Computerizing
I was talking with a friend and came up with this great analogy for the various parts of a computer. It breaks it down into familiar concepts:
- The hard drive is like a row of filing cabinets. The more gigabytes, the more drawers and cabinets (i.e. storage space). Every piece of material is stored in here and can be accessed, but it might take a while.
- The RAM is the table where you spread out the files to organize them to be photocopied. The more megabytes, the more space you have for files on the table. If the table is tiny, it will take you a lot longer because you have to put away files before you can get more out. If you're trying to run programs much too large for your RAM, then the table will be practically filled with all the files it needs constantly to run those programs, and you'll have almost no space to pull any more files of information from the filing cabinets.
- The photocopier is the processor. This is where you actively interact with and process the information you've accessed. The more gigahertz, the faster and more efficiently you can photocopy.
So...when info is needed, it's pulled from the filing cabinets, staged on the table in readiness, and then run through the photocopier, piece by piece.
- The hard drive is like a row of filing cabinets. The more gigabytes, the more drawers and cabinets (i.e. storage space). Every piece of material is stored in here and can be accessed, but it might take a while.
- The RAM is the table where you spread out the files to organize them to be photocopied. The more megabytes, the more space you have for files on the table. If the table is tiny, it will take you a lot longer because you have to put away files before you can get more out. If you're trying to run programs much too large for your RAM, then the table will be practically filled with all the files it needs constantly to run those programs, and you'll have almost no space to pull any more files of information from the filing cabinets.
- The photocopier is the processor. This is where you actively interact with and process the information you've accessed. The more gigahertz, the faster and more efficiently you can photocopy.
So...when info is needed, it's pulled from the filing cabinets, staged on the table in readiness, and then run through the photocopier, piece by piece.