Akademik

n.

Computer software that tracks cattle herds.

"And with mad cow disease still in the international news, 'herdware' — software for tracing cattle — has entered parlance."

— Robert Uhlig, Chicago Sun-Times

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=herdware has better definitions:

1. herdware: Absolutely any personal 'decorative' item or product which may (or may not) have been genuinely cool, fashionable or different once, but is now overwhelmingly "me too" popular, and clichéd to the point of banality, or simple embarrassment.

Often favored by teens - Mall rats easily spring to mind - & young adults wanting to project belonging to a group, culture or common state of mind, herdware can include the ubiquitous naval, ear, nose, lips, genital, etc., body piercings. Or out-of-the-box tattoos like Celtic, faux-tribal, barbwire, ad nauseam designs.

Types or styles of clothing, jewellery, cellphones, and any other hackneyed device, appliance or conveyance can devolve into herdware.

Example: The group gathered every Saturday evening and flaunted their herdware at one another and imaginary admirers.

Example: With her herdware of fresh tatts and piercings and dangling iPod she felt she was the coolest teen in the mall.

2. herdware: Hardware that herds people into using Windows, simply by not supporting anything else than Windows, up to the full extent of not being compatible with it's legacy ancestor's drivers. Term being more applicable to "rush-forward" Linux builds like Ubuntu, but may apply to "look-backward" builds like Puppy Linux.

Example: Most USB 3G modems with phone SIM cards are herdware.