Essentials of Computer Organization and Architecture, 5th Edition

CHAPTER1

Introduction

“Computing is not about computers anymore. It is about living. . . . We have seen computers move out of giant air-conditioned rooms into closets, then onto desktops, and now into our laps and pockets. But this is not the end. . . . Like a force of nature, the digital age cannot be denied or stopped. . . . The information superhighway may be mostly hype today, but it is an understatement about tomorrow. It will exist beyond people’s wildest predictions. . . . We are not waiting on any invention. It is here. It is now. It is almost genetic in its nature, in that each generation will become more digital than the preceding one.”

—Nicholas Negroponte, professor of media technology at MIT

1.1   OVERVIEW

Dr. Negroponte ...