Hardware Technologies Trends A.

Input Technologies and Trends Computer Input Devices are those devices which are used by the user to input the data into the computer for controlling Signals, In other words a device that is used to feed data into a computer. There are many latest trends in Input device s, recently American Giant Logitech Peripherals has introduced First ever gaming Keyboard, this keyboard has LCD display on it for assisting the player to exper ience the best gaming. Earlier to that wireless keyboards were trend, now this g aming keyboard is gaining popularity. Then there are keyboards with mouse all-in -one. Pen USBs are new device that can be used to input data. These pen USBs are the decedent of Pen pointers. B. Output Technologies and Trends Computers provide information to you in a variety of forms. Figure 4.30 shows yo u the trends in output media and methods that have developed over the generation s of computing. As you can see, video displays and printed documents have been, and still are, the most common forms of output from computer systems. But other natural and attractive output technologies such as voice response systems and mu ltimedia output are increasingly found along with video displays in business app lications. VIDEO OUTPUT: Video displays are the most common type of computer output. Most desktop compute rs rely on video monitors that use a cathode ray tube (CRT) technology similar t o the picture tubes used in home TV sets. Usually, the clarity of the video disp lay depends on the type of video monitor you use and the graphics circuit board installed in your computer. These can provide a variety of graphics modes of inc reasing capability. A high-resolution, flicker-free monitor is especially import ant if you spend a lot of time viewing multimedia on CDs, or the Web, or complex graphical displays of many software packages. The biggest use of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) is to provide a visual display capability for portable microcom puters and PDAs. LCD displays need significantly less electric current and provi de a thin, flat display. Advances in technology such as active matrix and dual s can capabilities have improved the clarity of LCD displays. PRINTED OUTPUT: Printing information on paper is still the most common form of output after vide o displays. Thus, most personal computer systems rely on an inkjet or laser prin ter to produce permanent (hard copy) output in high-quality printed form. Printe d output is still a common form of business communications, and is frequently re quired for legal documentation. C. Storage trends and trade-offs Data and information must be stored until needed using a variety of storage meth ods. There are many types of storage media and devices. Computer Storage Fundamentals Data are processed and stored in a computer system through the presence or absen ce of electronic or magnetic signals in the computer s circuitry or in the media it uses. This is called a two-state or Binary representation of data, since the computer and the media can exhibit only two possible states or conditions. For example, t ransistors other semiconductor circuits are either in a conducting or non-conduc ting state. Media such as magnetic disks and tapes indicate these two states by having magnetized spots whose magnetic fields have one of two different directio ns, or polarities. This binary characteristic of computer circuitry and media is what makes the binary number system the basis for representing data in computer s. Thus, for electronic circuits, the conducting (ON) state represents the numbe r one, while the no conducting (OFF) state represents the number zero. For magne tic media, the magnetic field of a magnetized sport in one direction represents a one, while magnetism in the other direction represents a zero. The smallest el ement of data is called a bit, which can have a value of either zero or one. The capacity of memory chips is usually expressed in terms of bits. A byte is a bas ic grouping of bits that the computer operates as a single unit. Typically, it c

onsists of eight bits and represents one character of data in most computer codi ng schemes. Thus, the capacity of a computer s memory and secondary storage device i s usually expressed in terms of bytes. Computer codes such as ASCII(American Sta ndard Code for Information Interchange) use various arrangements of bits to form bytes that represent the numbers zero through nine, the letters of the alphabet s, and many other characters. Storage capacities are frequently measured in kilo bytes (KB), megabytes (MB), gigabytes (GB), or terabytes (TB).Although kilo mean s 1,000 in the metric system, the computer industry uses K to represents 1,024 o r (2x10) storage positions. Therefore, a capacity of 10 megabytes, for example, is really 10,485,760 storage positions, rather than 10 million positions. Howeve r, such differences are frequently disregarded in order to simplify descriptions of storage capacity. Thus, a megabyte is roughly 1 million bytes of storage, wh ile a gigabyte is roughly 1billion bytes and a terabyte represents about 1 trill ion bytes. Software Technology Trends A. Application Software Trends The trend in computer application software is toward multipurpose, expert-assist ed packages with natural language and graphical user interfaces. There are two m ajor trends: Off-The-Shelf Software Packages There is a trend away from custom-designed one-of- a-kind programs developed by the professional programmers or end users of an organization. Instead, the trend is toward the use of the "off-the-self" software package acqu ired by end users from software vendors. This trend accelerated with the develop ment of inexpensive and easy-to-use productivity software packages for microcomp uters, and it continues to grow. Nonprocedural, Natural Languages There is a major trend away from technical, machine-specific programming languag es using binary-based or symbolic codes and from procedural languages, which use English-like statements and mathematical expressions to specify the sequence of instructions a computer must perform. Instead, the trend is toward nonprocedural, natural languages that are closer to human conversation. This trend has accelerated with the creation of easy-to-use , nonprocedural fourth- generation languages (4GL). It continues to grow as deve lopments in graphics and artificial intelligence produce natural language and gr aphical interfaces that make software packages easier to use. B. System Software Trends Many of the software trends that percolated in the industry in 2006 will gather more steam in 2007, but several stand out as contenders to change the game for t he market in the New Year. Below are some of the key software trends to watch fo r in 2007. Just when you thought it was over, the chatter surrounding Microsoft's long-dela yed Windows client update has only just begun. 2007 will be a crucial year for t he OS, which will finally make its mainstream debut to consumers at the end of J anuary. Microsoft, its hardware and component partners and Wall Street will be k eeping a keen eye on customer adoption of Vista to see if it really was worth th e wait. 2007 also may be the year Apple Computer's Mac OS could gain more mass a ppeal among users that in the past might have bought a Windows PC, giving Vista its first real competition in ages. The competition can be attributed to two thi ngs. One, Apple now offers Intel chip-based PCs that are less expensive than pre vious Apple computers and thus a more viable option for the average PC user. Sec ondly, more consumers seem to be catching on to the fact that the Mac OS is -- a nd has always been -- more cutting-edge, attractive and just so much more fun to use than Windows. Software as a Service (SAAS) As Google and SAAS pioneer Salesforce.com continue to be financial successes, ot her companies begin sending out software that has traditionally been sold in pac kages to customers over the Web. Microsoft may soon be joining the fray, and in fact is steadily building out its Web-based service business under the direction of Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie. Indeed, many believe Vista will be the l

ast packaged-software version of Windows as Microsoft eventually will begin offe ring new versions of the OS over the Web. Keep an eye on less packaged software and more SAAS offerings from other traditional players in 2007 as well, includin g Oracle and SAP AG.