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How Computers Work : Millennium Edition
by Ron White, Timothy Downs (Illustrator), Stephen Adams (Illustrator)
Paperback
- 421 pages Bk&Cd Rom edition (September 1999)
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Sometimes you have to take a step back from "choose this, click that"
computer books and survey the technologies that underpin the personal
computers we use every day. We all know how to connect to the Internet,
but few of us really know how a modem works. It's broadly understood
that data written to a hard disk sticks around when the power goes
off and data in RAM is lost--but why? Author Ron White and illustrator
Timothy Edward Downs explain these and hundreds of other aspects of
PC tech in How Computers Work. A typical spread tackles a single PC
detail, such as uninterruptible power supplies or scanners, with one
or more large, full-color drawings of the equipment in question and
a series of detailed callouts that explain what different parts do.
Where there's a process (such as the one behind optical character
recognition), White and Downs present a series of illustrations and
sequential bits of explanatory text. Plus, there's lots of historical
information and speculation on technologies to come.
Will it help you get more work done with your computer? No. Will
it enable you to do things you couldn't do before? No. Rather, How
Computers Work will help you understand in a broad sense what's
going on when you tap the keys, click the mouse, and set software
to work. Reading White's sharp prose and examining Downs's sparkling
illustrations won't make you qualified to work as a computer repair
technician (refer to detail-laden tomes like Scott Mueller's Upgrading
and Repairing PCs and Mark Minasi's The
Complete PC Upgrade & Maintenance Guide for that). This
book will, however, make you a more informed computer user. You'll
have a better idea of what's going on inside the beige enclosure.
--David Wall
Topics covered: Processors, random-access memory (RAM), expansion
cards, modems, persistent storage devices (such as hard disks and
Zip disks), digital cameras, printers, networks, and the basics
of the Internet.
From Book News, Inc. , June 1, 1996
A book/CD-ROM tour through the workings of the personal computer.
Sections on microchips, data storage, input/output devices, multimedia,
networks, and printers contain overviews of how and why technological
processes work. The color diagrams explaining details are clearer
and more interesting than the companion CD-ROM's interactive displays,
video interviews, and computing tips. This second edition contains
updated material on multimedia. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc.,
Portland, Or. --This... read
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