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Coen 001 Understanding Digital Technologies. Ron Danielson Fall 2000. Introductions. Professor Ron Danielson computer engineering faculty member chief information officer 24 years at SCU 8 years managing university computing and communication services
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Coen 001Understanding Digital Technologies Ron Danielson Fall 2000
Introductions • Professor • Ron Danielson • computer engineering faculty member • chief information officer • 24 years at SCU • 8 years managing university computing and communication services • office Orradre 129, phone 554-6813, email rdanielson@scu.edu • office hours • M 12:00 - 1:00, F 2:15 - 3:00 • by appointment
Administrative Stuff • Text • Danielson, Understanding Digital Technologies, draft manuscript, 1999 • Objectives • learn about significant concepts of digital computers • semiconductor devices and processing • computer hardware • software development and systems • computer networks
Administrative Stuff (continued) • Objectives (continued) • gain • understanding of workings of digital technology • appreciation for relationships between components of digital systems • apply that knowledge to new instances of digital technologies • understanding of positive and negative impacts on individuals and society
Administrative Stuff (continued) • Core curriculum technology requirement learning outcomes: demonstrate an understanding of • the nature of technology • technology’s social context • the ways computer networks are structured • how to use networks as sources of information • some discipline-specific tools
Administrative Stuff (continued) • Web site • http://www.cse.scu.edu/~rdaniels/ • Web board • http://wb.scu.edu/~rdanielson • Grading • 2 midterms 35% • homeworks 7.5% • Web board participation 7.5% • student presentation 25% • final 25%
Historical Trends • Amazing price-performance improvement of digital computers • over history • ENIAC, 1947 • 1,600 square feet; many tons; 5,000 adds per second • modern PC • 2 square feet; 20 pounds; 100,000,000 adds per second; 1,000 times lower cost! • over shorter periods of time • Cray Y-MP (1988 - fastest supercomputer) vs. IBM Power-2 (1993 - fastest workstation) • equal or better performance for 1/10 of price
Historical Trends (continued) • Price-performance (continued) • for individual people • IBM 360/75 at U of I for academic computing needs of 35,000 students (1975) • Intel 486 PC in my office at home (1993) • faster, more memory, more storage, graphics for 1/1000 of price
Computing Paradigms • Computing approaches that were commonly available • single user (1950s) • “company brew” • batch (1960s) • IBM 360 • time sharing (1970s) • DecSystem 10, VAX • desktop (1980s) • “home brew” • IBM PC, Macintosh • networked (1990s) • workstations • mobile (2000s)
Computing Paradigms (continued) • History repeats itself • network computers
Historical Trends (continued) • Component trends • number of transistors per chip increases 60% to 80% per year • transistor density 50% per year • chip size 10% - 25% per year • main memory capacity increases 60% per year • disk storage capacity increases 50% per year • cost decreases accordingly, particularly at lowest end of performance scale • factor of 5 - 10 over lifetime of technology (4 years) speed increases proportional
Historical Trends (continued) • What does this mean for people who use computers? • dedicated computing capacity • software with more functionality • penetration of computer use into daily activities • willingness to let the computer be idle changes in behavior
Why Bother? • Ubiquitous computers • apparent (PCs, mainframes) • hidden (thermostats and dishwashers) • tremendous change of • speed • cost • size • Personal impact • work • productivity tools • accelerated communication • shift of jobs • content and location • learning • play • games and Internet no sign of slowdown
Why Bother (continued)? • Societal impact • access • haves and have-nots • content related to personal and community standards • education • reliability • privacy • medical
What’s Understanding? • Coverage • major areas of digital technologies • semiconductors • hardware • software and systems • networks • concepts • current capabilities • future directions
What’s Understanding (continued)? • Scientific understanding • physical and logical principles • Engineering understanding • organization • analysis • improvement • Society • what are the impacts of a technology? • what impacts are inherent to the technology? • what impacts are due to misapplication?