Hardware revolution

In the field of chemical sensors, the revolution in software and inexpensive hardware means that not only nonlinear chemical responses can be tolerated, but incomplete selectivity to a variety of chemical species can also be handled. Arrays of imperfectly selective sensors can be used in conjunction with pattern recognition algorithms to sort out classes of chemical compounds and thek concentrations when the latter are mixed together. 

There has been a real revolution in instrumentation hardware in the last several decades. Twenty years ago, most control hardware was mechanical and pneumatic (using instrument air pressure to drive gadgets and for control signals). Tubing had to be run back and forth between the process equipment and the control room. Signals were recorded on strip-chart paper recorders. 

The microelectronics revolution is due, in part, to the advances in design and operation of the lithographic hardware. But the high-resolution devices that characterize this revolution would not have been possible were it not... 

There has been a real revolution in instrumentation hardware during the last several decades. Twenty years ago most control hardware was mechanical and... 

Finally, in recent years the continuing revolutions in instrument hardware have had a profound influence on some areas of lipid analysis. The development of supercritical fluid extraction of lipids now provides an alternative to wet solvent extractions, which have basically remained unchanged in principle and practice since the 1960s. Advances in mass spectrometry and analytical chromatography now allow the direct analysis and identification of complex lipids from total lipid extracts without the requirement for solvent fractionation. 

Without convenient terminals and hard-copy devices, the situation for the chemist would be little better than the early days of chemical graphics, when even the largest of companies would only invest in a few expensive workstations and chemists would have to leave their laboratories to run a search. The real turning point that made the computer revolution happen was that systems were beginning to be hardware-independent and prices were continually decreasing in the competitive computer market. 

Another major development of the Industrial Revolution was the standardization of parts (making parts interchangeable) through mass production. Prior to this time, each individual craftsman made their own parts. You could not just go to the hardware store for a replacement part, because there were no replacement parts The interchangeable part is one of the major engineering developments that have contributed to our high standard of living today. 

Information systems in the decade of the 1990s will be based on radically different computer hardware and software architectures compared to those of the 1980s. We are already in the midst of a revolution in computer hardware, in operating environments, and in application software. The ultimate effects of this revolution on the utility and use of information systems can today be predicted in general terms. This paper examines several aspects of the revolution, using as examples information problems we face today. We show how those problems will be solved in the future by systems that are just now becoming available. 

Hardware the Revolution. Everyone agrees that a revolution is taking place in computer hardware. It is clear that we can, if we choose, have workstations on our desks in the 5-20 MIP range, at today s personal computer prices, in the next few years. Some moderately priced machines achieve the lower end of that scale today. But this revolution is not limited to raw cpu power. It extends to available memory, computer networking, hard disks, specialized processors, etc. 

---