Before the 1970s the word ?hardware? usually meant one of two things: the beautiful chrome handles on your new dresser and the kitchen cabinets, or the hammer, saw, and nails that you purchased at the local hardware store. Then came the computer boom! Hardware took on a new meaning! If all the programming that made a computer work were called software, then the hard box and its components took on the name of hardware.



Hardware became a massive, competitive industry that expanded beyond the largest, most powerful dreams of the 1970s. Made of hundreds of various components that can be added, disconnected or exchanged depending on which features you want, the computer has a versatility that is limited only by ones imagination, budget and, realistically, one's patience.

The basic components consist of the system unit itself (which contains the so-called brains of the computer, the CPU, plus various items referred to as ?boards?), the keyboard, mouse, speakers, and of course, the monitor. To these basics one can add printers, scanners, PC cameras, digital cameras, video cameras, and joysticks.

During the mid 1980s several home-type computers became available for the courageous home-computer geek. These used only floppy disks, for the hard disk was still not portable in size. Writing a book could use up to 75 floppy disks and nevertheless was a major improvement over creating or working with a typewriter.

After a few years the amazingly huge 10 MB Hard Disk came out for home use, replacing the need for using floppies except for backups. Since 10 MB didn't really hold all much data, the world of floppies was still lively.

There was a word whispered about in murmurs in computer circles back then: Gigabyte! It meant something so huge in size that the human mind couldn't quite grasp it. Then it happened. A 100 MB hard disk evolved into a 1 Gigabyte hard disk. People wondered if it could possibly be reliable. And while they wondered, computer stores started selling 10 Gigabyte hard disks. People blinked and the hard disks were 100 Gigabytes.

While the capacity of the hard disk increased, the size of the outside hardware began to get smaller and smaller, and before long ? there it is, sitting in the palm of your hand! The flexibility of the hardware opens the door to thousands of various software applications: now, instead of using the keyboard to punch in letters, one can just talk to a computer and it will record what was said. Modern e-mail delights people of all ages as they communicate in seconds around the world. And, computers can also read your e-mail back to you in the language of your choice.

The competition between the hardware manufacturers has resulted in prices dropping and dropping, creating a beautiful opportunity for people of all income levels and all ages to now enjoy a computer in their own home.