ABSTRACT
Change in the personal computing industry is as rapid as it is expected—and demanded by consumers seeking the next new cool thing. While nearly every part of the computer industry has changed dramatically, one vital statistic has returned to where it was—desktop and laptop ownership rates. Early computers were first called “calculators,” because “computer” was the job title for a person who solved math equations. The machines were built for a specific task—counting residents, calculating artillery firing coordinates, or forecasting weather. Understanding the technology ecosystem of computers requires differentiating between hardware, software, and content. The software, in turn manipulates the content processed by the computer, from documents and spreadsheets to movies and music. The most important piece of hardware is the central processing unit, or microprocessor, that is the brain of the computer and performs math and logic tasks.
