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About Basic Computer Technology

by Ben Lingenfelter

Overview

Computer basics

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Basic computer technology includes RAM and ROM, hardware and software, desktops and laptops, servers and routers, even PDAs and tablets. The first computers were the size of whole rooms, and didn't have the power of a modern cell phone.
History

Computers have their roots in calculation machines, everything from the abacus to machines that could read "punched cards." In fact, IBM (International Business Machines) began as the Tabulating Machine Company, built by Herman Hollerith, an inventor who built a punch-card reader to speed up the US Census. Punch-card calculators were a huge technological step, but the military needed something more sophisticated. The next step was Harvard University's Mark I computer in 1945. It ran on four "tape readers" that read information from spools of paper tape--an almost unending series of punched cards on a spool. The ENIAC (Electronic Numeric Integrator And Calculator) was also created to help with the war effort, but wasn't finished until 1946. It took up 1,800 square feet and used 18,000 vacuum tubes. In 1957, vacuum tubes were replaced by transistors, and in 1958, the first microchip was produced. In 1970, Intel produced the first microprocessor. Computer development sped up considerably at that point.

Computer Terminology

Computer terminology is often confusing. What's important is usually hard to understand. A computer's hard drive is usually measured in gigabytes. It's not uncommon for a new computer to have between 100 and 200 gigabytes on its hard drive. The "processor" or "microprocessor" is like the thinking speed of your computer, and a fast processor is important to speed on your computer. But RAM, often called "memory," is just as important as a fast processor. They're dependent on each other. Having 5 GB of RAM but a 1 GHz microprocessor is a bad match, just as a 2.5 GHz processor and 512 MB of RAM won't be fast.
Hardware and Software

"Hardware" refers to all the physical, touchable pieces involved in computing. The computer itself, monitors, printers, keyboards, memory, hard drives--it's all hardware. "Software" is any program running on the hardware. Computer hardware continues to become more powerful while decreasing in physical size. Bigger hardware doesn't necessarily mean more power. Age is very important while assessing quality.
Operating Systems

An operating system is the set of software that provides an interface between the hardware and other software. Today, it also provides the graphical user interface between the hardware and the human user. The most common operating system today is Microsoft Windows, followed by Mac OSX and Linux's many free distributions.
Types of Computers

Computers come in all shapes and sizes. The most common kind of computer comes in a rectangular "box" that contains the hard drive, motherboard, cooling fans, RAM, processor, network card, and DVD or CD drive. It might also have ports for peripherals, USB or older SCSI connections, and ports for a monitor to be connected, for a mouse, and for a keyboard. Laptop computers have all the same basics inside, but the monitor is connected inside (through the hinge), and because of space limitations, often don't have quite as much memory or hard drive space. Tablet computers are about half the size of a laptop, and often have a "touch screen" interface, meaning the user can just touch the screen to "click" on items. Often, tablet computers have a "dock" where they can be placed so the user can use a keyboard. Netbooks look just like laptops, but they're build for speed. They usually come with a smaller hard drive, but instead of the common SATA drives, today's netbooks often have solid state drives like USB drives. They're smaller, and won't hold as much data, but they're fast on the web and make a netbook boot faster. PDAs (personal digital assistants) are mini-computers that just do basic functions--calendar, tasks, basic word processing, spreadsheets, and sometimes a little web-surfing. They almost all have touch screens and fit in a pocket or purse. Thin clients are are little boxes that basically just have a network card with built-in RAM. They aren't really computers, but pull programs (software) off a common server. Servers are computers that have been configured to act as a separation or common storage unit for many other computers or clients.
Computer Peripherals

Peripherals are devices attached to a computer by a cord or wirelessly. These include printers, scanners, cameras, PDAs, microphones, headsets, MP3 players, and others. Printers are the most common peripheral.