Computers Demistyfied

Don’t you get annoyed like me when you go to a technical place like to a mechanic’s workshop just to get your car sorted out and he starts going on and on about serious mechanical jargon ? “There is a problem with your condenser leading to the malfunction of the alternator and your distributor has developed a fault due to the misfiring of the plugs” says the overly qualified mechanic rendering any knowledge which you have acquired about cars useless. Unfortunately every field of expertise has dummies and yes, people who assume that the person they are talking to knows the nonsense they are ranting and raving about. Why not just simplify things, just because you know them doesn’t give you the right to assume that everyone knows what you are talking about. One big brother in business used to say “no one has a monopoly on ideas” (loosely translated knowledge by the way).

You might have heard my computer geeky brothers and sisters talking about specifications or specs as relates to computers and surely you were left with more questions than answers, as they went on to talk about ram, HDD, Core 2 Duo processor, 19” LCD, Bluetooth, Wireless Network blah blah blah. Surely I know how you responded, you didn’t want to appear like one big fat ignoramus dummy so you nodded your head like a grade one chap who has no clue as to what three plus eight subtract five would be in agreement.

I feel it’s time to break the mould and simplify things once and for all without being untrue to the profession lest my doubting brothers kick me out of the trade for not throwing jargon at some unsuspecting non-ICT readers.

The computer in its previous or current form is said to be a gigo device meaning that it is a garbage-in garbage-out device relying and depending wholly on the user to give it (input) raw (unprocessed) information (data) so that it can work on such data in a way that is called process with the end result of such process being or resulting in information which then becomes useful to the user. To further simplify the concept laid above which is the corner stone of computerization a model can be arrived at and put across as Input – Process – Output. What you “feed” the computer contrary to every day knowledge is not information but Data which is information in its raw state. Information is therefore the end result of a Process or a working “on” the given data by various parts within the computer system.

The composition and or capacities of those various parts are then what are referred to as the specifications or specs of the computer system. In any full computer which is also referred to as machine in the computer fraternity you would expect to find a Power Supply Unit, Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Memory also referred to as RAM, Processor, Motherboard, Cooling Fan, Cmos battery, Bus or SATA cable and auxiliary devices including but not limited to floppy drives or DVD drives either writer or player as well as USB (Universal Serial Bus) modules.

Hard Disk Drive
This is the storage area of your computer system. The numbers preceding such devices would then denote your specifications in detail hence you would find a 250GB HDD meaning your Hard Disk Drive has a capacity of 250 Gigabytes. The underlying foundation of all things in Information and Communication Technology is numbers hence to understand the field or comprehend certain nuggets of information within the field one just has to have a general love for numbers. There is a unique way of looking at how data is stored or kept within the hard drive leading to Hard Drive capacity with the lowest level of data being the bit. An accumulation of bits is termed byte which is a thousand bits. A thousand bytes make a kilo byte with a million bytes making a megabyte. It will then follow that a thousand megabytes will make a gigabyte which is shortened to gig in computer lingo. After gigabyte will come the terabyte. If this was 1980 or thereabout and we were talking of money we would say a millionaire is a person with endless or infinite wealth. Coming back to earth, a terabyte is a hard disk drive with endless space. This is to say the math knows me not or I am not to qualified to speak of such insane space.

Memory
Memory or RAM (Random Access Memory) is a card or removable device which is slotted onto the motherboard with the sole use of acting as a buffer for data processing for the computer which is termed the CPU (Central Processing Unit). To simplify things, when you input some raw information into the “computer” the processor below will access such information from the hard disk drive in small batches and pre-store in a temporary storage area called Memory. Various types or variations of RAM exist, remember the only thing constant in ICT is change. For this edition though our focus is SPECS lest we lose track. Here you would hear computer wizards talk in terms of 512MB Ram, 1 GB Ram and so on. RAM in its various shapes and forms would come in even numbers from 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024 Megabytes. As you can understand the lower side of these numbers is slowly becoming obsolete and or redundant with the upper two being the preferred size.

Processor
This is the heart and core of the Central Processing Unit (CPU) and though I will try and loosen up things here, this would normally require a whole article as the major changes taking place in the evolution of the computer are taking place in this area. Just to whet your appetite, various processor types now exist from AMD to Intel with Intel leading the pack in innovation and technological advancement. Dual Core and Core 2 Duo are now the talk of the day with the future in processor technology being as bright as my tomorrow. You will be harassed by the term Megahertz and Gig if you are to ask for the size of a processor. In this area size does matter I repeat size matters with the bigger end being the coolest in the breed. Not forgetting to equate like for like hence for comparison sake you can’t compare an Intel Celeron processor with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor in much the same way you can’t compare a pickup truck with a lorry. The innovation has been from 286, 386, 486 processors with Megahertz processor type making an entry on the Pentium models with P1 processors beginning at 100Megahertz , 200Megahertz, 233Megahertz with P2 taking over from 266 to 450 Megahertz. Pentium 3 (P3) upped the standard from 500Megahertz to 1.2 Gigahertz. Pentium 4 processors then took over and have been hard to replace ever since their triumphant entry into the World of ICT. The entry level of choice was 1.6Gigahertz shortened to GHz with the sky proving for now to be the limit. Tacitly the 3.2 GHz processor under the Pentium M and the Celeron D processor types is ruling the roost in terms of size with the Dual Core 2.0Gig processor leading the roost in Dual Core technology. This one tends to have a final capacity of 4.0Gig as it acts like two processors hence utilizing multiplication technology. Don’t worry if you still think this is drugergagery I will devote some time to take you even further so keep reading and following up it definitely will be for your benefit so you can find some juicy stuff to take down with your fluids at the usual drinking place after work some day.

Motherboard
This is the “mother part” that brings and keeps everyone else together. It has various sub-components that make communication between various linked components possible. The various processors mentioned above are symbiotically related to the various motherboards and motherboard sizes found in the World of ICT. From 286 Motherboards to Pentium 4 being LGA775 Motherboards which are the most commonly found board types. Don’t ask me what LGA stands for I just know that they exist period.

Cooling Fan
When things get heated up inside the computer system this brother cools down everyone else and maintains some anticipated temperature within the computer systems or CPU. Do not confuse this fan with the processor fan and heat sink which parts are mounted on top of the processor in a special slot provided on the Motherboard.

Cmos Battery
When you talk of date and time settings this watch like battery keeps the settings even when your computer system is turned off from the power mains.

Bus Cable / SATA Cable
The purpose of this cable in its two main variations is to connect the various devices like Hard Disk Drive, Floppy Drive and CD/DVD Drives to the motherboard.

DVD Drives
These serve to read, write or read and write to your Digital Video Disk. These seem to have taken the world by storm and are preferred as to the CD Rom Drives which devices would either read or write onto ordinary Compact Disks.

Floppy Drive
This is obsolete technology only to be found in the archives period archives archives archives.

Power Supply Unit
This is least but not last as this is the Power Supply Authority of the computer regulating what amount of ZESA goes in or does not go into the computer system. Models of note are the AT and the ATX models. If you are not technical already don’t worry about this because it is even written on the cover that “Only to be opened by authorized and technically challenged personnel”. Both of these variations are 250Volts in capacity with the difference being that they are used on two different motherboard types. The AT had a toggle switch on the exterior side and “took” power directly from the mains with the ATX getting its power from the motherboard hence technically it is switched on via the motherboard. The replacement model is still embedded deep in the head of some African and will be the technology of the future.

Monitor
I’m tempted to give a brief discourse on the monitor, forget the keyboard and mouse even Sekuru Mwenemutapa from the Mutapa state knew about that. You will be told 17”, 19” or 22” inch CRT,TFT ,LCD monitor and wonder maiwhe zvangu mwana wakafunda uyu (this kid is learned). All they are saying is your monitor size is either 17 inches, 19 inches or 22 inches in size forget color everything is now in color speaking of which I last saw a copy of the Kwayedza a long time ago anybody with a copy can kindly scan and e-mail one to me I will thank you to high heavens. CRT stands for Cathode Ray Tube, these are as extinct as the original members of the Pioneer Column. I won’t talk much about these they are now obsolete stock two generations down the food chain. TFT took over from the CRT type of monitor with the transistor of choice being the Thin Film Transistor hence the name TFT monitor. Change was to imminent and fast for these were not so long lived as the LCD type of monitor then took over. LCD or liquid Crystal Display monitors were introduced to give better resolution or a clearer picture of things. Beware of the touch screen as the LCD monitor is under serious threat from the touch screen which truthfully I am not to sure which technology it is using but its now there!

The future is certainly upon us ladies and gentleman and we can’t escape it or hide let alone shy away from it.