Chapter 5 - Moore's Law

Question 1

A thin, circular slice of material used to create semiconductor devices. Hundreds of chips may be etched on a single wafer, where they are eventually cut out for individual packaging.

Answer 1

Silicon wafer

Question 2

Storage (such as RAM chips) that is wiped clean when power is cut off from a device

Answer 2

Volatile memory

Question 3

Nonvolatile, chip-based storage, often used in mobile phones, cameras, and MP3 players. Sometimes called flash RAM, this is slower than conventional RAM, but holds its charge even when the power goes out.

Answer 3

Flash memory

Question 4

A type of computing that uses special software to enable several computers to work together on a common problem as if they were a massively parallel supercomputer

Answer 4

Grid computing

Question 5

Connecting server computers via software and networking so they their resources can be used to collectively solve computing tasks

Answer 5

Cluster computing

Question 6

A form of cloud computing where a firm subscribes to a third-party software and receives a service that is delivered online

Answer 6

Software as a service (SaaS)

Question 7

A vision where low-cost sensors, processors, and communication are embedded into a wide array of products and our environment, allowing a vast network to collect data, analyze input, and automatically coordinate collective action

Answer 7

Internet of Things

Question 8

A term often used in computing that refers to delay, especially when discussing networking and data transfer speeds. Low-______ systems are faster systems

Answer 8

Latency

Question 9

Semiconductor fabrication facilities; the multi billion dollar plants used to manufacture semiconductors

Answer 9

Fabs (semiconductor fabrication facilities)

Question 10

A substance such as silicon dioxide used inside most computer chips that is capable of enabling as well as inhibiting the flow of electricity. From a managerial perspective, when someone refers to semiconductors, they are talking about computer chips, and the semiconductor industry is the chip business.

Answer 10

Semiconductor

Question 11

The part of the computer that executes the instructions of a computer program

Answer 11

Microprocessor

Question 12

The fast, chip-based volatile storage in a computing device

Answer 12

Random-access memory (RAM)

Question 13

Chip performance per dollar doubles every eighteen months

Answer 13

Moore’s Law

Question 14

Computers designed with many microprocessors that work together, simultaneously, to solve problems

Answer 14

Massively parallel

Question 15

Microprocessors with two or more (typically lower power) calculating processor cores on the same piece of silicon

Answer 15

Multicore microprocessors

Question 16

A high-speed glass or plastic-lined networking cable used in telecommunications

Answer 16

A high-speed glass or plastic-lined networking cable used in telecommunications.

Question 17

Computers that are among the fastest of any in the world at the time of their introduction

Answer 17

Supercomputers

Question 18

Storage that retains data even when powered down (such as flash memory, hard disk, or DVD storage)

Answer 18

Nonvolatile memory

Question 19

The rate at which the demand for a product or service fluctuates with price change. Goods and services that are highly price elastic (e.g., most consumer electronics) see demand spike as prices drop, whereas goods and services that are less price elastic are less responsive to price changes (think heart surgery)

Answer 19

Price elasticity

Question 20

Semiconductor-based devices. Solid state components often suffer fewer failures and require less energy than mechanical counterparts because they have no moving parts. RAM, flash memory, and microprocessors are examples. Hard drives are not.

Answer 20

Solid state electronics

Question 21

A massive network of computer servers running software to coordinate their collective use. These provide the infrastructure backbone to SaaS and hardware cloud efforts, as well as many large-scale Internet services

Answer 21

Server farms

Question 22

Replacing computing resources - either an organization’s or individual’s hardware or software - with services provided over the Internet.

Answer 22

Cloud computing

Question 23

The chip-based equivalent of a hard drive

Answer 23

Flash memory

Question 24

How often does data storage double

Answer 24

Every 12 months

Question 25

How often does networking speed double

Answer 25

Every nine months

Question 26

First wave - Moore’s Law

Answer 26

1960s

Computing was limited to large, room sized mainframe computers that only governments and big corporations could afford.

Question 27

Second wave - Moore’s Law

Answer 27

1979s
Minicomputers (refrigerator sized computers that were as speedy or speedier than the prior generation of mainframes, yet were affordable for workgroups, factories, and smaller organizations

Question 28

Wave three - moore’s Law

Answer 28

1980s

PCs, nearly every white collar working in American had a fast and cheap computer on their desk by the end of the decade

Question 29

Wave four - moore’s Law

Answer 29

1990s
Internet computing; cheap servers and networks made it possible to scatter data around the world at the same time that fast, cheap PCs became mouse-click easy and PC ownership became common in the industrialized world.

Question 30

Wave five - moore’s Law

Answer 30

Computing, mobile phones

Question 31

Sixth wave - moore’s Law

Answer 31

Pervasive computing; technology is fast and so inexpensive that it is becoming ubiquitously woven into products

Question 32

A point in the future where objects will collect and share data and automatically coordinate collective action for radical efficiency improvements.

Answer 32

Internet of things

Question 33

What three interrelated forces are threatening to slow down Moore’s Law’s advance?

Answer 33

Size, heat, and power

Question 34

The supertiny on-off switches in a chip that work collectively to calculate or store things in memory

Answer 34

Transistors

Question 35

Transistors

Answer 35

The supertiny on-off switches in a chip that work collectively to calculate or store things in memory