GB, MB, GHZ, Oh My!, Making sense of computer specs
From: Jeanna Matthews
Series: Common Sense Computing
Length: 02:30
Computers and computing touch the daily lives of most public radio listeners. However, the world of computing can be frustratingly complicated and arcane.
Common sense computing is a series of short (2-3 minute) entertaining segments dedicated to making computing more interesting and relevant to individuals through straight-forward analogies to the physical world.
I am producing a small number of these in the summer of 2004 to gauge interest and to request feedback. I plan to begin producing one each week beginning in the fall of 2004.
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Piece Description
Computers and computing touch the daily lives of most public radio listeners. However, the world of computing can be frustratingly complicated and arcane. Common sense computing is a series of short (2-3 minute) entertaining segments dedicated to making computing more interesting and relevant to individuals through straight-forward analogies to the physical world. I am producing a small number of these in the summer of 2004 to gauge interest and to request feedback. I plan to begin producing one each week beginning in the fall of 2004.
3 Comments
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Review of GB, MB, GHZ, Oh My!, Making sense of computer specsGood overview - this would be appropriate for my parents in getting them to understand some of the factors for purchasing. She makes good points on what to buy based on your usage. You don't have to buy the most expensive machine. |
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Review of GB, MB, GHZ, Oh My!, Making sense of computer specsThis engaging commentary conveys the some basic computer literacy topics. While informative, the audience for such a piece would be limited to those without any technical background, but with an interest in learning about personal computers. The piece is technically accurate and simple enough for anyone to understand. |
Transcript
When you go to buy a computer, there are dizzying array of “specs” to consider – how many GHz, MB, GB – does the new computer have? Hi I’m Jeanna Matthews and this is Common Sense Computing.
The GHz rating on a computer tells how fast a computer can execute the instructions it is given. 1 GHz means that it can execute 1 billion cycles per second. Each computer instruction – like adding two numbers – takes a specified number of cycles. Thus a machine with a higher GHz rating will execute instructions faster.
However, this does not mean that a 2 GHz machine will seem two times faster than a 1 GHz machine because computers don’t just execute instructions. In fact, computers spend a good deal of their time just waiting - waiting for data to come in over the network, waiting to read data off the disk or waiting for people to click on their mouse. Imagine if you spent each hour, worki...
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Posted on June 25, 2004 at 12:36 PM | Permalink
Review of GB, MB, GHZ, Oh My!, Making sense of computer specs
Despite the producer's upbeat and engaging voice this short piece may be recieved by PR listeners as too elementary. My grandmother would listen to this and benefit, but this effort is lost on most baby boomers and Gen Xers. She uses good comparisons to human memory and productivity, additionally she identifies the misconceptions of GHz speed and how computers are marketed. I doubt you'd find this kind of piece on NPR but it might fit into CBC "Quirks & Quarks"