1, the difference between the essence of the product: hardware is visible, touch the physical components or equipment. In the development of hardware products, human creative activities in the raw materials into tangible physical products. And software products are in the form of programs and documents exist, by running on the computer to reflect his role.
2, the difference in the way product quality is reflected: hardware product design can be mass-produced after finalization, product quality through the quality inspection system can be guaranteed. But once the production, processing errors. Hardware products may be scrapped because of quality problems. Software products can not be manufactured in the traditional sense of production, software development technology, software production or "customized", can only be designed or implemented for specific issues. But software love your product once realized, its production process is just a copy, and copy the software produced by the same quality.
3, product cost composition difference: the cost of hardware products in the composition of tangible substances accounted for a considerable proportion. In terms of the survival cycle of hardware products, the cost of design, production accounts for the vast majority of the link, and after-sales service accounts for only a small portion. Software production mainly relies on mental labor. The cost of software products in the composition of human resources accounted for a considerable proportion. The production cost of software products is mainly in the development and research. After successful development, the product production is simple, through the copy can be mass production.
4, product failure curve difference: hardware products there are aging and depreciation. When a hardware component wears out can use a new part to replace him. Hardware will eventually be eliminated because of the wear and tear of major components. For software, there is no depreciation or wear and tear, and it can last forever if needed. But software troubleshooting is much more complex than hardware troubleshooting. Software faults are mainly due to errors in software design or coding, and must be redesigned and recoded to solve the problem.
5, customized to produce the difference: hardware products once the design is finalized, its production technology, processing technology and process management will be determined, so that it is easy to realize the standardization of hardware products, series of batch production.
Hardware is the abbreviation of computer hardware (refers to the computer system by the electronic, mechanical and photoelectric components, such as the composition of a variety of physical devices. These physical devices according to the requirements of the system structure constitutes an organic whole for the operation of computer software to provide a material basis. In short, the function of the hardware is to input and store the program and data, as well as the execution of the program to process the data into a form that can be used. From the appearance, the microcomputer consists of the main chassis and external equipment. The main chassis mainly includes CPU, memory, motherboard, hard disk drive, CD-ROM drive, various expansion cards, connecting cables, power supply, etc.; external devices include mouse, keyboard, etc. Software refers to a series of instructions, data or programs used to operate the computer and perform specific tasks, as opposed to hardware (Hardware), which is used to describe the physical components of the computer, while software enables users to interact with the computer and its hardware or perform tasks. In general, software can be categorized into system software and application software. System software is used to run computer hardware and provide a platform for applications, while application software is used by users to perform tasks. Each type of software has different functions and uses to meet the needs of users and developers.