How Computers Work (9th Edition)

Having sold more than 2 million copies over its lifetime, How Computers Work is the definitive illustrated guide to the world of PCs and technology. In this new edition, you’ll find detailed information not just about every last component of hardware found inside your PC, but also in-depth explanations about home networking, the Internet, PC security, and even how cell phone networks operate. Whether you’re interested in how the latest graphics cards power today’s most demanding games or how a digital camera turns light into data, you’ll find your answers right here.

 

Ron White is a former executive editor and columnist for PC Computing, where he developed the visual concept behind How Computers Work. Founder of one of the

earliest PC user groups, he has been writing about computers for 25 years and is known for building wildly extreme computers.

 

Timothy Edward Downs is an award-winning magazine designer, illustrator, and photographer. He has directed and designed several national consumer, business, technology, and

lifestyle magazines, always infusing a sense of “how it works” into every project.

 

A full-color, illustrated adventure into the wonders of TECHNOLOOGY

 

This full-color, fully illustrated guide to the world of technology assumes nothing and explains everything. Only the accomplished Ron White and award-winning Tim Downs have the unique ability to meld descriptive text with one-of-a-kind visuals to fully explain how the electronic gear we depend on every day is made possible. In addition to all the content you’ve come to expect from prior editions, this newly revised edition includes all-new coverage of topics such as:

 

•    How tablet PCs put the power of a PC quite literally in your hands

•    How Windows Vista makes your Windows desktop translucent and makes your PC more secure

•    How advances in optical disc technology such as dual-layer DVD, HD-DVD, and Blu-Ray discs continue to push the envelope

•    How Apple’s new iPhone is revolutionizing what cell phones can do

•    How BitTorrent technology enables anyone to share information with everyone

 

For a decade, How Computers Work has helped newbies understand new technology, while at the same time hackers and IT pros have treasured it for the depth of knowledge it contains. This is the perfect book about computing to capture your imagination, delight your eyes, and expand your mind, no matter what your technical level!

 

Category: General Computing

Covers:    PCs/Hardware

User Level:    Beginning–Intermediate

 

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.