Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Trends in Computer Hardwares Essay Example for Free
Trends in Computer Hardwares Essay In the last two decades, businesses have come to rely more and more on technology, notably with the increased prominence of the PC and the ever demonstrated boundless resilience of the Internet. Whereas, if 10 years ago had these innovations fallen out of use, businesses would not have even worked themselves up, these days virtually all of these companies would have completely grounded to a halt. Indeed, there is not much work any business can do today without the aid of technology.  In the not-so-distant past business defined technology. Today, the question is already of how to use technology in growing the business.            The most familiar computer hardware to most people is the PC. Over recent years since 2000, the PC has basically become faster with the improvements on the micro chip, which came in various versions designed and released by industry leaders Microsoft, Macintosh, and AMD. Improvements in circuitry make the PC more reliable, while memory capacity is increased.  Meanwhile, the physical size has become smaller, though no less powerful, resulting in more compact machines, as well as the rise of more powerful laptops (Computer Hardware, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, 2007). Scott Williams of Hispanic Business Magazine (2004) quoted Christopher Ireland, CEO of consulting firm Cheskin, in that sales in laptops would increase in the future and thus earn a larger share of the pie of the PC-buying dollar. According to him, sales volume for laptops was less than 25 percent in January 2000, which shot up to 54 percent in 2003. As can be observed even by the non-specialists, the trend in computer hardware development has moved towards faster, smaller, cheaper –getting better, overall. As far as the hardware market will go, Gartner, Inc. released in 2003 their predictions on the hardware market trend in the Asia Pacific Region over a 4-year period, specifically focusing on client-part, server, storage and documentation hardware. The report graphed the PCs to dominate most market sales, while workstations would tend to be the least purchased. Market for all the mentioned hardware was said to peak at 2005, and then gradually decrease into 2007 (Wu, 2003). The benefits for the business world from the onset of technological developments, therefore, are two-sided: it affects both vendors of computer products and the corporate consumers who use the products. As for the present time, technologies continue to become more sophisticated and expand possibilities in communication and business, as well. Advancements in wireless technology have resulted in greater connectivity. Continued improvements on the USB have led to the Certified Wireless USB, which will utilize the connectivity of Ultra-wideband (UWB) radio technology. Wireless USB revolutionizes the â€Å"interoperable connections†and brings it into the wireless world (Universal Serial Bus [USB], 2007). UWB, meanwhile, is a recent short- innovation in low-power, short-range wireless technology, specifically designed for wireless personal area networks (WPANs). It functions similarly to Bluetooth, but enables the transmission of high-bandwidth data like video and audio between devices, and complements longer range technologies (Intel Corporation, 2007).            Arguably the second most familiar gadgets after the PC, mobile phones and handheld devices are among the rapidly morphing technologies in recent years. Along with increased mobility, features like a colored display, built-in digital camera, mp3 player and internet access are among the latest innovations, and are undergoing still more transformations yet. A new technology expected in the near future in cell phones and handhelds is an Organic Light Emitting Device (OLED) display, which is self-luminous and does not require backlighting (Williams, 2004).            The development of technologies closely related to business has evolved, as well. One of the big challenges to companies is the storage of massive amounts of information that is sustainable, secure, and into as less space as can be managed. As information pours out from more and more channels, humans cannot react to the volumes of data that needs to be managed. Now more than ever, businesses need the applications in information technology to store and manage incredible amounts of data in a scalable manner. A concept that is emerging in talks among business analysts is virtualization. One of its perceived functions is running multiple virtual servers so as to no longer add new servers when running new applications. This method will help reduce costs in the future, and is actually more feasible as companies become more swamped with market           data (Wall Street and Technology, 2006).            Technologies involved in business are ever more reaching new heights. The endless possibilities that pour from the Internet, for one, creates a more active and challenging environment for businesses, especially in information management. Accenture.com (2007) recognizes four major trends that will shape information technology, in relation to business, three of which relate to hardware. Regarded the most significant trend on the horizon is the large-scale adoption of service-oriented architectures (SOAs). It is said to have the potential to alter the fundamental structure of businesses and the information industry, and the software industry as well. The adoption of SOAs will ultimately mean simpler systems and lower costs for CIOs. With the growing demands for information processing and storage, technology for business is moving towards an abundant era of infrastructure. The world of technology will experience an increase in the number and type of embedded devices, and with the demands of SOA, infrastructures must be dynamic and flexible.            Information management will be challenged by the massive growth in information, especially due to the emergence of real-time information from sensors and embedded devices that existing databases cannot handle. Companies will become more dependent on external information, which is beyond their control. The major consequence of these trends would be virtualization, ultimately digitizing communication and information. Accenture.com predicts it will industrialize information technology on all levels.            Ultimately, the matter is not really whether future trends in computer hardware, and technology for that matter, help or hurt businesses in the long run. Companies essentially need technology to be able to keep afloat in the sink-or-swim world of business. It is, rather, about learning to read technological trends and applying insights gained from them, as applicable in the company’s affairs. The company should know, then, its technological requirements. It is applying technology inappropriately or unnecessarily, or failing to do so, that would hurt business, not technology in itself. After all, in these times, it is technology that drives business to evolve. References Accenture.com (2007). Major Trends That Will Shape IT. Retrieved February 12, 2007, from http://www.accenture.com/Global/Services/Accenture_Technology_Labs/Services/FromIT.htm Anthes, G. (2006, May 1). Computer Science Looks for a Remake. Retrieved February 12, 2007, from http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,110959,00. html Betts, M. (2002, November 18). The Next Chapter: The Future of Hardware. Retrieved February 12, 2007, from http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticle TOCspecialReportId=120articleId=75887 Blu-Ray Disc (2007). In Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 12, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc Clark, T. (2007, January 24). Surging Electronic Trading Volumes and Reg NMS Require Financial Firms to Enhance Underlying Technology Infrastructures. Retrieved February 12, 2007, from http://www.wallstreetandtech.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=K0135A L3OVGAGQSNDLOSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=197000218 Computer Hardware (2007). In Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 12, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_hardware Funny Relationship Between Technology and Business in Startup Companies (2004, March 4). In Viewpoint of an Entrepreneur: A Business Intelligence Software Blog. Retrieved February 12, 2007, from http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/bi/entrepreneur/archives/funny-relationship-between-technology-and-business-in-startup-companies-517?sp=CM Hayes, F. (2002, November 18). The Story So Far: Hardware. Retrieved February 12, 2007, from http://computerworld.com/hardwaretopics/hardware/story/0,10801,75888,00.html History of Computing Hardware (2007). In Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 12, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_computing_hardware_ (1960s-present) Intel Corporation (2007). Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Technology. Retrieved February 12, 2007, from http://www.intel.com/technology/comms/uwb/ Mid-Hudson Library System (2002). Future Trends. Retrieved February 12, 2007, from http://midhudson.org/resources/administration/trends.htm Universal Serial Bus (2007). Certified Wireless USB from the USB-IF. Retrieved February 12, 2007, from http://www.usb.org/developers/wusb/ Wall Street and Technology (2006, July 19). Equities Market, Technology Infrastructure and Virtual Servers Are Top-of-Mind for ISE SVP. Retrieved February 12, 2007, from http://www.wallstreetandtech.com/search/results.jhtml;jsessionid=DMSJCSVYBCV3GQSNDLRSKH0CJUNN2JVN?site=500004sort=datequeryText=virtualizationxse.x=0xse.y=0 Williams, S. (2004). Top Trends. Hispanic Business Magazine. Retrieved February 12, 2007, from http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?id=16030cat=Magazine more=/magazine/ Wu, J. (2003, July 15). Asia Pacific, 2003 Hardware Forecast. Retrieved February 12, 2007, from http://www.gartner.com/teleconferences/attributes/attr_46494_115.pdf
Monday, January 20, 2020
The Destructive Power of Pain Essay -- Expository Essays
The Destructive Power of Pain There are two types of pain that we all experience, physical and emotional (or mental). Physical pain is a signal of the nerves; therefore it is something that is tangible, something that we can prove is there and something that we can feel. Emotional pain is hurt on the inside of one's soul. It cannot be expressed; it is only a feeling in the soul. According to the Christian view, pain makes someone a better person. However, some people disagree with this because they believe that pain destroys a human being's self-worth. Physical pain is a signal given by nerves that an organism is in a potentially hurtful environment. This is the type of pain that hospital in-patients experience, and it often incites a negative reaction when it is in an extreme form. Constant pain can distort the patient's view of the world and surroundings and can make him/her self-absorbed with alleviating the pain. To others, the patient may appear selfish, impatient, quarrelsome, and greedy, but his actions are merely a result of the pain that they are suffering. Jim Jones, a hard working construction worker, was severely injured one day when a sheet of metal fell on him and severed his leg. While in the hospital, he became withdrawn and very short -tempered with the nurses, and he was angry if he was not cared for immediately. He was in so much pain that he lived from one dose of morphine to the next and if the nurses were even one minute late he became impatient. It was as if he thought that there were no more patients in the hospital besides him. When his family came for daily visits he became very quarrelsome and didn't want to accept any help from them, because he felt that he was useless and could no longer contri... ...ng, such as pain. An example of this is to try and describe the color blue to somebody. One can say it is like the color of the sky, or the ocean, but he can't really say what it is. If he could, he could describe blue to a blind person. Even though we don't know how to talk about pain, we can treat it. Medicine is able to stop the nerves from sending a message to the brain. Psychiatrists are able to find the root of a problem and alleviate it. There are some who would say that God is the only one able to take away pain (both physical and emotional). However, others would say that pain can never truly be taken away, just subsided. And still others say that pain really isn't a thing, it is an illusion that can be overcome. Anybody who has hit their thumb with a hammer would swear that this isn't true. If one were to ask them why, they would say "because it hurts."
Sunday, January 12, 2020
Blood Bananas: Chiquita in Colombia Essay
For Chiquita Brands International, a pioneer in the globalization of the banana industry, bananas are not only serious business, they represent an array of economic, social, environmental, political, and legal hassles. Since its founding more than a hundred years ago as United Fruit Company, Chiquita has been involved in paying bribes to Latin American government officials in exchange for preferential treatment, encouraging or supporting U.S. coups against smaller nations, putting in place dictatorships in Central America’s â€Å"banana republics,†exploiting local workers, creating an abusive monopoly, and now doing business with terrorists.1 For American multinationals, the rewards of doing business abroad are enormous, but so are the risks. Over the past decades, no place has been more hazardous than Colombia, a country that is just emerging from a deadly civil war and the effects of wide-ranging narco-terrorism. Chiquita found out the hard way. It made tens of millions in profit growing bananas in Colombia, only to emerge with its reputation splattered in blood.2 In 2004, Chiquita voluntarily admitted criminal responsibility to the U.S. Justice Department that one of its Colombian banana subsidiaries had made protection payments from 1997 through 2004 to terrorist groups. Consequently, a high-profile investigation and legal trial followed. In 2007, Chiquita entered into a plea agreement to resolve the criminal prosecution. The interactions between the Justice Department and Chiquita were very contentious, but with the settlement, Chiquita expected that it could put the past behind and refocus on developing its business. However, in 2010, the victims’ families filed a separate lawsuit against Chiquita in an American court, demanding compensation. At the same time, investigators in Bogota and on Capitol Hill were looking at other U.S. companies that may have engaged in similar practices, dealing with terrorists as part of the conduct of business. With this in mind, Fernando Aguirre, Chiquita’s CEO since 2004, reflected on how the company had arrived at this point, and what had been done to correct the course so far. He faced major challenges to the company’s competitive position in this dynamic industry. What would it take to position the company on a more positive competitive trajectory? Would this even be possible in this industry and in the business climate Chiquita faced? Chiquita Brands International: Defendant The atmosphere in the Washington D.C. courtroom on September 17, 2007, was testy, with the lawyers on both sides pointing fingers at each other. The defendant, Chiquita Brands International Inc., had already signed a plea agreement that included a US$25 million fine and a five-year probation period. In addition, Chiquita was required to hire a permanent compliance officer. The plea did not stop Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Malis from taking a shot at Chiquita. He accused the company of making millions in profits while paying off Colombian right-wing terrorist groups, including the AUC (United Self Defense Forces of Colombia), for almost seven years. He said the almost US$2 million in payments made by Chiquita â€Å"fueled violence†and â€Å"paid for weapons and ammunition to kill innocent people.†3 Copyright  © 2010 Thunderbird School of Global Management. All rights reserved. This case was prepared by Professors Andreas Schotter and Mary Teagarden, with the assistance of Monika Stoeffl, for the purpose of classroom discussion only, and not to indicate either effective or ineffective management. This document is authorized for use only in Estrategia 2013-I Preg. Montes by Juan Carlos Montes at UNIVERSITY DE LOS ANDES COLUMBIA from January 2013 to May 2013. Chiquita’s lead defense attorney, Eric Holder Jr., snapped back, accusing Malis of shading the facts, of â€Å"being a little too cute and a little too crafty,†as well as â€Å"a little deceptive.†Holder told the judge that the government was partly to blame for the company’s predicament. In 2001, the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, added Colombia’s AUC to the list of â€Å"specially designated foreign terrorist organizations†in company with mostly Middle East-based groups like Al Qaeda and Hamas. Holder argued that in 2003 Chiquita asked the U.S. Department of Justice if it should stop the payments to the terrorists. Holder said, â€Å"All the government had to do was, ‘yes, stop the payments,’ just say yes, but they never did.†Bananas are Serious Business As one of the first tropical fruits to be internationally traded, bananas are a cheap way to bring â€Å"the tropics†to North America and Europe. Over the years, bananas have become such a common, inexpensive grocery item that we often forget where they come from and how they get to us. Bananas flourish in tropical regions, such as the Caribbean and Central America, where the average temperature is 80 °F (27 °C), and the yearly rainfall is 78-98 inches (198-249 centimeters). In fact, most bananas are grown within 10 degrees north or south of the equator. Iceland is an exception, where banana plants grow in soil heated by geysers.4 Bananas do not grow on trees; instead, they are perennial plants, which grow repeatedly from the same root system. They are related to the orchid, lily, and palm families. Bananas are harvested green and ripened during the transportation process, and as soon as the banana stem is cut from the plant, ripening starts. Within 36 hours, the fruit is packed in boxes and loaded onto refrigerated ships, where the cool temperatures slow down the ripening process. The whole trip, from plantation to grocery store, takes about two weeks. The earliest recorded writings about the banana date from around 600 BC or earlier in India. There were several different varieties growing in the wild, all of which were inedible due to taste, and some varieties even made people ill. The Indian agriculturalists experimented with crossbreeding wild varieties of bananas, but while some of the resulting hybrids were edible, they were also sterile, which meant that the original plants needed to be crossbred each time someone wanted a new edible banana crop. Eventually, they came up with a hybrid that produced offshoots (suckers) that could be planted to grow into new plants full of sweet bananas. Between 400-300 BC, bananas found their way eastward with Alexander the Great and his armies. The banana appeared in Chinese literature around 200 AD and then migrated westward to Africa. From there, it likely hitched a ride in the ships of Spanish explorers to the Canary Islands, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and other parts of the western hemisphere. Along the way, other hybrid breeds were created. New varieties were also developed in China. Somehow, a Chinese banana made its way to Great Britain and became famous as the â€Å"Cavendish Banana,†named after an important English family. The Cavendish became the great granddaddy of all commercial bananas sold in the 21st century. In 2010, there were 300 different varieties of bananas worldwide, of which about 20 varieties are being grown commercially, mainly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In 2010, bananas were ranked third on the list of staple crops in the world after wheat and coffee, making them critical for economic and global food stability. Bananas are one of the biggest profitmakers in supermarkets. The average American eats 27 pounds of them every year. Europeans also love bananas. For example, in Sweden the per-capita consumption was 35 pounds. In Eastern Europe, consumption was growing strongly and had already reached 20 pounds per capita per annum. While bananas may simply be a humble fruit with a long history, the banana business creates serious environmental, economic, social, and political problems. Historically, the banana trade symbolized economic imperialism, injustices in the global trade market, and the exploitation of agriculture-dependent third-world countries.
Saturday, January 4, 2020
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