To a great extent, the development of computer hardware illustrates the technological and scientific progress achieved by people in the course of world history. This paper is aimed at discussing the definition of this term hardware, its history, current development, and prospects. It seems that the discussion of these questions can throw light on the evolution of information technologies, and the main factors that influence this process. Overall, one can identify several important trends that profoundly affected the development of hardware, and one of them is the need to improve its design, functionality, and capacity. Secondly, it is important to remember about the increasing commercialization of these technologies. First of all, the term hardware can be defined as physical units of a computer that are supposed to perform the processing, input, storage, transfer, and output of information (Stair & Reynolds, 2011, p. 62). Among these elements, one can distinguish processors, keyboards, hard disk drives, motherboards, graphics adapters, scanners, printers, and so forth (Stair & Reynolds, 2011). These units have to do separate tasks, and one cannot say that they are equally important; yet, they are closely dependent on one another (Stair & Reynolds, 2011). Overall, this concept of hardware is used to describe the tangible components of a computing system. In contrast, the word software refers to intangible elements of a computing system, and they are used to manipulate the hardware. This is one of the distinctions that should be taken into consideration. On the whole, this term is critical for the understanding of information technologies and their functioning. The importance of hardware can hardly be underestimated because it ensures that every process is completed successfully. Furthermore, the physical units are important for the effective work of software applications and operational systems. Finally, these components are used to connect different computing systems. Scientists have long tried to create a machine that can process information or store it; for example, the famous mathematician Blaise Pascal was able to create a mechanical calculator in 1642 (Singh & Nath, 2007, p. 59). Similar attempts were made by other mathematicians, but it is very difficult to call these inventions computers because they consisted only of mechanical elements (Singh & Nath, 2007). More importantly, their functionality was very limited. One can say that the true development of computing systems began in the first half of the twentieth century and at that time, this hardware had to serve military needs (Singh & Nath, 2007, p. 61). In particular, one should mention the model introduced by John Von Neumann who believed that computers had to include such elements as CPU, input and output devices, and memory storage (Singh & Nath, 2007, p. 61). To a great extent, this model contributed to the future development of hardware. It should be noted that in the course of history, computer hardware gradually became smaller and more effective. For instance, the Colossus computer occupied an entire floor of the building, while modern computers can be smaller than a notebook (Singh & Nath, 2007). To a great extent, the need to minimize hard