NOTES
Study Guide for the Midterm Examination
You'll find class notes, lab notes, spreadsheets (and other related stuff created specifically for this course) on this page. The business magazine articles you are assigned can be accessed from the syllabus page.

Understanding Information
Information drives the new economy. This note discusses what information is, the differences between data, information and knowledge, how computers represent different kinds of information and some basic economic properties of information goods. It also touches briefly on the information value chain.

Hardware Fundamentals
Managers in all disciplines of today's business environment are required to make intelligent technology choices. The first step towards making sound technology decisions is a rudimentary understanding of computer hardware. This note provides a brief overview of how computer hardware works and discusses the key hardware-related drivers of computer performance. It is also aimed at familiarizing one with common terminology associated with different types of hardware.

Software Fundamentals
The software industry is currently undergoing a revolution. The open source movement has caused managers to revisit some of their most fundamental beliefs about corporate software acquisition; Sun's recent foray into office productivity software is bound to intensify this trend. Meanwhile, the continued rapid evolution of the Web makes intelligent platform choice simultaneously more difficult, and more critical. This note explains the fundamental ideas of algorithms, programs, operating systems and applications, outlines the difference between source and executable code and discusses the importance of platforms in today's technology industry.

Networking Fundamentals
A few years ago, computer networks were barely on most managers' radars. Today, while the network may not yet 'be the computer', the relative importance computer networks is rapidly overtaking that of desktop computers. Concurrently, the convergence of data, voice and video networks is creating a host of new business opportunities and challenges. This note is aimed at imparting a basic understanding of what networks are, how they work, the purpose of communications protocols, and the properties of communications channels; it also briefly discusses the key technology and business issues surrounding network convergence.

Keeping Current

While you're learning the fundamentals, its always a good idea to start reading about what's going on in industry today, and putting the basics into context.

Some of the best sources of current (and past) news and thoughts on technology and e-commerce are listed below:

- Wired Magazine
- Business 2.0
- The Industry Standard
- Red Herring
- Bill Gurley's 'Above the Crowd'
- George Gilder's 'Telecosm'
- Business Week: Technology
- Internet World
- CNET's news.com
- ZDNet

Have we missed any good sources? Let us know.