Universal explanation of computers

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phasmatis_nox

[H]ard|Gawd
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I deal with a lot of people who are very new to computers, and they ask me to explain to them how they work. What do you think is the best analogy of a computer to something most people will understand?

I'm talking about what all the different components do- what they can be related to that most people will be familiar with.


"A computer is like a ___________ because..."
 
it's like a brain?

the hard drive is where you store your memories,
the RAM is where you do all your short term thinking--it's like the hippocampus meets the frontal lobe

the processor is how fast you can process something--a situation, a test question, anything.

the motherboard is the thing that all these things are connected to.

the powersupply is the heart for lack of a better term, pumping the fuel where it needs to go.

Sound cards and video cards are just little computers that help you, the user, interface with the information you want to work with on the machines.

It's not a perfect analogy but it's a start....
 
its like a city. theres houses where things live (harddrives), places where they work (RAM), something making sure it all works happy (processor)
 
The CPU is your desk. Drawers are ram, file cabinets are hard drives. When theres too much on the desk, u stick it in a drawer and when those are full you have to get up and go to the cabinet. The chick under the desk is a virus
 
Your computer an office at work. You and your office are employed to get a job done, that is, your computer functions to get work done. You (your brain specifically) are the CPU. You can only remember so much about your task that you need to hold necessary documents elsewhere. Your memory is the L1 cache. The space on top of the desk in front of you is the L2 cache. The space in the desk drawers is the system memory. The file cabinets is the hard drives. Those file carts are the removable storage. Notice that for each reservoir of information, the more data that can be held, the longer it takes to access it. This holds true in computer architectures. Your finished work could take the form of spoken word (soundcard and speakers) or it could be visual (videocard and monitor).
 
Originally posted by Supchaka
The chick under the desk is a virus
Click to expand...
/me laughs


a computer is like the state
you have the capitol (cpu)
the senate and the house (ram) are needed for the tying up of data
the capitol governs the cities (components, pci, agp, etc) which in turn control their local interests (hard drives, i/o, etc)
(getting a bit more in depth) the state is made up of many roads (the traces) that connect everything
 
Originally posted by xonik
Your computer an office at work. You and your office are employed to get a job done, that is, your computer functions to get work done. You (your brain specifically) are the CPU. You can only remember so much about your task that you need to hold necessary documents elsewhere. Your memory is the L1 cache. The space on top of the desk in front of you is the L2 cache. The space in the desk drawers is the system memory. The file cabinets is the hard drives. Those file carts are the removable storage. Notice that for each reservoir of information, the more data that can be held, the longer it takes to access it. This holds true in computer architectures. Your finished work could take the form of spoken word (soundcard and speakers) or it could be visual (videocard and monitor).
Click to expand...

thats pretty much what i was gonna say :)
 
Originally posted by xonik
Your computer an office at work. You and your office are employed to get a job done, that is, your computer functions to get work done. You (your brain specifically) are the CPU. You can only remember so much about your task that you need to hold necessary documents elsewhere. Your memory is the L1 cache. The space on top of the desk in front of you is the L2 cache. The space in the desk drawers is the system memory. The file cabinets is the hard drives. Those file carts are the removable storage. Notice that for each reservoir of information, the more data that can be held, the longer it takes to access it. This holds true in computer architectures. Your finished work could take the form of spoken word (soundcard and speakers) or it could be visual (videocard and monitor).
Click to expand...
your right hand is printer (or left)
 
A computer is like an enormous fish. It is flat and slimy, and has gills through which it can see.
 
the CPU is like your workhorse
the RAM is like easy fuel (hay)
the HDD is like the cart behind the workhorse
the Vid Card is like the uh, eyes of the workhorse
the Sound Card is like the ears of the workhorse
the Chipset is like the legs of the horse (and brain, kinda)
the Keyboard is like the horse rider (user) speaking
and the Mouse is like the horse rider (user) whipping
 
A computer is like a girlfriend. Its always there for you, even when you don't want it to be..and you never know why it breaks down.:)
 
well heres my analogy ( yes it's terrible )

a computer is like a human body

the motherboard is the nervous system, all your parts are connected to it

the harddrive is the brain

the memory is well.... the memory

the videocard is your eyes, what you see the world with

the soundcard is your ears, what you hear the world with

the cd drive/floppy/modem is the mouth ( wow this is terrible ) we use it to feed and communicate

the processor is the body itself ( arms, legs, chest ) you can overclock it, but don't strain yourself!

power supply = stamina

the case = clothes, without them you would be naked

window = see though clothes

the keyboard are your hands

the mouse are your feet

OS = your soul/personalityl :p
 
Originally posted by Iconz1
A computer is like a girlfriend. Its always there for you, even when you don't want it to be..and you never know why it breaks down.:)
Click to expand...


:D :D

I like that desk one that was posted. Here's my stab at it:

A computer is like a building. The processor is all the workers inside doing work. The RAM is all the bosses faxing/emailing/homing pidgeon'ing work into the building. The hard drive is like the records department inside that stores all the finished work, refrence stuff, and stuff needing to be done. CD/DVD-ROM/RW/floppy is like a subcontracted offsite records department. The North Bridge is like the check-in desk. The video card is the annual report... only it happens at least 60 times a second. The sound card is too. Modem is the phone line. Power supply is the local sub shop. NIC is the company company spokesman.

Sound good?
 
Originally posted by Iconz1
A computer is like a girlfriend. Its always there for you, even when you don't want it to be..and you never know why it breaks down.:)
Click to expand...

hahahahah awesome :p
 
I like to think of a computer as a car. You've got your value-low end, and your premium high end, custom jobs, and favorite makers.

You've got the normal Joe who doesn't know smack about how it works, and then the enthusist who likes to likes to add lights and stickers, just to make it look pretty.

There's history, classics long forgotten, and cutting edge technology.

But regardless of which one you have, they ALL need regular maintenence to keep running optimally. Or else it either runs like crap, or breaks and dies.

This is what I always tell people when they ask me "Why does my computer run so slow now? It used to be fast....." So much junk.. it's like adding a 20 ton trailer to the back of a pinto..:p
 
i did a speech on this when i was in speech class. too bad i still don't have it:rolleyes: i compared it to the body and to things we need to live. it was a good speech too!:D
 
Originally posted by Blue Knight
I like to think of a computer as a car. You've got your value-low end, and your premium high end, custom jobs, and favorite makers.

You've got the normal Joe who doesn't know smack about how it works, and then the enthusist who likes to likes to add lights and stickers, just to make it look pretty.

There's history, classics long forgotten, and cutting edge technology.

But regardless of which one you have, they ALL need regular maintenence to keep running optimally. Or else it either runs like crap, or breaks and dies.

This is what I always tell people when they ask me "Why does my computer run so slow now? It used to be fast....." So much junk.. it's like adding a 20 ton trailer to the back of a pinto..:p
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree with this guy, I think a computer is a lot like a car. Especially if you're talking to a car guy, it'll make a lot of sense imo. Just like a car, if they don't know what makes it run, you don't really need to explain much more than the basic components they need to know about (object oriented thinking).
 
Originally posted by Whatsisname
if some dude actually needs these analogies then hes a fucking idiot.
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I saw a quote in somebody's sig around here, it goes something like this:

"Genius has it's limits. Stupidity knows no such bounds."

Some of the people I deal with...
 
One thing to mention to customers is this:

"Well, computers are very complex. No matter how nice you treat them, and how good you maintain it, it will one day crash on you for no reason. Even for an expert like myself, I am always able to find new problems that I cannot understand. That is why purchasing this WARRANTY is key to top off this package. Think of it as the cherry on top. I mean, why do you have to worry about fixing this delicate machine?"

Hehehehe.
 
Originally posted by Supchaka
The CPU is your desk. Drawers are ram, file cabinets are hard drives. When theres too much on the desk, u stick it in a drawer and when those are full you have to get up and go to the cabinet. The chick under the desk is a virus
Click to expand...
I use the desk analogy too, but slightly differently:

The desk surface is your RAM (the bigger the desk, the more memory you have and thus the more stuff you can work on at once.) The worker at the desk is the CPU itself, and the drawers are like the hard drive, where files are stored, but aren't as quickly accessed as the top of the desk. Spyware and such are like clutter on the top of the desk which makes the "computer" work slower.

And the different file systems are like secretaries that organize the files in your drawers, Ms. Fat32 does a kind of crappy job, just sticking stuff back in wherever, whereas Ms. NTFS neatly labels them and writes whether they are general files or "secret" files for only certain people. Of course, the files always get disorganized eventually, so it's important to defrag so you can find your data quickly.
 
Originally posted by Iconz1
a computer is like a girlfriend. you're always spending money on it. you're always waiting for it to finish its current task. it communicates with other computers in a language that most men don't understand. it never does exactly what you tell it to do. oh, and hitting it when it's misbehaving just makes things worse
Click to expand...

fixed =b
 
A computer is like a Freeway in LA... really f***ing fast till something (or someone) crashes, then it takes forever to do anything on it.
 
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