Week 2 Readings

“Personal Computer Hardware”

I have to say that I didn’t find this Wikipedia entry on computer hardware very helpful, but it would take a lot more for me to understand the inner-workings of a computer than what’s discussed here.  I know what I need to know to make the various computers in my life work, and when they work (which is most of the time), we get along just fine.  When they don’t work, I can often figure out a fix on my own, just by trial and error.  But when I get really stuck, I just call up the Pitt Help Desk (I'm staff), and they walk me through trouble-shooting if I’m working at home, or they make an "office call" and fix the problem for me if it’s my office computer.  They throw out terminology and explain parts on an as-needed basis, and when everything is working swimmingly again, I quickly forget what it all means, because I never really understood how it worked in the first place.  So I guess I need remedial help when it comes to wrapping my brain around things like “chip set” and “BIOS” and “Internal and External Buses.”  I think the only way I would ever really understand this is if someone actually opens up and dissects a PC in front of me, extracting each component and showing me firsthand what these parts mean and do.  I felt really old reading about “floppy disks” and the “Iomega Zip drive,” now apparently obsolete, but things I remember using “back in the day.”  I shudder to think that someday I may be called upon to open up one of these things and perform surgery on it.  I know it's important to understand how computers work; I know I'm not always going to have an IT staff at my beck and call. . . .

“Moore’s Law”

Okay, another article that just overwhelms me with numbers and statistics and graphs and charts—all the things I am horrendously inept at deciphering.  But I guess the basic principle behind Moore’s law is that the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years.  (I have trouble envisioning these things and how they work—I guess when I hear or read these terms, I just assume that they refer to things that somehow make my electronic gadgets “work.”)  I suppose all of this should make us wonder when we will reach capacity, and what sort of “new type of technology” will come along to take its place.  (And whether to wait before buying “the latest technology”!)  It is interesting that the trend has been that these numbers double every two years, and that people have been able to apply Moore’s law to other measures of digital technology.  And is it coincidental that Moore’s law seems to drive the technology industry’s marketing and engineering departments, or is it truly a case of “self-fulfilling prophecy”?

Computer History Museum Website

Isn’t it something that there’s a museum for computer history, which begins its timeline with the year 1939—not so long ago—and ending with 1994.  Which makes me realize just how much must have changed, how the field evolved, in those 59 years, in order to have an entire museum devoted to the subject.  I found the online exhibit “Timeline of Computer History” interesting.  I’m sure it’s a fascinating place for those who are really into computers—it looks like they have a lot of exhibits—however, if I were out near San Francisco, I’d probably find other things to see.  :)