Week 9 Clear: Moore's Law

This week we watched lectures and read about Moore's Law. This was a pretty easy week in terms of information and terminology as we have already discussed some of the material earlier in the course. This week we did discuss Gordon Moore and learned a little about his history and how Carver Mead coined the phrase "Moore's Law." Moore's Law refers to a 4 page paper that Moore wrote in Electronics magazine discussing how chip performance, per dollar, doubles every 18 months and how next generation chips should be twice as fast & cost the same as 18 months ago.

Image Created by: (David Feng)  http://www.flickr.com/photos/fenng/4095211300/

We also discussed Price Elasticity, which is: The rate at which demand fluctuates with price change. High price elasticity: drop in price results in a spike in demand. In everyday situations, think of the price of gas as having Low price elasticity: As the price of gas increases, people change their driving habits and in turn are more conservative, resulting in using less gas or Decreasing the demand. Much of this material I have already encountered in both my Micro and Macro Economics classes and my Marketing class, so I was already familiar with most of this material.

We also discussed the 5 Waves of Computing:

1. 1960's-Mainframe Computing

2. 1970's-Introduction of mini-computers

3. 1980's-Personal Computing

4. 1990's-Mobile Computers

5. 2000's-Ubiquitous Computers

Another important item of discussion is as a manager in the business world, the concept of having a "Crystal Ball." This is knowing or anticipating what will happen in the future with technology based on the past and being able to make decisions for computing technology in the business world, based on costs and time.

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Week 2: Clear-Understanding Hardware

This week in ISM3004 we read and watched lectures on Understanding Hardware. Even though it started out kind of tricky, being that I had no idea or understanding about binary and circuitry, it became very clear when we moved on into Personal Computers.
I have always had a keen interest in computers and how they work. I can remember back 19 years ago when I first started playing on computers. I started out mostly playing video games such as the Wolfenstein SS game.



 Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/people/boogah/

How addicted was I after that? Wow! I mean really! It was a pretty exciting game but not enough to keep me from browsing through the computer and looking at the files and playing with some software. I then began using a very good graphic software and was able to make great looking pictures, scenery, and newsletter templates. From that moment, I was hooked, I had found something I really enjoyed doing.

In my years, I have had a few computers and some that have crashed. The first time that it had happened to me I was horrified, it was about 10 years ago on my laptop and I didn't know what to do. But I did remember that every so often (6 months or so) I had done a system backup on some CD's. So I inserted the CD and the booted on the computer. A few steps later and some hours I was back in business, thou all of my data was not saved, I at least had my computer runner with a working operating system again! I was so relieved.

I had then gone a few years now with no problem until a desktop computer that I had bought had crashed, the hard disk was not working and it would make noises. I then thought, this computer is only like 3 years old, I can't afford to replace it, or even have it worked on. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands, blindly I went to a local Electronics store and bought a hard drive. I got it home popped open my computer and said, oh this can't be that bad! I followed the instructions that came with the drive hooked it up and boom, off to the races I went!

So when I began reading this week's material, I was like...Bam!! Right up my alley, a subject I enjoy and something that I know a little about. Though there was quite a bit of information that I actually learned and will help me in the future, especially when looking at Core Processors and knowing what is the difference between them and also looking into the RAM and the type of disk storage offered. I really enjoyed this week's lesson and looking forward to some more!

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