What provides more value the computer hardware or the software that runs in the computer?

Similar questions: computer hardware software runs.

You have to have both, but . . .

Obviously, neither one by itself will do you any good. So if the question is "which would you rather have" or "which do you need the most", the answer has to be "both". But if the question with regard to how much relative value is invested, or how much money can be saved (or made) for a business, software wins.

Of course, since the software requires the hardware, you could argue that all of the value of software is, indirectly, provided by the hardware. But my point is that hardware is simply infrastructure, similar to a building, that gives you a place to do business. Software, by contrast, actually does business.

Software analyzes, buys, sells, tracks, recommends, and automates tasks, saving a tremendous amount of money and manual labor, and allowing even small businesses to expand far beyond. Software contains the rules that are used to run the business. Businesses roll out new hardware all the time, even different hardware platforms, to run essentially the same software systems, sometimes recompiled for the new hardware platform.

Old, venerable software systems are ported to new hardware constantly, because they contain procedures for doing business that have been developed and refined for years, often consuming thousands and thousands of hours of development time. The investment in the business rules embodied in that old software are hard to replace; hardware, by contrast, is purposely designed to be relatively easy to replace. Ask any business whether they'd rather start from scratch replacing their hardware, or start from scratch replacing the body of business rules they've built into their software for the last 30 years, and you can pretty well predict which they will choose.

I think of it like the difference between the mechanics of business and the "core competency" of business. Business are increasingly outsourcing things like order processing, shipping, customer support, and repairs, because these things are the mechanics of businesses; you have to do them. Businesses outsource these things so they can focus on their "core competency," that is, the thing they do that no one else does, or that no one else does quite the way they do it.

Hardware is like the mechanics of business; software, particularly custom or integrated software systems, is often the piece needed to support core competencies. As such, while hardware for most business is "off the shelf" these days, software systems are still, in many cases, totally custom, or at least heavily customized and integrated. Thomas Friedman talks about the issue of outsourcing and core competencies in his book "The World is Flat", with particular regard to custom software systems.

The contrast becomes even greater if you think of the software as being both the code and the data. Technically, data isn't software, but the two work together; a lot of your data isn't readable without the right software to read it. Ask any business what's more valuable; their hardware platforms, or all of the data that they use to do business?

Customer lists, order information, accounting books; the answer is clear. On a personal level, software and data are are more valuable to individuals as well. Which would you rather try to replace -- your computer when the power supply dies?

Or all the photos you've taken for the last four years, and the software you need to view them? Everyone backs up their data; only companies running mission critical web servers applications back up their hardware with "hot swap" spares. Sources: personal opinion Gundark's Recommendations The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief story of the Twenty-first Century Amazon List Price: $16.00 Used from: $5.88 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 1198 reviews) .

It varries. There is absolutely no way to answer that question. Computer hardware can vary in price from around $200 to high end workstations for $10,000 or more.

Software can vary as well- from free stuff to download, to high-end databases and CAD programs, and scientific applications- again, can be more then $10,000. Sources: work.

For most of us, the hardware is completely useless without software to operate it. I'm old enough to remember the original PC, (that baby costs over 5 grand), the IBM that used a floppy with dos written by Bill and Paul. Without their effort, the IBM was just a piece of decorative deak hardware.

We aleays hear that we come down on the side of the PC since most of the programs are written for that open source unit. Nevertheless, my next PC will be a Mac! Lol This time I'm really going to do what I have threatened to do for the last 15 years: iMac.24 in, intel duo with 4 Gig of memory.

Sources: Redneck Fill-os-e-fher, read some, been some places .

1 Neither, as without each other they are both rendered useless...

Neither, as without each other they are both rendered useless...

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I need software for a camera/computer interface.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.