This week in class we watched a History Channel video which focused on the high points in the history of computers and we discussed the hardware of a computer. First, making a list of the all the hardware components we knew and then categorizing the items by whether they were an input, process, or output device. The Under The Hood assignment asked us to open up a computer, and there were a number of videos linked to the wiki to watch. I particularly enjoyed "Triumph of the Nerds", "How a Computer Works" from howstuffworks.com, and the "Lab Rats: Mac-vs-PC-video" episode (the one on performance upgrades was very interesting, too).
Previous knowledge:
My knowledge of computer achitecture was very limited before this course. I would not feel comfortable purchasing or recommending to someone what computer to purchase.
What did I learn:
* Computers seemed to evolve from the needs of the government, from counting census information, to breaking German code, to winning the space race.
* 1 billion bytes = 1 gigabyte
* The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is also known as the processor or chip. It sits beneath the heatsink fan on the mother board.
* Microsoft XP was famous for viruses. Vista is much better.
* PC= good for business applications and gameplaying. Mac= good for multimedia editing, videoediting, creative projects.
* Viruses are basically non-existent with a Mac.
* Intel created the microprocessor and the laid back silicone valley working style. Today Intel powers 85% of the world's computers.
* Altair 8800 was the first personal computer - available January 1975.
* Need 512MB for photoediting and to have multiple windows open. Upgrade to 1GB or 2GB if doing heavy duty photo or video editing.
* Check out Crucial.com to figure out your system specifications.
* #1 Upgrade with no pain: RAM (NOT THE CPU!!!!!)
* #2 Upgrade: Graphics Processor (aka video card)
Questions I have regarding the material:
Can I use my household vacuum cleaner to clean the insides of my computer?
1 comment:
Nice job... I would be careful if using the household vacuum. You might think about using the cold cycle on a hair dryer to blow out the dust and then vacuuming the dust up when it is not in your computer. It is optimal to use a small hand held vacuum if you can find/borrow one. I have borrowed the one from our school IMC.
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