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)