The other thing to note about hardware, in comparison to software, is that it is inherently "parallel"; i.e. electrons will flow if they can, if a logic gate is

The other thing to note about hardware, in comparison to software, is that it is inherently "parallel"; i.e. electrons will flow if they can, if a logic gate is set to switch it will, you can't make it "wait" to switch until you want it to. This is why clocking is important, it makes sure that things happen in a synchronised fashion; without it it's a bit like an orchestra playing with no conductor and/or beat, a mess.