Computer Basics
Computer Fundamentals. Here is the website content as a single pdf document: Here is the pdf of a fairly complete, but also quite out of date, Beginner's Guide to PC Hardware. Concepts are good, but the current technology is way beyond what is contained here. So....don't worry too much about looking at this. I probably should have deleted it!
We'll be referring to different parts of these and other tutorials in the coming weeks. During the first lab session, you'll be investigating many of the basic parts of a computer. The first lab experiment can be found here. You will be provided with a printed copy for your lab session.
And now...for something completely different...
For some perspective on computer speed, we'll spend a bit of time discussing this sheet I wrote a few years back comparing the speed of our modern computers to the speed of light. (This IS the proverbial "Comparing Apples to Oranges" debate.") Don't worry about the math if you haven't reached this level yet. This is FYI only.