<hardware> The physical, touchable, material parts of a
computer or other system. The term is used to distinguish
these fixed parts of a system from the more changable
software or data components which it executes, stores, or
carries.
Computer hardware typically consists chiefly of electronic
devices (CPU, memory, display) with some
electromechanical parts (keyboard, printer, disk drives,
tape drives, loudspeakers) for input, output, and storage,
though completely non-electronic (mechanical,
electromechanical, hydraulic, biological) computers have also
been conceived of and built.
See also firmware, wetware.
(1997-01-23)
Nearby terms:
hard link « hard linking « hard sector « hardware » Hardware Abstraction Layer » hardware circular buffer » Hardware Description Language
