<
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)