Includes bibliographies and index

An overview of the industry covers the history of computing technology, state of the art hardware, software development, and network communications infrastructures, protocols, and applications. This essential guide to computing demystifies the digital society with an explanation of computer, networking, and Internet technologies, for consumers, investors, marketers, and executives. Chapters are in sections on hardware, software, and networks and the Internet, and offer an in depth perspective on how computers, networks, and the Internet have evolved, where they stand now, and what to expect in the future. Coverage encompasses e-commerce, security, the software industry, enterprise applications, programming languages, and key software applications; includes chapter quizzes. Walters is vice chancellor for academic affairs with the Ohio Board of Regents. The guide for anyone who needs to understand the key technologies driving today's economy and high tech industries. You can't afford not to understand the information revolution that's sweeping the world but who's got time for all the acronyms and hype most technology books give you? It's perfect for smart professionals who want to get up to speed, but don't have computer science or engineering degrees! You'll find up to the minute coverage on all of today's hottest technologies including the evolution of computing, from the room sized monoliths of the 1950s to today's global Internet; a preview of the next revolution, pervasive computing; computer hardware, microprocessors, memory, storage, I/O, displays, and architecture; Windows, Macintosh, UNIX/Linux, DOS, NetWare, Palm, what operating systems do, and how they compare; programming languages from machine language to advanced object oriented technologies; key software applications, databases, spreadsheets, word processing, voice recognition, and beyond; Microsoft and the software industry, where they stand, where they're headed; how networks work, LANs, WANs, packet switching, hardware, media, and more; Internet, e-commerce, and security; enterprise applications, data warehousing, Web-centered development, and groupware, whether you're a consumer, investor, or marketer