Is it true that there a need for standards when using both computer hardware % and software? Yes. Without standards, only hardware and software from the same ‘manufactures could be used together. However with standards both the hardware and software from various manufactures can communicate with one another. & So what is this “computer protocol”? Protocol is basically “A set of rules’ that is used to establish communication between different electronic devices as well as govern data transmission.” A protocol you would have come accrossoften when surfing the web would be the HTTP:// protocol. Reflect on this. . Would “technology convergence”? have been rapidly made possible without common standards established? To understand how the computer protocol works, we shall examinethe seven layers of the OSI reference model. The OS| model isa reference model that most of current computer protocols are based on COMPUTER PROTOCOL * in other words set of standardsused to transmit data acrossthe network using wire/witeless media