Deck 5: Moores Law and More: Fast, Cheap Computing, Disruptive Innovation, and What This Means for the Manager

Question 1

Price elasticity refers to the:

A) change in the demand for a good in response to a change in income.
B) rate at which product prices vary in response to changes in customer demand.
C) range of production costs that change as a direct function of the availability of raw materials.
D) rate at which demand for a product or service fluctuates with price change.
E) numerical measure of the responsiveness of the supply of a product to a change in its production cost.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Moore's Law applies to all types of technology components.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Moore's Law originally stated that chip performance per dollar doubles every twelve months.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

_____ are substances that are capable of enabling as well as inhibiting the flow of electricity.

A) Insulators
B) Semiconductors
C) Resistors
D) Inductors
E) Rheostats

Question 5

Flash memory is slower than conventional random-access memory.

Question 6

Solid state components are less likely to fail because they:

A) are driven by precise sets of software instructions.
B) have the capability to both enable and inhibit the flow of electricity.
C) have no moving parts.
D) are composed of germanium instead of silicon.
E) contain storage that retains data even when powered down.

Question 7

Random-access memory is an example of nonvolatile memory.

Question 8

The change in hard drive prices is directly part of Moore's Law.

Question 9

One of the advantages of solid state electronics is that:

A) they require less energy.
B) their value appreciates over time.
C) the presence of a high number of moving parts results in higher storage capacities.
D) they can retain data even if power is switched off, when used as hard disks.
E) they can be used to store large amounts of data at extremely low costs.

Question 10

Moore's Law has been in force over all the five waves of computing.

Question 11

Moore's Law states that:

A) magnetic disk areal storage density doubles annually.
B) the cost per unit of useful light emitted by an LED falls by a factor of 10 every decade.
C) the value of a telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users of the system.
D) chip performance per dollar doubles every eighteen months.
E) the cost of a semiconductor chip fabrication plant doubles every four years.

Question 12

The _____ is the part of a computer that executes the instructions of a computer program.

A) software
B) central processing unit
C) arithmetic and logic unit
D) random-access memory
E) microprocessor

Question 13

_____ is a nonvolatile, chip-based storage, often used in mobile phones, cameras, and MP3 players.

A) Random-access memory
B) Cache memory
C) Optical storage memory
D) Holographic memory
E) Flash memory

Question 14

One of the implications of price elasticity of technology products is that:

A) the cost of a semiconductor chip fabrication plant doubles every four years.
B) the magnetic disk areal storage density doubles annually.
C) customers buy more products as they become cheaper.
D) the value of chips in semiconductor-based devices appreciates every six months.
E) firms stock up on tech products and sell them once their prices increase.

Question 15

The third wave of computing was characterized by the introduction of _____.

A) personal computers
B) mainframe computers
C) minicomputers
D) Internet computing
E) laptops

Question 16

If a product has a significant chip-based component, the value of the chips inside that product greatly appreciates with time.

Question 17

Storage that is wiped clean when power is cut off from a device is known as _____.

A) flash memory
B) read-only memory
C) holographic memory
D) volatile memory
E) racetrack memory

Question 18

Moore's Law has impacted the camera industry such that the firms that sell the most cameras aren't camera companies, but phone manufacturers.

Question 19

Which of the following is a rephrasing of Moore's Law?

A) The amount of data that can be transmitted over an optical fiber line doubles every twelve months.
B) In eighteen months, chips as fast as today's models should be available for half the price.
C) The data storage capabilities of nonvolatile memory devices double every nine months.
D) Today's semiconductor fabrication plants will depreciate in value by more than 50 percent in four years.
E) If the magnetic disk areal storage density of a memory device increases by a factor of 2, the corresponding price decreases by a factor of 2.

Question 20

Which of the following is an example of volatile memory?

A) Random-access memory
B) Flash memory
C) Optical disk drive
D) Nanodrive
E) Read-only memory

Question 21

1 petabyte = 1 _____ bytes

A) million
B) billion
C) trillion
D) quadrillion
E) sextillion

Question 22

1 _____ = 1 billion bytes

A) terabyte
B) gigabyte
C) megabyte
D) petabyte
E) zettabyte

Question 23

_____ refer to the multibillion dollar plants used to manufacture semiconductors.

A) Grids
B) Platforms
C) Lecterns
D) Fabs
E) Kilns

Question 24

A(n) _____ is referred to as the brain of the computer.

Question 25

Storage that retains data even when powered down is known as _____ memory.

Question 26

What problem is faced by multicore processors running older software written for single-brain chips?

A) Multicore processors usually run older software by using only one core at a time.
B) Multicore processors draw more power than single-brain processors to solve the same problem.
C) Multicore processors require greater cooling to run the same software as single-brain processors.
D) Individual cores in multicore processors have smaller memories than single-brain chips and are consequently slower.
E) Multicore processors still have some fair distance to go before going mainstream.

Question 27

Which of the following statements is a valid reason for chip manufacturers to carry minimal inventory?

A) Rising transportation costs greatly increase the costs of manufacturing and make moving inventory between locations highly expensive.
B) Chip manufacturers maintain low inventories to hedge the move of semiconductor technology away from silicon-based chips.
C) The potential physical and electronic damage to silicon chips if left unused for extended periods of time deters manufacturers from maintaining higher inventories.
D) Chip manufacturers leverage the higher costs of chip-based products to their advantage by keeping supply low compared to demand.
E) Products with a significant chip-based component rapidly fall in value and can cause huge losses when overproduced.

Question 28

Moore's Law is possible because the distance between the pathways inside silicon chips gets smaller with each successive generation.

Question 29

A(n) _____ is a high-speed glass or plastic-lined networking cable used in telecommunications.

Question 30

Semiconductor-based devices are also known as _____.

Question 31

Sony, a firm once synonymous with portable music, has ceded its market dominance to Apple because:

A) it did not offer an online music store model to rival Apple's iTunes effort.
B) its technology offerings were too futuristic and out of sync with the waves of computing to appeal to customers.
C) it failed to adapt to the changes in the electronics industry as predicted by Moore's Law.
D) its music players contradicted the price / performance phenomenon predicted by Moore's Law.
E) it attempted to straddle the twin markets of online music retail and electronic music players, and could not capitalize on either.

Question 32

Multicore processors are formed by:

A) connecting identical processors in a parallel combination and drawing power from the same source.
B) putting two or more lower power processor cores on a single chip.
C) connecting a series of high powered processors through a single power source.
D) slicing a flat chip into pieces and reconnecting the pieces vertically.
E) connecting a combination of parallel and series-connected processors to a single larger processor to supplement its functioning.

Question 33

The _____ wave of computing came in the form of Internet-cheap servers and networks made it possible to scatter data around the world.

Question 34

Moore's Law has been in effect since the _____ wave of computing.

A) third
B) first
C) fifth
D) fourth
E) second

Question 35

_____ is a phenomenon where electrons slide off their pathways and presents an obstacle to the continuance of Moore's Law.

A) Dovetailing
B) Helicity
C) Oblique correction
D) Jet quenching
E) Quantum tunneling

Question 36

The shrinking of the pathways inside silicon chips that enables Moore's Law, is an indefinite process.

Question 37

Which of the following sets of interrelated forces threatens to slow down the progression of Moore's Law?

A) Weight, speed, and capacity
B) Density, temperature, and wafer thickness
C) Size, heat, and power
D) Silicon availability, efficiency, and energy
E) Memory, cache size, and speed

Question 38

Which of the following factors is responsible for the possibility of Moore's Law?

A) The distance between pathways inside silicon chips gets smaller with each successive generation.
B) Silicon is commonly available in the form of sand or silicon dioxide, which helps keep the costs of chip production low.
C) Constant interaction among three forces-size, heat, and power-makes Moore's Law practical.
D) The availability of better cooling technologies ensures chips can continue growing smaller and more power efficient.
E) With the exponential growth in information technology-enabled businesses, the demand for computers makes Moore's Law possible.

Question 39

Multicore processors can run older software written for single-brain chips.

Question 40

What is Moore's Law? How has it impacted the electronics industry? What economic trends has it inspired?

Question 41

A(n) _____ refers to a massive network of computer servers running software to coordinate their collective use and to provide a common set of services.

Question 42

Grid computing, though faster and more efficient, is an expensive alternative to supercomputers.

Question 43

_____ is a technique in which computers are designed with many microprocessors that work together, simultaneously, to solve problems.

A) Nanocomputing
B) Quantum computing
C) Grid computing
D) Massively parallel processing
E) Cloud computing

Question 44

An option is a right and an obligation to make an investment.

Question 45

_____ are the supertiny on-off switches in a chip that work collectively to calculate or store things in memory.

A) Transistors
B) Multicore processors
C) Single-core processors
D) Conductors
E) Inductors

Question 46

Grid computing is a type of computing in which:

A) special software is installed on several computers enabling them to work together on a common problem.
B) computers are designed with many microprocessors that work together, simultaneously, to solve problems.
C) quantum properties, such as superposition and entanglement, are used to represent data and perform operations on these data.
D) microprocessors with two or more (typically lower power) calculating processor cores are fabricated on the same piece of silicon to solve multiple problems.
E) computer software seeks to reproduce or mimic human thought, decision making, or brain functions.

Question 47

A thin, circular slice of material used to create semiconductor devices is known as a(n) _____.

Question 48

The tech industry is perhaps the most fertile ground for disruptive innovation.

Question 49

Modern supercomputing is typically done via a technique called massively parallel processing.

Question 50

The multiple-brain approach is best suited for problems of a linear nature.

Question 51

The term _____ refers to computers that are among the fastest of any in the world at the time of their introduction.

A) mainframes
B) quantum computers
C) supermini computers
D) minisuper computers
E) supercomputers

Question 52

Describe massively parallel computing and grid computing and discuss how they transform the economics of supercomputing.

Question 53

Replacing computing resources-either an organization's or individual's hardware or software-with services provided over the Internet is known as _____.

Question 54

Which of the following problems is least likely to be solved through grid computing?

A) Financial risk modeling
B) Gene analysis
C) Linear problems
D) Parallel problems
E) Manufacturing simulation

Question 55

_____ is a form of cloud computing where a firm subscribes to a third-party software and receives a service that is delivered online.

Question 56

Which of the following is true of disruptive technologies?

A) The tech industry is the least fertile ground for disruptive technologies.
B) Over time their performance attributes improve to the point where they invade established markets.
C) They come to market with a set of performance attributes that existing customers need.
D) Disruptive technologies and disruptive innovations are independent concepts.
E) The term disruptive technologies is a simple one because few technologies are able to create market shocks and catalyze growth.

Question 57

Name and describe the various technologies that may extend the life of Moore's Law.

Question 58

_____ are the supertiny on-off switches in a chip that work collectively to calculate or store things in memory.

Question 59

Give a brief description of each of the factors that is impeding the continued validity of Moore's Law.

Question 60

One approach that's breathing more life into Moore's Law moves chips from being paper-flat devices to built-up _____ affairs.

Question 61

China has banned the importing of e-waste within its borders since 2000.

Question 62

Disruptive technology is also called disruptive _____.

Question 63

Apple has been a pioneer of reduced-sized packaging that leverage recyclable materials.

Question 64

E-waste management is extraordinarily difficult to monitor and track, and loopholes are rampant.

Question 65

Which of the following is a way to recognize potentially disruptive innovations?

A) Pay attention to slow-expensive advancements in technology.
B) Remove shortsightedness regarding the future.
C) Become more consumer-focused.
D) Indulge in bottom-line obsession.
E) Increase conversation within same product groups.

Question 66

E-waste is particularly difficult to address because of:

A) multiple international agencies like the Fair Factories Clearinghouse.
B) morals and ethics that dictate firms to put principles above profits.
C) environmental advocates being appointed to influential positions on company boards.
D) the complexity of the modern value chain.
E) the increased longevity of electronic products.

Question 67

What are the characteristics of disruptive technologies? Give an example of disruptive technology.

Question 68

A(n) _____ is a right, but not the obligation to make an investment.

Question 69

Based on the author's take on e-waste management, a manager would do well to learn that:

A) dealing with e-waste at home can be ten times cheaper than sending it abroad.
B) disposal and recycling partners must be audited with the same vigor as suppliers and other partners.
C) environmentalists target only the big firms as they can afford to compensate for any environmental damage wrought by their practices.
D) it is simple enough for firms to monitor and track e-waste management through international agencies such as Fair Factories Clearinghouse.
E) appointing environmentalists like Al Gore to the firm's board of directors helps avoid legal action and brand tarnishing due to bad e-waste management practices.

Question 70

What is electronic waste? What are the factors that aggravate this problem?

Question 71

Electronic waste is valuable because it contains small bits of metals such as silver, platinum, and gold.

Question 72

Which of the following statements regarding the current electronic waste scenario is true?

A) Electronic waste increases with the rise of living standards worldwide.
B) The content of gold in a pound of electronic waste is lesser than that in a pound of mined ore.
C) The process of separating densely packed materials inside tech products to effectively harvest the value in e-waste is skill intensive.
D) Sending e-waste abroad can be much more expensive than dealing with it at home.
E) E-waste trade is mostly transparent, and stringent guidelines ensure that all e-waste is accounted for.

Question 73

Big firms fail to see disruptive innovations as a threat because:

A) they primarily focus on the bottom line.
B) they fail to listen to customer needs.
C) they overestimate the impact of these innovations.
D) they don't indulge in playing catch-up.
E) they concentrate only on future financial performance.

Question 74

Why do big firms fail to see disruptive technologies as a threat?

Question 75

What are the implications of e-waste management from an organizational and managerial perspective?

Question 76

The process of separating out the densely packed materials inside tech products so that the value in e-waste can be effectively harvested is extremely skill intensive.

Question 77

Electronic waste is expected to decrease with the rise of living standards worldwide.