Tech Guide A - The details of IT hardware and software. After studying this chapter you will be able to understand: An overview of hardware, hardware devices, operating software, application software. | Tech Guide A The Details of IT Hardware and Software © John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. A- What We Will Cover An Overview of Hardware Hardware Devices Operating Software Application Software © John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. A- AN OVERVIEW OF HARDWARE Hardware is the physical component of IT. Hardware consists primarily of electronic devices (mostly digital) with some electro-mechanical parts used with input, output, and storage devices. © John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. A- EVALUATING HARDWARE DEVICES Cost: We want the device to be within our budget and provide the most value. Compatibility: We need hardware that works correctly with the other devices so as to form a system. Data and information needs: We want our IT devices to work with data and information in a specific way. Accuracy: We want our devices to handle data and instructions accurately. © John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. A- Speed: We want to work as quickly and efficiently as possible. Portability: We often want our devices to be portable. (Actually, we want our ability to work with information to be portable.) Form factor: The size, shape, and physical arrangement of IT affects how and where we use it. © John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. A- EVALUATING HARDWARE DEVICES TRANSISTORS The primary component of computing hardware is the transistor. Transistors are electronic switches that can be on or off. We can assign meaning to the state of a transistor: On = 1 Off = 0 © John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. A- BINARY NUMBERS The binary number system is a convenient number system that uses only the digits 1 and 0. The basic unit of the binary number system is a bit (binary digit). 8 bits = 1 byte = 1 character © John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. A- RELATING BINARY AND DECIMAL VALUES 23410 = 20010 + 3010 + 410 = 2*102 + 3*101 + 4*100 111010102 = 1*27 + 1*26 + 1*25 + 0*24 + 1*23 + 0*22 + 1*21 + 0*20 = 12810 + 6410 + 3210 + 010 + 810 + 010 + 210 + 010 = 23410 Converting . | Tech Guide A The Details of IT Hardware and Software © John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. A- What We Will Cover An Overview of Hardware Hardware Devices Operating Software Application Software © John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. A- AN OVERVIEW OF HARDWARE Hardware is the physical component of IT. Hardware consists primarily of electronic devices (mostly digital) with some electro-mechanical parts used with input, output, and storage devices. © John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. A- EVALUATING HARDWARE DEVICES Cost: We want the device to be within our budget and provide the most value. Compatibility: We need hardware that works correctly with the other devices so as to form a system. Data and information needs: We want our IT devices to work with data and information in a specific way. Accuracy: We want our devices to handle data and instructions accurately. © John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. A- Speed: We want to work as quickly and efficiently as possible. .
