How Computers Work - Softcover

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. --Amazon.com

You asked for it. You get it!
For the Fourth Edition of "How Computers Work" I reread letters I’ve received from readers of earlier editions to see what I could do to improve the book. The most often requested feature was a glossary of computer terms. Always happy to oblige, this time I’ve added "Key Concepts" to the overview for each part of the book. Here, I explain important terms that you’ll encounter frequently throughout the chapters. I hope it helps.

A large part of creating the Fourth Edition has been finding out what new technologies are likely to be important. This time there are new explanations of digital light processing, global positioning system, fingerprint recognition, palm PCs, gas plasma displays, accelerated graphic port, and flash memory.

And because I can’t help fiddling, I’ve made changes to many of the illustrations and explanations throughout the book. In the last edition, the explanation of how accelerated 3-D graphics works was too cramped for comfort. We’ve added two pages to that explanation to give this exciting computer technology the space it deserves. Many of the other changes are so small they might not be noticed, but I hope they make a difference.

Because this latest edition of "How Computers Work" has just been released, there aren’t a lot of reader reviews here on Amazon.com. But if you’d like to see what readers have said about previous editions – one of which was chosen, ah-hem, as best non-fiction computer book of the year – I’ve included a few reviews from past editions.

gdavis3@aol.com from Little Rock, AR , September 21, 1998 A great book for beginners. I think this is an excellent book. The pictures and terminology are easy to understand. I plan to use this book to educate some of my coworkers. Diosnel Herrnsdorf (diosnel@krauch.com.py) from Asunción, Paraguay , August 23, 1998 A good school mate. I bought the book because it was listed in a subject's bibliography; in fact, it was the book he most recommended. I found it very useful, and most of all, very easy to follow. All the information was there to grasp at first reading. A reader from Cleveland, OH , March 26, 1998 An absolute must have for anyone with a computer! This is a GREAT book. I have used this book to explain our home computer to my family. With this book, the kid's have begun to understand why it is important to know everything you can about the equipment we use today. A great way to get almost anyone interested in understanding "technology" in an easy to read (and picture) format. I recommend this book to all my friends who ask me to help them computer shop.

And if there’s anything you’d like to seen in future editions, please let me know atron_white@zd.com.

I hope you buy -- and enjoy -- the book!

Ron White