"Hardware or software?" the child of the computer age might ask. His world is divided into two parts: hardware, the machine that makes up a computer, and software, the programs of instructions that tell computers what to do. And while the hardware is visible and tangible, the child knows that software is the soul of the machine. Without software, a computer is little more than a hunk of plastic and silicon that might be used as a doorstop. A computer without software is like a car without gasoline, a camera without film, a stereo without records. It is software that makes the machines do their magic.

Until a few years ago, software was used exclusively to operate the big, impersonal computers, which were isolated in air-conditioned rooms behind glass partitions. The software for these giant machines is still in place, but the rapid spread of personal computers has put software directly into people's hands.

Today, computer buffs are using software in many innovative ways. In addition to doing mundane tasks as sorting, cataloguing and calculating, a lot of new programs are helping make people's lives easier.
* Adapted from Time Magazine, April 16th 1984, and also published in the book "Start Reading" Vol.3 - Ed. Saraiva

Responda em português: De acordo com o texto...
1) O que é hardware?
2) O que é software?
3) Qual dos dois é considerado a alma do computador?
4) Com o que poderia ser comparado um computador sem software?
5) Para que um computador era usado até alguns anos atrás?
6) O que contribuiu para tornar o software mais acessível?
7) Hoje em dia, para que os softwares são usados, além de separar, catalogar e calcular?