the effect of the commoditization of the personal computer. Introduction As you learned in the first chapter, an information system is made up of five components: hardware, software, data, people, and process. The physical parts of computing devices – those that you can actually touch – are referred to as hardware. In this chapter, you will take a look at this component of information systems, learn a little bit about how it works, and discuss some of the current trends surrounding it. As stated above, computer hardware encompasses digital devices that you can physically touch. This includes devices such as the following: Chapter 2: Hardware | 31 • 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. Besides these more traditional computer hardware devices, many items that were once not considered digital devices are now becoming computerized themselves. Digital technologies are being integrated into many everyday objects so the days of a device being labeled categorically as computer hardware may be ending. Examples of these types of digital devices include automobiles, refrigerators, and even beverage dispensers. In this chapter, you will also explore digital devices, beginning with defining what is meant by the term itself. Digital Devices A digital device processes electronic signals into discrete values, of which there can be two or more. In comparison analog signals are continuous and can be represented by a smooth wave pattern. You might think of digital (discrete) as being the opposite of analog. Many electronic devices process signals into two discrete values, typically known as binary. These values are represented as either a one (“on”) or a zero (“off”). It is commonly accepted to refer to the on state as representing the presence of an electronic signal. It then follows that the off state is represented by the absence of an electronic signal. Note: Technically, the voltages in a system are evaluated with high voltages converted into a one or on state and low voltages converted into a zero or off state. 32 | Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) Each one or zero is referred to as a bit (a blending of the two words “binary” and “digit”). A group of eight bits is known as a byte. The first personal computers could process 8 bits of data at once. The number of bits that can be processed by a computer’s processor at one time is known as word size. Today’s PCs can process 64 bits of data at a time which is where the term 64-bit processor comes from. You are most likely using a computer with a 64-bit processor. Sidebar: Understanding Binary The numbering system you first learned was Base 10 also known as Decimal. In Base 10 each column in the number represents a power of 10 with the exponent increasing in each column as you move to the left, as shown in the table: Thousands Hundreds Tens Units 103 102 101 100 The rightmost column represents units or the values zero through nine. The next column from the left represents tens or the values teens, twenties, thirties, etc, followed by the hundreds column (one hundred, two hundred, etc.), then the thousands column (one thousand, two thousand) etc. Expanding the table above, you can write the number 3456 as follows: Thousands Hundreds Tens Units 103 102 101 100 3 4 5 6 3000 400 50 6 Chapter 2: Hardware | 33 Computers use the Base 2 numbering system. Similar to Base 10, each column has a Base of 2 and has an increasing exponent value moving to the left as shown in the table below: Two cubed Two squared Two Units 2 3 2 2 2 1 2 0 The rightmost column represents 20 or units ( 1 ). The next column from the left represents 21 twos or ( 2 ). The third column represents 22 or ( 4 ) and the fourth column represents 23 or ( 8 ). Expanding the table above, you can see how the decimal number 15 is converted to 1111 in binary as follows: Two cubed Two squared Two Units 2 3 2 2 2 1 2 0 1 1 1 1 8 4 2 1 8 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 15 Understanding binary is important because it helps us understand how computers store and transmit data. A “bit” is the lowest level of data storage, stored as either a one or a zero. If a computer wants to communicate the number 15, it would need to send 1111 in binary (as shown above). This is four bits of data since four digits are needed. A “byte” is 8 bits. If a computer wanted to transmit the number 15 in a byte, it would send 00001111. 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 . 34 | Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) As the capacities of digital devices grew, new terms were developed to identify the capacities of processors, memory, and disk storage space. Prefixes were applied to the word byte to represent different orders of magnitude. Since these are digital specifications, the prefixes were originally meant to represent multiples of 1024 (which is 210), but have more recently been rounded for the sake of simplicity to mean multiples of 1000, as shown in the table below: Prefix Represents Example kilo one thousand kilobyte=one thousand bytes mega one million megabyte = one million bytes giga one billion gigabyte = one billion bytes tera one trillion terabyte = one trillion bytes peta one quadrillion petabyte = one quadrillion bytes exa one quintillion exabyte = one quintillion bytes zetta one sextillion zettabyte = one sextillion bytes yotta one septillion yottabyte = one septillion bytes Tour of a PC All personal computers consist of the same basic components: a Central Processing Unit (CPU), memory, circuit board, storage, and input/output devices. Almost every digital device uses the same set of components, so examining the personal computer will give you Chapter 2: Hardware | 35 Intel Core i7 CPU insight into the structure of a variety of digital devices. Here’s a “tour” of a personal computer. Processing Data: The CPU The core of a computer is the Central Processing Unit, or CPU. It can be thought of as the “brains” of the device. The CPU carries out the commands sent to it by the software and returns results to be acted upon. The earliest CPUs were large circuit boards with limited functionality. Today, a CPU can perform a large variety of functions. There are two primary manufacturers of CPUs for personal computers: Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). The speed (“clock time”) of a CPU is measured in hertz. A hertz is defined as one cycle per second. A kilohertz (abbreviated kHz) is one thousand cycles per second, a megahertz (mHz) is one million cycles per second, and a gigahertz (gHz) is one billion cycles per second. The CPU’s processing power is increasing at an amazing rate (see the sidebar about Moore’s Law). Besides a faster clock time, today’s CPU chips contain multiple processors. These chips, known as dual-core (two processors) or quad-core (four processors), increase the processing power of a computer by providing the capability of multiple CPUs all sharing the processing load. Intel’s Core i7 processors contain 6 cores and their Core i9 processors contain 16 cores. This video shows how a CPU works. 36 | Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) Sidebar: Moore’s Law and Huang’s Law As you know computers get faster every year. Many times we are not sure if we want to buy today’s model because next week it won’t be the most advanced any more. Gordon Moore, one of the founders of Intel, recognized this phenomenon in 1965, noting that microprocessor transistor counts had been doubling every year. 1 His insight eventually evolved into Moore’s Law: The number of integrated circuits on a chip doubles every two years. Moore’s Law has been generalized into the concept that computing power will double every two years for the same price point. Another way of looking at this is to think that the price for the same computing power will be cut in half every two years. Moore’s Law has held true for over forty years (see figure below). The limits of Moore’s Law are now being reached and circuits cannot be reduced further. However, Huang’s Law regarding Graphics Processors Units (GPUs) may extend well into the future. Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang spoke at the GPU Technology Conference in March 2018 announcing that the speed of GPUs are increasing faster than Moore’s Law. Nvidia’s GPUs are 25 times faster than five years ago. He admitted that the advancement is because of advances in architecture, memory technology, algorithms, and interconnects.2 1. [1] 2. [2] Chapter 2: Hardware | 37 Motherboard Motherboard bus traces Motherboard The motherboard is the main circuit board on the computer. The CPU, memory, and storage components, among other things, all connect into the motherboard. Motherboards come in different shapes and sizes, depending upon how compact or expandable the computer is designed to be. Most modern motherboards have many integrated components, such as network interface card, video, and sound processing, which previously required separate components. The motherboard provides much of the bus of the computer (the term bus refers to the electrical connections between different computer components). The bus is 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. The traces shown in the image are on the underside of the motherboard and provide connections between motherboard components. Random-Access Memory When a computer boots, it begins to load information from storage 38 | Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) DDR4 Memory Hard disk interior into its working memory. This working memory, called RandomAccess Memory (RAM), can transfer data much faster than the hard disk. Any program that you are running on the computer is loaded into RAM for processing. In order for a computer to work effectively, some minimal amount of RAM must be installed. In most cases, adding more RAM will allow the computer to run faster. Another characteristic of RAM is that it is “volatile.” This means that it can store data as long as it is receiving power. When the computer is turned off, any data stored in RAM is lost. RAM is generally installed in a personal computer through the use of a Double Data Rate (DDR) memory module. The type of DDR accepted into a computer is dependent upon the motherboard. There have been basically 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. Hard Disk While the RAM is used as working memory, the computer also needs a place to store data for the longer term. Most of today’s personal computers use a hard disk for long-term data storage. A hard disk is 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. Drives with a capacity less than 1 Terabyte usually have Chapter 2: Hardware | 39 Solid State Drive interior just one platter. Notice the single platter in the image. The read/ write arm must be positioned over the appropriate track before accessing or writing data.” Solid State Drives Solid State Drives (SSD) are becoming more popular in personal computers. The SSD performs the same function as a hard disk, namely long-term storage. Instead of spinning disks, the SSD uses flash memory that incorporates EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) chips, which is much faster. Solid-state drives are currently a bit more expensive than hard disks. However, the use of flash memory instead of disks makes them much lighter and faster than hard disks. SSDs are primarily utilized in portable computers, making them lighter, more durable, and more efficient. Some computers combine the two storage technologies, using the SSD for the most accessed data (such as the operating system) while using the hard disk for data that is accessed less frequently. SSDs are considered more reliable since there are no moving parts. 40 | Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) USB Drive Removable Media Removable storage has changed greatly over the four decades of PCs. Floppy disks have been replaced by CD-ROM drives, then they were replaced by USB (Universal Serial Bus) drives. USB drives are now standard on all PCs with capacities approaching 512 gigabytes. Speeds have also increased from 480 Megabits in USB 2.0 to 10 Gigabits in USB 3.1. USB devices also use EEPROM technology. 3 Network Connection When personal computers were first stand-alone units when first developed, which meant that data was brought into the computer or removed from the computer via removable media. Beginning in the mid-1980s, however, organizations began to see the value in connecting computers together via a digital network. Because of this personal computers needed the ability to connect to these networks. Initially, this was done by adding an expansion card to the computer that enabled the network connection. These cards were known as Network Interface Cards (NIC). By the mid-1990s an Ethernet network port was built into the motherboard on most personal computers. As wireless technologies began to dominate 3. [3] Chapter 2: Hardware | 41 USB port on a computer in the early 2000s, many personal computers also began including wireless networking capabilities. Digital communication technologies will be discussed further in Chapter 5. Input and Output In order for a personal computer to be useful, it must have channels for receiving input from the user and channels for delivering output to the user. These input and output devices connect to the computer via various connection ports, which generally are part of the motherboard and are accessible outside the computer case. In early personal computers, specific ports were designed for each type of output device. The configuration of these ports has evolved over the years, becoming more and more standardized over time. Today, almost all devices plug into a computer through the use of a USB port. This port type, first introduced in 1996, has increased in its capabilities, both in its data transfer rate and power supplied. Bluetooth Besides USB, some input and output devices connect to the computer via a wireless-technology standard called Bluetooth which was invented in 1994. Bluetooth exchanges data over short distances of 10 meters up to 100 meters using radio waves. Two devices communicating with Bluetooth must both have a Bluetooth 42 | Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) communication chip installed. Bluetooth devices include pairing your phone to your car, computer keyboards, speakers, headsets, and home security, to name just a few. Input Devices All personal computers need components that allow the user to input data. Early computers simply used a keyboard for entering data or select an item from a menu to run a program. With the advent operating systems offering the graphical user interface, the mouse became a standard component of a computer. These two components are still the primary input devices to a personal computer, though variations of each have been introduced with varying levels of success over the years. For example, many new devices now use a touch screen as the primary way of data entry. Other input devices include scanners which allow users to input documents into a computer either as images or as text. Microphones can be used to record audio or give voice commands. Webcams and other types of video cameras can be used to record video or participate in a video chat session. Output Devices Output devices are essential as well. The most obvious output device is a display or monitor, visually representing the state of the computer. In some cases, a personal computer can support multiple displays or be connected to larger-format displays such as a projector or large-screen television. Other output devices include speakers for audio output and printers for hardcopy output. Chapter 2: Hardware | 43 Sidebar: Which Hardware Components Contribute to the Speed of Your Computer The speed of a computer is determined by many elements, some related to hardware and some related to software. In hardware, speed is improved by giving the electrons shorter distances to travel in completing a circuit. Since the first CPU was created in the early 1970s, engineers have constantly worked to figure out how to shrink these circuits and put more and more circuits onto the same chip – these are known as integrated circuits. And this work has paid off – the speed of computing devices has been continuously improving. Multi-core processors, or CPUs, have contributed to faster speeds. Intel engineers have also improved CPU speeds by using QuickPath Interconnect, a technique which minimizes the processor’s need to communicate directly with RAM or the hard drive. Instead, the CPU contains a cache of frequently used data for a particular program. An algorithm evaluates a program’s data usage and determines which data should be temporarily stored in the cache. The hardware components that contribute to the speed of a personal computer are the CPU, the motherboard, RAM, and the hard disk. In most cases, these items can be replaced with newer, faster components. The table below shows how each of these contributes to the speed of a computer. Besides upgrading hardware, there are many changes that can be made to the software of a computer to make it faster. 44 | Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) Component Speed measured by Units Description CPU Clock speed GHz (billions of cycles) Hertz indicates the time it takes to complete a cycle. Motherboard Bus speed MHz The speed at which data can move across the bus. RAM Data transfer rate Mb/s (millions of bytes per second) The time it takes for data to be transferred from memory to system measured in Megabytes. Hard Disk Access time ms (millisecond) The time it takes for the drive to locate the data to be accessed. Data transfer rate MBit/s The time it takes for data to be transferred from disk to system. Other Computing Devices A personal computer is designed to be a general-purpose device, able to solve many different types of problems. As the technologies of the personal computer have become more commonplace, many of the components have been integrated into other devices that previously were purely mechanical. The definition or description of what defines a computer has changed. Portability has been an important feature for most users. Here is an overview of some trends in personal computing. Chapter 2: Hardware | 45 MacBook Air Portable Computers Portable computing today includes laptops, notebooks and netbooks, many weighing less than 4 pounds and providing longer battery life. The MacBook Air is a good example of this: it weighs less than three pounds and is only 0.68 inches thick! Netbooks (short for Network Books) are extremely light because they do not have a hard drive, depending instead on the Internet “cloud” for data and application storage. Netbooks depend on a Wi-Fi connection and can run Web browsers as well as a word processor. Smartphones While cell phones were introduced in the 1970s, smartphones have only been around for the past 20 years. As cell phones evolved they gained a broader array of features and programs. Today’s smartphones provide the user with telephone, email, location, and calendar services, to name a few. They function as a highly mobile computer, able to connect to the Internet through either cell technology or Wi-Fi. Smartphones have revolutionized computing, bringing the one feature PCs and laptops could not deliver, namely mobility. Consider the following data regarding mobile computing 4 : 4. [4] 46 | Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) 1. There are 3.7 billion global mobile Internet users as at January 2018. 2. Mobile devices influenced sales to the tune of over $1.4 trillion in 2016. 3. Mobile commerce revenue in the U.S. is projected to be $459.38 billion in 2018, and it is estimated to be $693.36 billion by 2019. 4. By the end of 2018, over $1 trillion — or 75 percent — of ecommerce sales in China will be done via mobile devices. 5. The average order value for online orders placed on Smartphones in the first quarter of 2018 is $84.55 while the average order value for orders placed on Tablets is $94.91. 6. Of the 2.79 billion active social media users in the world, 2.55 billion actively use their mobile devices for social mediarelated activities. 7. 90 percent of the time spent on mobile devices is spent in apps. 8. Mobile traffic is responsible for 52.2 percent of Internet traffic in 2018 — compared to 50.3 percent from 2017. 9. While the total percentage of mobile traffic is more than desktop, engagement is higher on desktop. 55.9 percent of time spent on sites is by desktop users and 40.1 percent of time spent on sites is by mobile users. 10. By 2020, mobile commerce will account for 45 percent of all ecommerce activities — compared to 20.6 percent in 2016. The Apple iPhone was introduced in January 2007 and went on the market in June of that same year. Its ease of use and intuitive interface made it an immediate success and solidified the future of smartphones. The first Android phone was released in 2008 with functionality similar to the iPhone. Chapter 2: Hardware | 47 iPad Air Tablet Computers A tablet computer uses a touch screen as its primary input and is small enough and light enough to be easily transported. They generally have no keyboard and are selfcontained inside a rectangular case. Apple set the standard for tablet computing with the introduction of the iPad in 2010 using iOS, the operating system of the iPhone. After the success of the iPad, computer manufacturers began to develop new tablets that utilized operating systems that were designed for mobile devices, such as Android. Global market share for tablets has changed since the early days of Apple’s dominance. Today the iPad has about 25% of the global market while Amazon Fire has 15% and Samsung Galaxy has 14%. 5 However, the popularity of tablets has declined sharply in recent years. Integrated Computing and Internet of Things (IoT) Along with advances in computers themselves, computing 5. [5] 48 | Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) technology is being integrated into many everyday products. From automobiles to refrigerators to airplanes, computing technology is enhancing what these devices can do and is adding capabilities into our every day lives thanks in part to IoT. Internet of Things and the Cloud The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of billions of devices, each with their own unique network address, around the world with embedded electronics allowing them to connect to the Internet for the purpose of collecting and sharing data, all without the involvement of human beings.6 Objects ranging from a simple light bulb to a fitness band such as FitBit to a driverless truck are all part of IoT thanks to the processors inside them. A smartphone app can control and/or communicate with each of these devices as well as others such as electric garage door openers (for those who can’t recall if the door has been closed), kitchen appliances (“Buy milk after work today.”), thermostats such as Nest, home security, audio speakers, and the feeding of pets. Here are three of the latest ways that computing technologies are being integrated into everyday products through IoT: 6. [6] Chapter 2: Hardware | 49 • How IoT Works • The Smart House • The Self-Driving Car The Commoditization of the Personal Computer Over the past forty years, as the personal computer has gone from technical marvel to part of everyday life, it has also become a commodity. There is very little differentiation between computer models and manufacturers, and the primary factor that controls their sale is their price. Hundreds of manufacturers all over the world now create parts for personal computers which are purchased and assembled. 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. There is one brand of computer for which this is not the case – Apple. Because Apple does not make computers that run on the same open standards as other manufacturers, they can design and manufacture a unique product that no one can easily copy. By creating what many consider to be a superior product, Apple can charge more for their computers than other manufacturers. Just as with the iPad and iPhone, Apple has chosen a strategy of differentiation, an attempt to avoid commoditization. Summary Information systems hardware consists of the components of digital 50 | Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) technology that you can touch. This chapter covered the components that make up a personal computer, with the understanding that the configuration of a personal computer is very similar to that of any type of digital computing device. A personal computer is made up of many components, most importantly the CPU, motherboard, RAM, hard disk, removable media, and input/ output devices. Variations on the personal computer, such as the smartphone, were also examined. Finally, commoditization of the personal computer was addressed.