Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 5
Communication: Humans Talk.
Computers Talk
It is often said that language is the invention that makes all others possible. Within the world of technology,
language is the protocol that makes all others live. Writing software for a stand-alone machine is all very nice, but
when it manages to interface with the outside world, interface with another program across a network, or control
an external piece of hardware, it seems so much more satisfying. Controlling even the simplest of robots with a
computer is infinitely more impressive to the layperson (and many geeks!) than the demonstration of an optimized
implementation of marching cubes.
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I have already covered a number of devices in Chapter 1 that are able to talk with external hardware, and I'll
now discuss human-computer communication and demonstrate how we can interact with one machine or piece
of software and have it control another one somewhere else. This includes the use of e-mail, SMS, and web pages.
However, the onset of new technology is relentless, and with devices such as the iPhone offering a broadband
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experience, the typical role of a mobile phone (as a device for voice calls, SMS, or e-mail) is very much reduced.
Why Comms?
There are four methods of communication within the technology arena:
u
Computer-to-computer
u
Human-to-human
u
Computer-to-human
u
Human-to-computer
These are all important to us for different reasons. The first was covered in Chapter 1 and allows devices to be
controlled automatically according to some time- or logic-based programming.
Human-to-human communications are those that take place every day but can now be facilitated by technology.
Before the advent of the telephone, our only form of real-time communication was face-to-face. Now we have e-mail,
Internet relay chat (IRC), instant messaging (IM), and SMS to perform the same task. All remove the “face” element.
We have also streamlined our existing communication mediums. Telephones, which were once low quality
and hardwired to a physical location, are now mobile. Through Voice over IP (VoIP) technology, you can make use of
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