Have you ever wondered what makes a computer compute?

We all have a computer of some sort, whether that’s a Smart-phone, a Desktop, Laptop, or a gaming Console. But have you ever thought about the process that you’re phone goes through in order to open something as simple as an app? Such questions can be answered via multiple paths, one such path is an in depth and very detailed class in Frisco High School, Computer Maintenance! Figuring out how something as simple as a Printer to the common Desktop we all know and love work.

Software Specialist Masayoshi Son comments the fact that “People usually compare the computer to the head of the human being. I would say that hardware is the bone of the head, the skull. The semiconductor is the brain within the head. The software is the wisdom. And data is the knowledge,”

In this class you will study the basics of what make computers run. For example, The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the portion of a computer that retrieves and executes instructions. The CPU is essentially the brain of a CAD system.

Another factor you have to take into account is the fact that “It’s hardware that makes a machine fast. It’s software that makes a fast machine slow” as Stated by Craig Bruce other parts that help are the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), which is a specialized processor originally designed to accelerate graphics rendering. GPUs can process many pieces of data simultaneously, making them useful for machine learning, video editing, and gaming applications. Another important part of a PC is Memory, a device that is used to store data or programs (sequences of instructions) on a temporary or permanent basis for use in an electronic digital computer. The two main types of memory are RAM and SSD’s, which do serve different purposes like RAM, for example is used to actually run certain programs on your computer, the more RAM you have the faster your computer will run when loading applications like a web browser or a game. Solid State Drives (SSD’s) are used for general storage that hold all of the applications on your computer, which can use anything from Gigabytes to Terabytes in order to measure the size of a program.

Hardware Engineer Alan Kay states “People who are really serious about software” he continues “Should make their own software,”

These are only a few and very basic definitions of certain hardware that our computers are dependent on. But why should someone like a student consider this class to be a viable option? With the Computer Maintenance class you can get a certification in the subject, and move onward to use this in a future IT job, The median annual wage for computer user support specialists was $52,690 in May 2020. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $32,830, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $88,940. If you are interested in the class please speak to your counselor.

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