Personal Computer Hardware (Wikipedia)
This article does a great job of explaining the basics of PC hardware. Having heard most the terms used before, I was surprised by how few of the definitions I was familiar with. For example, on my old laptop the motherboard failed three times before I finally had to replace the computer completely. Even so, until I read this article, I honestly had no idea what that piece of hardware actually did.
This relates significantly to the Lynch article we read for the first week of class. I wonder if part of the reason people only have “rote-skill” computer knowledge is that, for many of us, technology is something we take for granted until it stops working. Once a computer goes from being helpful to frustrating, all my interest in that technology goes completely out the window. I don’t care how technology works precisely because it does work, consistently and on demand. This leaves me very unprepared to fix – or even understand – any problems that come along.
Moore’s Law (Wikipedia & Video)
The example in the video about Moore’s Law applying to cars was especially helpful in showing how unique the law is in applying to transistors. The “constant doubling” is clearly something not many mediums can sustain. I was most interested, in both the article and the video, in what happens when the law stops being true. Though eventually the doubling effect will decrease the rate of defects to a point where further advances become impractical, it will be interesting to see if the exponentially increasing cost ever gets so high as to be prohibitive to advancement. That seems unlikely to me, but is it responsible to put billions of dollars into technological advances when the disadvantages start getting so close to the advantages?
Computer History Museum
What an interesting museum! The Revolution exhibit in particular looks like something I’d enjoy seeing. As a student in the Archives and Preservation track, it’s great to see museum archives at work in the different exhibits.
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI am the same way--I'm fine with technology AS LONG AS IT WORKS! :) I have "rote-skill" computer knowledge mainly because I cannot seem to keep up with the changes! As soon as I am remotely comfortable with some aspect of technology, the world has moved on to the next generation of gadgets or hardware or software! I feel like I will always have a very superficial grasp of how it all works.
Hopefully we'll both become more comfortable as the semester progresses. I'm glad I at least understand what the parts of my computer are now. Maybe a more bottom-up approach to technology - learning what a motherboard does before attempting to troubleshoot - would make it easier for us to understand technological advances as they happen.
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