The Ongoing Transition Of Hardware

By: Paul Babs

Before the 1970s the word "hardware" usually meant one of two
things: the beautiful chrome handles on your new dresser and the
kitchen cabinets, or the hammer, saw, and nails that you
purchased at the local hardware store. Then came the computer
boom! Hardware took on a new meaning! If all the programming
that made a computer work were called software, then the hard
box and its components took on the name of hardware.

Hardware became a massive, competitive industry that expanded
beyond the largest, most powerful dreams of the 1970s. Made of
hundreds of various components that can be added, disconnected
or exchanged depending on which features you want, the computer
has a versatility that is limited only by ones imagination,
budget and, realistically, one's patience.

The basic components consist of the system unit itself (which
contains the so-called brains of the computer, the CPU, plus
various items referred to as 'boards'), the keyboard, mouse,
speakers, and of course, the monitor. To these basics one can
add printers, scanners, PC cameras, digital cameras, video
cameras, and joysticks.

During the mid 1980s several home-type computers became
available for the courageous home-computer geek. These used only
floppy disks, for the hard disk was still not portable in size.
Writing a book could use up to 75 floppy disks and nevertheless
was a major improvement over creating or working with a
typewriter.

After a few years the amazingly huge 10 MB Hard Disk came out
for home use, replacing the need for using floppies except for
backups. Since 10 MB didn't really hold all much data, the world
of floppies was still lively.

There was a word whispered about in murmurs in computer circles
back then: Gigabyte! It meant something so huge in size that the
human mind couldn't quite grasp it. Then it happened. A 100 MB
hard disk evolved into a 1 Gigabyte hard disk. People wondered
if it could possibly be reliable. And while they wondered,
computer stores started selling 10 Gigabyte hard disks. People
blinked and the hard disks were 100 Gigabytes.

While the capacity of the hard disk increased, the size of the
outside hardware began to get smaller and smaller, and before
long - there it is, sitting in the palm of your hand! The
flexibility of the hardware opens the door to thousands of
various software applications: now, instead of using the
keyboard to punch in letters, one can just talk to a computer
and it will record what was said. Modern e-mail delights people
of all ages as they communicate in seconds around the world.
And, computers can also read your e-mail back to you in the
language of your choice.

The competition between the hardware manufacturers has resulted
in prices dropping and dropping, creating a beautiful
opportunity for people of all income levels and all ages to now
enjoy a computer in their own home.

About the author:
Paul Babs is the owner of Tendon Ventures which
tackles all hardware issues. For more information, go to:
http://www.formhardware.com