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Q4-1 What Do Business Professionals Need to Know About Computer Hardware?

don’t think 3D printing our own drones is going reduce our hardware costs enough to
justify us becoming a drone manufacturer.”
Mateo looks disappointed. “Well, maybe you’re right. I really wish there was some
way to make it work. It just seems like we keep burning through cash buying dozens
of drones that become obsolete in a few years. It’s really frustrating being on the
cutting edge.”
“You mean the bleeding edge . . . right?” Joni says with a smirk.

Chapter preview

What would you do if you were Mateo? Or Joni? Would you go ahead and build your
own customized drones? It might give you a unique competitive advantage down the
road. You might be able to hire someone who is an expert at building drones and
save a lot of money. Is Cam being too conservative? If you’re wondering why, as a
future business professional, you need to know about hardware and software, think
about those questions. Those and others of greater complexity—most likely ones
involving technology that will be invented between now and the time you start
working—will come your way.
You don’t need to be an expert. You don’t need to be a hardware engineer or a
computer programmer. You do need to know enough, however, to be an effective
consumer. You need the knowledge and skills to ask important, relevant questions
and understand the answers.
We begin with basic hardware concepts and how innovations in hardware could
affect businesses. Next, we will discuss software concepts, open source software
development, and the differences between native and Web applications. Following
that, we’ll discuss the importance of mobile systems and the challenges created
when employees bring their computers to work. Finally, we’ll wrap up by forecasting
trends in hardware and software in 2026.

Q4-1 What Do Business Professionals Need

to Know About Computer Hardware?

Most people think of computer hardware as a laptop, a desktop, a server, or maybe even a tablet.
As time passes, the way we think of computer hardware is changing. Take phones as an example.
Twenty-five years ago, they were strictly used for voice communication. No one would have consid-
ered a phone a piece of computer hardware.
Fast-forward to today. Smartphones have substantial processing power, the ability to con-
nect to networks, internal memory, and virtual keyboards and can interconnect with other
devices. Now a “phone” is essentially a powerful piece of computing hardware. Computing
hardware is also being integrated into other devices such as watches, glasses, TVs, cars, and
even toothbrushes.
Computer hardware consists of electronic components and related gadgetry that input,
process, output, and store data according to instructions encoded in computer programs or soft-
ware. All hardware today has more or less the same components, at least to the level that is
important to us. We’ll begin with those components, and then we’ll quickly survey basic types
of computers.