Hardware and Equipment
Taught by Bud Johnson
BJ-02

There is no need for new computer users to be worried, concerned, or afraid of their new computer. It is simply (well, OK, it’s not too simple) a piece of equipment not unlike the TV that you can turn on and watch it do wonderful things for you. You turn on the TV, sit back and enjoy it for hours. You don’t worry about whether you will wreck it by changing the channel or adjusting the volume. You just do those things as part of the process. Once you understand what there is to the computer and learn some of the terminology associated with it, you will hopefully relax and use it as any other tool or appliance in the house. We’ll use both the “tower” model and the “notebook” (or “laptop”) in our discussions.

We will discuss just what is meant by the terms “Hardware” and “Software” so that when you hear those terms you will better understand how they are being used or applied. We will also talk about (and show) what the computer looks like, both on the outside and the inside. Yes, we’ll take the cover off and look at the magical stuff therein. Well, what do you know? It’s just a bunch of electronic parts and cables. No real magic! But those parts can do sooo much!

We will learn about disk drives and storage disks. That will include the hard drive, plus the floppy drive, zip drive, and the disks that go in them. We’ll even include the relatively new flash memory drives. There are also peripherals such as a modem, a monitor, a mouse, a keyboard, a printer and possibly a scanner, touch pad, and trackball. Once you learn about all of these things, I’m sure you will look forward to working on and with the computer to open up a whole new world out there. NO, you’re definitely not too old to learn. Look around you. Do you see any young people in our classes? If you’re a relatively new computer user, this is an important class for you.

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