Quiz 2

Question 1

Digital Devices

Answer 1

A digital device processes electronic signals into discrete values, of which there can be two or more. In comparison analog signals are continuous and can be represented by a smooth wave pattern. You might think of digital (discrete) as being the opposite of analog.
Many electronic devices process signals into two discrete values, typically known as binary.

Question 2

On vs off state

Answer 2

It is commonly accepted to refer to the on state as representing the presence of an electronic signal. It then follows that the off state is represented by the absence of an electronic signal.

Question 3

Bit vs Byte

Word size

Answer 3

Each one or zero is referred to as a bit (a blending of the two words “binary” and “digit”). A group of eight bits is known as a byte.
The number of bits that can be processed by a computer’s processor at one time is known as word size

Question 4

What base system do computers use and how does it work

Answer 4

Base 2
A “bit” is the lowest level of data storage, stored as either a one or a zero. If a computer wants to communicate the number 15, it would need to send 1111 in binary. This is four bits of data since four digits are needed. A “byte” is 8 bits. If a computer wanted to transmit the number 15 in a byte, it would send 00001111.

Question 5

CPU

Answer 5

It can be thought of as the “brains” of the device. The CPU carries out the commands sent to it by the software and returns results to be acted upon.

Question 6

Moore’s Law

Answer 6

Moore’s Law: chip performance per dollar doubles every eighteen months
Moore’s Law has been generalized into the concept that computing power will double every 18 months for the same price point. Another way of looking at this is to think that the price for the same computing power will be cut in half every 18 months.
Limits: size, heat, and power
As chips get smaller and more powerful, they get hotter and present power-management challenges. And at some, point Moore’s Law will stop because we will no longer be able to shrink the spaces between components on a chip.

Question 7

Motherboard

Answer 7

The motherboard is the main circuit board on the computer. The CPU, memory, and storage components, among other things, all connect into the motherboard.

Question 8

Bus of the computer

Answer 8

The motherboard provides much of the bus of the computer (the term bus refers to the electrical connections between different computer components). The bus is an important factor in determining the computer’s speed – the combination of how fast the bus can transfer data and the number of data bits that can be moved at one time determine the speed.

Question 9

Random Access Memory

Answer 9

This working memory, called Random- Access Memory (RAM), can transfer data much faster than the hard disk- chip based memory. Any program that you are running on the computer is loaded into RAM for processing. When the computer is turned off, any data stored in RAM is lost.
The RAM inside your personal computer is volatile memory, meaning that when the power goes out, all is lost that wasn’t saved to nonvolatile memory (i.e., a more permanent storage media like a hard disk or flash memory)

Question 10

Hard Disk

Answer 10

Most of today’s personal computers use a hard disk for long-term data storage. A hard disk is considered non-volatile storage because when the computer is turned off the data remains in storage on the disk, ready for when the computer is turned on.

Question 11

Solid State Drives

Answer 11

The SSD performs the same function as a hard disk, namely long-term storage. Instead of spinning disks, the SSD uses flash memory that incorporates EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) chips, which is much faster.

Question 12

Integrated Circuits

Answer 12

Since the early 1970’s engineers have constantly worked to figure out how to shrink these circuits and put more and more circuits onto the same chip – these are known as integrated circuits. And this work has paid off – the speed of computing devices has been continuously improving.

Question 13

Hardware components that relate to speed of the computer

Answer 13

The hardware components that contribute to the speed of a personal computer are the CPU, the motherboard, RAM, and the hard disk.

Question 14

The Internet of Things

Answer 14

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of billions of devices, each with their own unique network address, around the world with embedded electronics allowing them to connect to the Internet for the purpose of collecting and sharing data, all without the involvement of human beings

Question 15

Differentiation vs commoditization for computers

Answer 15

As commodities, there are essentially little or no differences between computers made by these different companies. Profit margins for personal computers are minimal, leading hardware developers to find the lowest-cost manufacturing methods.
Because Apple does not make computers that run on the same open standards as other manufacturers, they can design and manufacture a unique product that no one can easily copy. By creating what many consider to be a superior product, Apple can charge more for their computers than other manufacturers- differentiation to avoid commoditization

Question 16

Microprocessor

Answer 16

The microprocessor is the brain of a computing device. It’s the part of the computer that executes the instructions of a computer program, allowing it to run a Web browser, word processor, video game, or virus.

Question 17

Flash Memory

Answer 17

Cameras, MP3 players, USB drives, and mobile phones often use flash memory (sometimes called flash RAM). It’s not as fast as the RAM used in most traditional PCs, but holds data even when the power is off (so flash memory is also nonvolatile memory). You can think of flash memory as the chip-based equivalent of a hard drive.
Chips are solid state electronics (meaning no moving parts), so they’re less likely to fail, and they draw less power.

Question 18

Semi conductors

Answer 18

a substance such as silicon dioxide used inside most computer chips that is capable of enabling as well as inhibiting the flow of electricity

Question 19

Performance / $

Answer 19

Optical fiber- doubles 9 months (Bits per second)
Data Storage- Doubles 12 months (bits per square in)
Moore’s Law- Doubles 18 months (number of transistors)

Question 20

Price elasticity

Answer 20

Tech products are highly price elastic, meaning consumers buy more products as they become
cheaper . And it’s not just that existing customers load up on more tech; entire new markets open up as firms find new uses for these new chips

Question 21

Five waves of computing

Answer 21

First wave- computing was limited to large, room-sized mainframe computers that only governments and big corporations could afford.
Second wave- minicomputers were a hit. These were refrigerator-sized computers that were as speedy as or speedier than the prior generation of mainframes, yet were affordable by work groups, factories, and smaller organizations.
Wave three- PCs, and by the end of the decade nearly every white-collar worker in America had a fast and cheap computer on their desk.
Wave four- Internet computing—cheap servers and networks made it possible to scatter data around the world, and with more power, personal computers displayed graphical interfaces that replaced complex commands with easy-to-understand menus accessible by a mouse click.
Wave five- computers are so fast and so inexpensive that they have become ubiquitous—woven into products in ways few imagined years before.

Question 22

Moore’s Law and competition/business

Answer 22

Moore’s Law rewrites the boundaries of competition—bringing a firm that started as a computer retailer and a firm that started as an online bookstore in direct competition with one another.
If you are producing products with a significant chip-based component, the chips inside that product rapidly fall in value. That’s great when it makes your product cheaper and opens up new markets for your firm, but it can be deadly if you overproduce and have excess inventory sitting on shelves for long periods of time- carry as little inventory as possible, and to unload it, fast!

Question 23

Multicore microprocessors

Answer 23

made by putting two or more lower power processor cores (think of a core as the calculating part of a microprocessor) on a single chip.
Multicore operating systems can help achieve some performance gains.
in order to take full advantage of multicore chips, applications need to be rewritten to split up tasks so that smaller portions of a problem are executed simultaneously inside each core.

Question 24

stacked or three-dimensional semiconductors

Answer 24

engineers slice a flat chip into pieces, then reconnect the pieces vertically, making a sort of “silicon sandwich.”
Both faster and cooler since electrons travel shorter distances. What was once an end-to-end trip on a conventional chip might just be a tiny movement up or down on a stacked chip.
3-D semiconductors are tougher to design and manufacture.

Question 25

Supercomputers

Answer 25

computers that are among the fastest of any in the world at the time of their introduction.
the computing algorithms to choose the best among multiple chess moves are similar to the math behind choosing the best combination of airline flights.
Each morning CIBC uses a supercomputer to run its portfolio through Monte Carlo simulations that aren’t all that different from the math used to simulate nuclear explosions.

Question 26

Massively parallel processing

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Grid computing

Answer 27

firms place special software on its existing PCs or servers that enables these computers to work together on a common problem.
With grid software installed on them, idle devices can be marshaled to attack portions of a complex task as if they collectively were one massively parallel supercomputer.

Question 28

Supercomputer comparisons

Answer 28

Think of multicore chips as having several processors in a single chip. Think of massively parallel supercomputers as having several chips in one computer, and think of grid computing as using existing computers to work together on a single task (essentially a computer made up of multiple computers)

Question 29

Server farms

Answer 29

organizations replace traditional software and hardware that they would run in-house with services that are delivered online creating entirely new businesses that promise to radically redraw the software and hardware landscape while bringing gargantuan computing power to the little guy.

Question 30

E-waste

Answer 30

Rapid obsolescence means the creation of
ever-growing mountains of discarded tech junk, known as electronic waste or e-waste.
e-waste management is extraordinarily difficult to monitor and track, and loopholes are rampant.

Question 31

Network effects

Answer 31

When network effects are present, the value of a product or service increases as the number of users grows. Simply, more users = more value

Question 32

Value derived from Network effects

Answer 32

exchange- Every product or service subject to network effects fosters some kind of exchange
staying power- Networks with greater numbers of users suggest a stronger staying power. The staying power, or long-term viability, of a product or service is particularly important for consumers of technology products (related to switching costs)
complementary benefits- Complementary benefits are those products or services that add additional value to the network. These products might include “how-to” books, software add-ons, even labor. Products and services that encourage others to offer complementary goods are sometimes called platforms.

These three value-adding sources—exchange, staying power, and complementary benefits—often work together to reinforce one another in a way that makes the network effect even stronger.

Question 33

One-sided market and same side exchange benefits

Answer 33

One sided market- a market that derives most of its value from a single class of users
same side exchange benefits- benefits derived by interaction among members of a single class of participant

Question 34

two sided market and cross-side exchange benefits

Answer 34

Two-sided market- network markets comprised of two distinct categories of participant, both of which that are needed to deliver value for the network to work
Cross-side exchange benefits- When an increase in the number of users on one side of the market (console owners, for example) creates a rise in the other side (software developers)
It is possible that a network may have both same-side and cross-side benefits (Xbox 360)

Question 35

Monopoly vs Oligopoly

Answer 35

Monopoly- a market where there are many buyers but only one dominant seller
Ogiopoly- a market dominated by a small number of powerful sellers

Question 36

Technological leapfrogging

Answer 36

competing by offering a superior generation of technology, can be really tough

Question 37

blue ocean strategy

Answer 37

The idea—instead of competing in blood-red waters where the sharks of highly competitive firms vie for every available market scrap, firms should seek the blue waters of uncontested, new market spaces.

Question 38

Convergence and envelopment

Answer 38

Convergence- when two or more markets, once considered distinctly separate, begin to offer similar features and capabilities
Envelopment- where a firm seeks to make an existing market a subset of its product offering (iPod into iPhone)

Question 39

backward compatibility

Answer 39

ensure that new products have backward compatibility with earlier offerings

Question 40

Preannouncements

Answer 40

Large firms that find new markets attractive but don’t yet have products ready for delivery might preannounce efforts in order to cause potential adaptors to sit on the fence, delaying a purchasing decision until the new effort rolls out. Preannouncements only work if a firm is large enough to pose a credible threat to current market participants.

Question 41

The Osborne Effect

Answer 41

Announce an effort too early and a firm may fall victim to what’s known as “The Osborne Effect.” It’s been suggested that portable computer manufacturer Osborne Computer announced new models too early. Customers opted to wait for the new models, so sales of the firm’s current offerings plummeted.

Question 42

Congestion Effects

Answer 42

when increasing numbers of users lower the value of a product or service