Posts Tagged ‘Charles Atlas’
In this article, I’d like to talk about a bit about the computer term “CPU,” which is short for “central processing unit.” You can also call it just “the processor.”
Many people don’t exactly grasp this term, so I will use some very easy, plain-English ways of clarifying it that will make a lot of sense, much more than what you’ve probably heard before today.
I’m also going to make clear why it is your computer seems to be slower than it was in the past. This article will also make clear why it is computers seem to become obsolete so fast.
Reading this article will help you understand the CPU better. Once you understand this, you can better choose the right computer for you. That depends on what you’re doing with it.
You can think about the CPU as a brain because it is the closest equivalent to a brain in a computer. Metaphorically speaking, this is the part of the computer that does the actual thinking.
Another way of thinking about it is to think of it like muscles. That means a low-end computer is basically the 98 lb weakling. A high-end CPU is sort of like a Charles Atlas or Arnold Schwarzenegger, someone who is very strong, maybe takes steroids and is very big and muscular.
So go ahead and think about them both: the Arnold Schwarzenegger type. The weakling and the bodybuilder can, of course, carry a book across the room just as easily as each other. Either one of them can easily carry a book across a room.
But, what if the person is instead trying to carry a big, 100-pound bag of concrete, theweak person might not be able to get across the room or might not even have a hope of lifting it.
If they can get all the way across the room, they’re probably going to stagger slowly and barely make it since they’re trying to do something that’s just too much for them to mange.
The bodybuilder, on the other hand, will couldn’t miss that the weight is more than a book, but they’ll be able to carry it across the room much more easily than the 98-pound weakling.
So that’s one way you can make sense of it. A high-end computer is like the bodybuilder. You can think of the normal-level computer as being a person with average strength. While a light book would be no problem to carry, they might not be able to do so well with the heavy concrete bag.
In real terms, what do the cement and the book represent? Are you asking yourself what I mean with the book example? Let me share with you one or two examples. Most people are doing a few things with their computer. They’re writing, using a word processor like Word, or reading their emails.
They’re looking at web pages, listening to some music, watching some little video like a DVD or looking at some photographs. Those are average things. Those are equivalent to carrying a book or something light across a room. Any computer made recently shouldn’t have any problem with things like that.
Things like editing video, is a bigger, heavier task for the computer to work with.
You could also think of playing a complex computer game. Those activities are more like carrying that big bag of concrete, so they do need a high-end computer.
The final thing I want to explain is why, as time goes by, what once was a high-end~powerful computer goes from being Charles Atlas to being a 98-pound weakling.
Most programs get more complicated with each version as they add new features. They are not necessarily more complicated to use, but under the hood they are.
They become heavier with time, so to speak. The typical “weight” has grown over time and so becomes harder for the computer to deal with.
I hope that makes sense, even if you’ve never had much luck learning basics of computer skills up to this point. It actually can be a snap with the best computer training.
