How Computers Work

White, Ron

ISBN 10: 1562765469 / ISBN 13: 9781562765460

Published by Ziff Davis Pr, 1997

About this Item

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: How Computers Work
• Publisher: Ziff Davis Pr
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1562765469
• ISBN 13: 9781562765460
• Binding: paperback
• Illustrator: Downs, Timothy Edward; Alcantara, Sarah Ishida
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

A beautifully illustrated gift edition of the introduction to computer technology explores the inner workings of a personal computer and provides coverage of such new developments as the MMX chip, virtual reality, and 3D animation. Original. (Beginner).

Review

How Computers Work is a sort of picture encyclopedia illustrating the various technologies that make up the computer on your desk. It will appeal to anyone who's curious about how a disk drive stores a word processing document, what is actually happening when your PC runs through its lengthy startup process, how a modem transmits data, or how a sound card turns your voice into a data file.

You could of course lead a long and productive computing life without ever knowing how data moves across the Internet, what happens when a computer is connected to a network, or what RAM is. You might have no interest in how fonts work, what's laser about a laser printer, or how e-mail moves your messages around the globe. You could still have a computer and not know what SCSI is, how a scanner scans, or how your graphics adapter creates accelerated 3-D graphics. And sure, you may have been blasting away at tanks without knowing how that force-feedback joystick works. But where's the fun in that?

How Computers Work focuses primarily on the IBM-compatible PC and its peripheral products. Because much of this technology exists on the Mac and other platforms, Mac users might be a little unsatisfied at being excluded. Otherwise, this handsomely illustrated book of PC technology has something for every computer user.