HARDWARE

Computer have arrived and they have already made them indispensible for us. But yet, the work on developing a new generation computers is on since 1985. The fifth generation computers are expected to make entry with the drawing of the next century. Besides obeying capacity, these computers would have power to think, to feel, to judge things and make decisions accordingly. Present computers have no feelings, no instincts, no intuition, no heart or soul. They are only as good as man makes use of them.

Some advanced countries like Japan and USA have been directing their resources in bringing the era of the Fifth Generation Computers, which would apart from high processing power and large storage capacity or memory, would have very natural input/output devices, such as, human languages, written statements or a pattern or picture. A new field of computer science called as the Artificial Intelligence(AI) has been developed for use in the new computer architecture to ensure that the computers behave like human beings. These computers would be working on (Knowledge Information Processing System) instead of data processing by DIPS/LIPS ( Data or Logic Information Processing System). The currently used high level languages will be obsolete. New low level languages like PROLOG ( PROgramming for LOGic), LISP (LISt processor), Small Talk etc. along with highly sophisticated operating system will be used for these computers.

The dream for manufacturing a human-like computer has not yet been realised. But unendind researches are going on for bringing into daylight computers which will fall under Fifth Generation.

The functioning of a computer depends on the successful interaction between hardware and software.

Hardware of a computer is a term which refers to the component physical parts of a computer, including its peripheral. Peripheral stands for all units that are connected to CPU including input/output and secondary storage devices.

Thus the following parts constitute the hardware system of a computer:

1. Processinf unit: CPU, ALU, ROM, RAM, Mother board, Chips, electronic switches with circuit, Optical and Magnetic Ink Character Reader Cards like MGA, CGA, MPEG etc.

2. Auxiliary Storage devices: Magnetic tape, Floppy disk, hard disk, semiconductor memory, magnetic core memory, microcomputer memory.

3. Input devices: Key-board, Mouse, Light pen.

4. Output devices: VDU, CRT, Printers ( Dot- matrix, daisy wheel), plotters.

5. Connecting switches and wires (cable), Voltage stabilizers.

A computer Engineer assembles the hardware components to manufacture a computer. Tecnological developments have caused a rapidly growing state of changes in computer hardware. Computer architecture is a term used to refer to the layout of computer hardware.