Information technology concepts and applications

Information Technology

Info: 1.

As the textbook has indicated, IBM has been a dominant force in the computer industry since the late 1950s. Why do you think this is the case? More specifically, why were so many large corporations seemingly committed to "big Blue" (as IBM is affectionately known), at least until the early 1990s?

IBM has been a dominant force since the late 1950s due to its technological leadership in building computing machines. After World War II, it entered large government contracts such as the U.S. Air Force's SAGE Interceptor control system. IBM also built digital computers for military use. One of the major turning points for the company was the creation of the System/360 mainframe computers. This strengthened its position in the commercial sector. During the 1980s, IBM revolutionized the computer industry by launching the IBM PC. The relatively low price for corporate users made it the market leader in personal computing. Many large corporations are seemingly committed to IBM primarily due to its market leadership.

As you have read in newspapers and magazines, one firm seems to dominate the worldwide software market -- Microsoft. With this degree of dominance by one firm, has the software subindustry truly been competitive, particularly over the past decade? Support your position.

Microsoft has revolutionized the software industry and made it more competitive during the last two decades. Through its development of MS-DOS and Windows, it brought the computer closer to business and home users. It development of the operating system has spawned numerous applications and jumpstarted the growth of all other software companies.

During the last decade we saw the release of Windows NT, Windows 95, and Windows XP. These products transformed the software industry by introducing stable and user-friendly platforms for business and home applications. The new graphical look and ease of use of Windows 95 and XP further strengthened its popularity. Although Microsoft is seen by some as a monopoly that kills the business of other software companies, it has initially fueled the growth of a lot of software companies through the development of a widely-used operating system. The widespread use of Windows OS opened a new market for software developers.

Even as a monopoly, Microsoft rivals have spawned a new level of competition. This is the Open Source movement. Since the last decade, we have seen the growth of Linux and creation of high-quality open source programs such as Firefox and OpenOffice.

If a person has been certified by the PMI but has never been on an it project team, would you consider hiring that person to manage an it project? Justify your answer.

If someone has been PMI certified but has no experience managing an it project team, I would still consider hiring that person to manage an it project - provided that my project does not involve complex technology. The principles of managing an it project are not very different from managing any other project. The only main difference lies in technology. Here lies the critical aspect of managing an it project. The effort required for estimating the time, cost, and scope of an it project greatly depends on the project manager's experience. A project manager coming from a different industry would still have to undergo some learning curve it he/she is to become involved with it. If the project is a simple one and the manager's project management skills are good, this learning curve might be worth the effort. However, a complex project might need a higher level of expertise that not only requires project management skills but also experience with technology.

What are the pros and cons of the following statement?

If the Internet is to flourish, the creators of the information on our information superhighway must be protected. Intellectual property rights must be respected. If First Amendment rights are used as a justification for violating property rights, the next step will be the loss of some or all of these rights, as government bodies move in."

The above statement pertains on the ongoing debate regarding intellectual property and privacy rights. Intellectual property refers to the legal rights that are granted to inventions and works of art that has commercial value. In the it sector, this mostly pertains to digital content such as movies and music. Privacy pertains to the right to withhold information to unauthorized parties or withhold information regarding identity. This gives an individual legal protection from parties that attempt to get data from their own computers. Favoring one right over the other causes

Pros: Promoting intellectual property rights allow more companies to produce movies, music, and works of art that cannot be easily stolen. It is easy for digital content to be distributed and downloaded by individuals who have not paid for them. For example, it takes millions of dollars to create a good quality movie. The people who have paid those millions expect to earn from their investments and thus we have to pay for our movie tickets. However, when someone inside the theatre digitally records the film and shares it to other people over the Internet, it becomes a financial loss for the movie company. The people who would have paid for movie tickets now get the movie for free.