Week 1: Overview of Computers
This is a work in progress. I already know a lot about computer hardware, due to my long experience with computers (I first used computers before I could read, which is not so unusual these days. However, the difference was that I was using a Mac Plus and PowerMacs, and later additionally PCs running Windows 95, rather than tablets or smartphones, as they did not really exist yet). At the most basic, a computer needs a processor (Central Processing Unit, or CPU for short), memory, and some more permanent storage (a calculator may forgo the storage, although graphing calculators normally have at least those three), although most computers also have some kind of means of display, to show the results of work done, whether directly attached or accessed over a network, as well as an input device of some kind, usually a keyboard and a mouse, although it can be something else, like a trackball, joystick, or trackpad. In the very earliest days computers used punchcards f...