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Every part of your computer is the result of years of research and development.
Parts that were once handmade at a cost thousands of hours are now mass
produced for pennies apiece. Which of your amazingly evolved computer parts is
the most important?
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I was taught to tackle big questions by dividing them into smaller questions
for consideration. Computer parts divide into two groups, hardware and
software.
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Hardware is any part that you can touch. The case that contains the computer,
the stuff inside the case, the CD spinner, the seeming miles of wires that
clutter your desk are hardware. Software is the operating instructions for the
hardware. Windows is software, as are Word Perfect, Netscape, Quake, and any
other program that runs on your computer.
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The big division in hardware is between those things that are part of the
computer and those that are attached to it. The things inside the box are
called components. They include the power supply, main board, Central
Processing Unit (CPU) Random Access Memory (RAM) and Hard Disk Drive (HDD).
The things outside the computer are called peripherals. The peripherals
include the keyboard, monitor, mouse, printer, and scanner.
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The big division in software is between the Operating System (O/S) and the
applications. The O/S does two things. The first is to tell the computer
hardware how to run. The second is to give the user a way to interact with the
computer. Windows, Linux and Mac O/S are all operating systems. Word
Perfect, Netscape and Quake are applications. Windows and Mac are popular
because they use a Graphical User Interface (GUI). You point and click to
issue commands, instead of typing instructions. Incidentally, the GUI was
invented by Xerox, which immediately discarded it because it had nothing to do
with making photocopies.
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So, what is the most important part of the computer? It couldn't be the
peripherals, could it? Well, most home computers won't even start without a
keyboard, and where would you be without a monitor or printer for output?
Early computers didn't have an HDD or a CD spinner, so it must be the CPU or
RAM. But wait, without a mainboard to connect them, they're useless as well.
And without a power supply, the mainboard is a rectangular Frisbee. Maybe the
most important piece of hardware is the plug.
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How about software? Obviously the O/S is the most important part, since it
runs the hardware and we need all the hardware. But why have hardware if you
can't use it for anything cool, like writing articles for Newswest, or surfing
the World Wide Web (WWW)? You need applications to do all that. It seems that
all the software is just as important as all the hardware.
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Have you guessed the answer, gentle reader? The most important part of your
computer is you. The poinsettia can't use it. For better or worse, the kids
can. Be it tool or toy, your computer is pointless without you. Enjoy it.
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