You Are Not Stupid: Computers and Technology Simplified

CHAPTER 1:

TECHNOLOGY

Technology is anything that wasn’t around when you were born.

-Alan Kay (American computer scientist, 1940-)

We place our lives in the hands of technology every day.

Technology is the application of knowledge with the purpose of solving problems or making life easier. The word comes from Greek techne, meaning skill with art. Computers (machines that store and deal with information) are technology. Modern cars, phones, airplanes, televisions, refrigerators, ovens – virtually all of the machines we use in our day-to-day life – have computers in them.

Have you done any of the following in the past 24 hours:

● Driven in a car?

● Used a crosswalk or traffic light?

● Ridden in a modern elevator?

● Flown in an airplane?

If so, you’ve trusted technology with your life. These machines are controlled to one degree or another by computers. Those computers were created by people. An error in the manufacture (building; creation) or control of those computers can factually put your life in danger.

Therefore, wouldn’t it be useful to understand this beast? As the saying goes, Knowledge is power. In this case, a more appropriate phrase is, Knowledge is safety.

It isn’t necessary to know how something works to use it but it certainly doesn’t hurt.

Technology can be frustrating. Some examples of this are: You hear a commercial that says, Buy the XRC 2000-S today and you have no idea what that means; you finally figure out how to use your new phone and then a newer version comes out; you try to get your computer to perform a basic function but it refuses to comply; etc. Simply put, the better you understand technology, the less frustrating it is.

Computers are such a major aspect of technology that the two words (computers and tech) are sometimes used interchangeably. For example: due to the fact that virtually all modern technical machines contain computers, most tech news is really computer news.

Technology constantly changes and advances, faster than virtually any other subject. Brick has been used as a building material for thousands of years and the way masonry walls are built hasn’t changed much during that time. The operation of keys and locks have relied on the same basic principles for thousands of years. Yet computers seem to be replaced by newer versions all the time.

SUMMARY:

Computers, and all the technology related to them, are a part of almost every aspect of modern life. If you understand computers, you can operate better in life. A knowledge of the foundation and fundamentals of technology and computers makes it easier to keep up with future developments.

So, as we covered, cars, phones and computers are tech. What else do they have in common?

CHAPTER 2:

MACHINES

"When man wanted to make a machine that would walk he created the wheel,

which does not resemble a leg."

-Guillaume Apollinaire (French artist, 1880-1918)

Machines are devices (equipment with a purpose; tools) made by humans to get work done. They are usually made out of durable materials like wood, plastic and metal. Normally they have some parts that move and some parts that don’t; sometimes they have no moving parts at all. They receive some kind of energy that they use to do their work. One of the things that makes people different from animals is their ability to create complex machines.

Usually people create machines because there is some work they want to do that the machine could help them with. The help the machine provides could be to get the work done faster, to do the work with less chance of errors, or to do the work nearly continuously, without the need to stop for food or sleep. There are other reasons people make machines, but it usually comes down to getting more work done in a given amount of time with fewer errors.

As time goes on, machines often get improved or changed to make them more effective or to respond to changes in the area of society where they are used.

Cars, planes, telephones and ovens are all machines.

A computer is just another machine – it’s a device made by people to get work done.

Computers were created to do a simple thing: they take in data (information), change the data in some way, and send out data. That’s all.

Some of the actions they perform are tasks that a person could do by hand. The difference is, computers can do them much faster than people, and (if they are set up properly) they can do them without making errors. This makes them very valuable tools.

There are certain truths regarding computers:

1. They are only machines. They are not people and are not alive.

2. They were created by people and can only act if a person tells them to. Even then,

they can only perform actions that a person thought of ahead of time and built

into them.

Computers do not have a soul. They cannot think. Everything ever done by a computer was predetermined by humans. Even so-called artificial intelligence (computer systems that are able to perform actions that require human intelligence, like being able to recognize sounds and images), or computers that can learn, only have these abilities because we designed them that way.

As machines, some of the characteristics of computers include the following:

● They handle data. Data is information – such as words, symbols (something

written that represents an amount, idea or word), pictures, etc.

● They obey instructions (commands entered into them that perform certain

tasks).

● They automate (perform actions without human interaction) tasks that would

either take too long for a person to do or be too boring. Keep in mind that these

automatic actions were designed by a person.

● They process data. Process means to handle something through use of an

established (and usually routine) set of procedures. When a computer displays

the word processing, it is saying, "Hold on while I perform some pre-

established procedures. Processing refers to taking actions with data."

Searching through words to locate typos would be an example of "processing

data." When data is being processed by a computer, you sometimes see a

progress bar (a symbol that shows how far along something is) like this:

Or you may see this symbol when data is being processed:

This circular symbol is called a throbber due to the fact that they originally expanded and contracted in size – i.e. the symbol throbbed.

The purpose of computers is to take in data, process it and send it out. You will encounter this concept throughout this book.

When computers perform actions, it is referred to as executing or running. For example: you can run a search on the internet by clicking the search button, or you could execute an instruction by pressing enter on your keyboard.

It is important to understand that machines are not life forms. Even though they can perform seemingly miraculous operations, the true source of their products is humankind.

In some television shows and movies, one sees machines taking over the world. The only ways that could happen are:

1. We designed them that way.

2. We failed to include adequate restrictions and safeguards (protections) in their

design.

We are responsible for everything machines (including computers) do.

SUMMARY:

When you get down to basics, a computer is just a machine that takes in data, processes it, and passes it on. Even with the almost unbelievable complexity of modern computers, at the end of the day, they can only do those things that a human has built them to do.

Computers are the most advanced machines that mankind has created. They are found everywhere, have nearly unlimited applicability and they all come down to: numbers. So, what do numbers have to do with all of this?

CHAPTER 3:

NUMBERS

Numbers constitute the only universal language.

-Nathanael West (American writer, 1903-1940)

Talking about numbers isn’t exactly the most exciting topic, but understanding how they relate to computers is necessary in order to grasp technology. So, please bear with us on this chapter.

It all starts with the idea of a number system. A number system is a method for naming and representing quantities (amounts). It is how you count and perform math with numbers.

The number system we are used to is the decimal system. The word decimal means based on the number ten. It comes from the Latin word decimus, meaning tenth.

Using the decimal number system, you count like this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, etc. This is the number system you’ve been using since a very young age. But there are others. Computers don’t operate on the decimal number system – more on that soon.

Number systems let you display quantities, count and perform math using digits.

Digits are symbols that represent a quantity. The symbol 3 is a digit and represents the quantity three. By combining the digits (symbols) 2 and 4 into 24, the quantity twenty-four can be represented. The quantity of eight cubes can be written as the digit 8, like this image shows:

The place is the position of a digit in a written number – the position affects the value (amount) of the digit used. The decimal number system has places like ones place, tens place, hundreds place, etc.

Here is a picture showing places:

Written out another way with the number 1,329:

Now, the base of a number system is the total amount of unique digits (symbols) used in that system.

Because the decimal number system uses ten unique digits (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9), it has a base of ten. It is called a base ten number system.

Each number system has its own base. For example: There’s a language in Papua New Guinea (a place on an island north of Australia) that uses a base 15 number system! A base 15 number system uses 15 symbols to count: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D and E. Here it is converted to decimal (base ten – the number systems used in most of the world):

Base 15 Base 10 (decimal)

0 0

1 1

2 2

3 3

4 4

5 5

6 6

7 7

8 8

9 9

A 10

B 11

C 12

D 13

E 14

10 15

As you can see, in the base 15 number system, the number fourteen is written as E and ten is written as A! Because this is different than the number system you’re used to, it may be hard to comprehend. But don’t worry, you don’t need to learn how to count in base 15. It is only mentioned here as an example of a different number system than what you’re used to.

SUMMARY:

We are all used to a base ten number system, which is a way of counting and performing math that includes these ten digits (symbols that represent a quantity): 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. This is also called the decimal number system because decimal means made up of ten unique parts.

So, if computers don’t use the decimal (base ten) number system, what do they use?

CHAPTER 4:

COMPUTER NUMBERS

"It may be conceded (admitted) to the mathematicians that four is twice two.

But two is not twice one; two is two thousand times one."

-G. K. Chesterton (English writer, 1874-1936)

This brings us to the number system that computers use: base two. As covered in the last chapter, base refers to how many unique digits are used in a number system. A base two number system means that computers only use two unique digits to operate.

The only two digits computers use to operate are: 0 and 1.

The base two number system is called binary. The word comes from the Latin word binarius, meaning two together or a pair.

All quantities in binary are represented by numbers that use a 1 and/or a 0. In fact, any number can be written in binary.

Here is how to count to ten in binary:

0 (zero),

1 (one),

10 (two),

11 (three),

100 (four),

101 (five),

110 (six),

111 (seven),

1000 (eight),

1001 (nine) and

1010 (ten).

Written another way, here is binary converted to decimal (the base ten number system we are all used to):

Base 2 Base 10 (decimal)

0 0

1 1

10 2

11 3

100 4

101 5

110 6

111 7

1000 8

1001 9

1010 10

To further clarify this, here are places in binary:

It is not necessary for you to learn to count or perform math in binary. You just need to understand the definition of binary (the base two number system that uses only 0 and 1 to represent all numbers) and that it is the number system that computers utilize.

SUMMARY:

Computers were built, initially, to work with numbers. Computer designers had a choice of how to represent numbers in these new machines they were designing, and they chose a number system called binary. Using only the two symbols 1 and 0, we can represent quantities and other types of data that use numbers.

So, how exactly do computers use binary to operate?

CHAPTER 5:

DISTINCT DIFFERENCES

Never trust a computer you can’t throw out a window.

-Steve Wozniak (Co-Founder of Apple, 1950-)

Digital things are made up of exact, distinct parts. These parts are always in one precise state. State refers to the condition of a thing – such as, green,

empty, 50 years old, etc.

Things that are digital can only be in one of the available states for that thing, and not in between any of the states. A light bulb with a regular light switch is digital because it only has two states: totally on or totally off. A light bulb with a dimmer switch that could be set somewhere between totally on and totally off is not digital.

The photograph below is digital:

Each square in the photo is its own distinct part with its own distinct state – black, white, gray, dark gray, etc. This doesn’t mean that every blurry photo is digital. Most digital photos are composed of so many squares that, to the eye, they look just like the real world shown in the photo.

One of the ways to understand digital is to compare it to a different term: analog.

Analog refers to devices or objects that represent amounts in a continuous stream. It means that the item gradually increases or decreases or stays the same in a steady flow over time.

Analog comes from the Greek word analogy, meaning analogous (similar; related to). Due to the fact that digital means distinct and analog means gradual, the two terms are commonly considered opposites. In fact, one of the definitions of analog is not digital.

This car speedometer is an analog device:

The needle changes position in relation to the physical movement of the wheels. On the other hand, this is a digital speedometer:

Many speedometers nowadays are digital because modern cars have computers built into them.

You commonly see a combination of both speedometer types, analog and digital:

These two types of speedometer provide a great way to really show the difference between analog and digital.

These devices operate with electricity. Small currents (flows) of electricity go through them. There are several words used to describe these small electrical currents, including: impulses, signals and pulses.

In both types of speedometer, a device will measure the speed of the car, create an electrical signal based on that speed, and send that signal to the speedometer. That signal is used to control the speed that is displayed. The two types differ in how they can represent that speed to the driver.

Let’s say you’re going exactly 54 miles per hour (MPH). Both types of speedometer (the digital number displayed and the needle on the dial) are showing 54 MPH.

Now, let’s make it interesting. Say you start slowly increasing your speed, eventually getting to the point where you are going 55 MPH.

What happens as you’re increasing speed from 54 MPH to 55 MPH shows the difference between analog devices and digital devices very clearly. On the analog speedometer, you will be able to watch the needle slowly move from 54 to 55 MPH. That needle is controlled directly by the electrical signal that indicates the speed of the car. As that signal changes, even by a small amount, the position of the needle changes. So at any given moment, the needle (analog display) is an accurate indication of the actual speed of the car – in other words, the needle movement is analogous (similar or comparable) to the actual speed.

The digital speedometer, however, has a problem: It only has certain exact states that can be used in representing data. In this case, it is restricted to only being able to display whole numbers – like 1, 2, 10, 30, 54, 55, etc. It is built that way. It physically can’t display a number like 54.1, or 54.7, etc.

So as you are slowly increasing the speed of your car from 54 MPH to 55 MPH, and the electronic signal sent to the speedometer changes, that digital display isn’t going to change right away. It is going to keep displaying 54 MPH until the actual speed is high enough that the device interprets it as 55 MPH, and only then will the display change. For example: the digital device may interpret anything below 54.5 as 54, and anything equal to or above 54.5 as 55.

This means that the speed shown on the digital device is not always an accurate indication of the actual speed of the car – in fact, it is only when the actual speed is a whole number like 54 MPH or 55 MPH that the digital display matches the actual speed of the vehicle. Now, that doesn’t mean the speedometer is dangerous, or can’t be relied upon. After all, the designers of that digital device built it to show speed in increments of one MPH, so the speedometer should be accurate enough to be useful to the driver.

Can you imagine, though, if they built it so it could only show speed in increments of twenty MPH? Now that speedometer becomes a lot less useful!

This is a factor in all digital machines: can they represent data with enough accuracy that they are useful, even though the way they represent data may not always be identical to the actual thing being represented?

As a further example of machines that can be either analog or digital, there are analog watches:

And digital watches:

And just as a loose final example, let’s compare analog and digital to physical objects. A slide or a hill could be considered analog because the slopes are gradual. Whereas a staircase, with its distinct steps that are each separate from each other, could be considered digital. This can be seen in the picture below – the waves are analog and the steps are digital:

SUMMARY:

Digital refers to distinct differences in states, conditions, parts, etc. Analog refers to gradual increases or decreases.

Now, let’s see how digital relates to binary (the number system that uses 1 and 0 to represent all quantities).

CHAPTER 6:

DIGITAL COMPUTERS

"Our technology, our machines, is part of our humanity.

We created them to extend ourselves,

and that is what is unique about human beings."

-Ray Kurzweil (American inventor, 1948-)

Digital often refers to devices or objects that represent amounts using the digits 0 and 1 (binary). This is because 0 and 1 are distinctly different numbers.

Binary devices are digital devices. And so, computers are digital machines.

In fact, there is an additional definition of digital that means involving or relating to the use of computers or technology.

Computers, and technology in general, are referred to as digital due to the fact that computers operate on data that is represented using the whole numbers 0 and 1. There is no concept of almost zero or halfway to one in the binary system. Remember, digital devices operate on data that can only be in one of the available states built into the machine – and in computers, the available states are one and zero.

It is possible to design computers that operate off other number systems – systems that use more than two digits. It would even be possible to design a computer that uses the decimal system, with its ten digits. However, creating an electronic device that can represent ten exact, distinct states, one for each digit in the decimal system, would be very challenging. Early computer designers recognized that it is very easy to represent just two digits in an electronic device, simply by controlling whether electricity is present or not at a specific location in the computer. You will learn more about how this is done later in this book.

And so binary was the best number system to use in representing digital data and running digital machines.

We will take a deeper dive into exactly how computers use 1s and 0s to perform actions, but at this point in the book, it’s only necessary for you to understand the definition of digital and binary, which you now know.

SUMMARY:

When you hear about a digital machine, you can know that it probably is a computer, or uses one in its operation. It is still just a machine, and as it does its work, it may operate using data that is close to, but not an exact match for, the thing it represents in the real world. But even with that factor, computers can be very useful, valuable and accurate. Binary was chosen because representing just two different digits (0 and 1) using an electronic device is easier and more reliable than trying to represent several different digits electronically.

The whole idea of digital can be further explained by a system of logic. But what does logic have to do with computers?

CHAPTER 7:

TRUE OR FALSE?

"No matter how correct a mathematical theorem (an idea generally accepted as true)

may appear to be, one ought never to be satisfied that there was not something imperfect

about it until it also gives the impression of being beautiful."

-George Boole (English mathematician, 1815-1864)

Logic refers to actions, behavior and thinking that makes sense. When speaking about computers, logic is the rules that form the foundation for a computer in performing certain tasks.

An example of computer logic is the guidelines the computer uses when making decisions, such as:

● If the maximum number of students has not been enrolled in the class, then allow

another student to be added.

● If the maximum number of students has been enrolled in the class, then do not

allow another student to be added.

George Boole (the English mathematician quoted above) developed Boolean logic. Boolean logic is a form of logic in which the only possible results of a decision are true and false. There aren’t any vague or almost answers to a calculation or decision – black or white, no gray.

An example of Boolean logic would be answering questions with only yes or no.

Computers think this way:

5 is larger than 3 = TRUE

3 is bigger than 5 = FALSE

Boolean logic relates to digital in that digital devices only allow for one of two states. These terms both relate to the binary number system because 1 can be used to mean true, while 0 can be used to mean false (two distinct states).

And so, Boolean logic is the foundation for the construction and operation of computers.

Boolean logic uses certain kinds of comparisons that revolve around something being true or false.

SUMMARY:

Everything in computers and all actions they perform come down to Boolean logic: yes/no, true/false, go/stop – which are all represented by 1 and 0 (binary).

Let’s take a look at how computers can compare two or more pieces of data.

CHAPTER 8:

COMPARISONS

"Logic will get you from A to B.

Imagination will take you everywhere."

-Albert Einstein (German scientist, 1879-1955)

In computers, we can use two or more comparisons to make an additional comparison. This is done by using Boolean logic. We do this by getting the results of the two (or more) comparisons and then comparing those results in some way.

Some common examples of such Boolean comparisons are AND and OR.

With the Boolean comparison called AND, the comparison is true only if all of the involved comparisons are true.

Let’s look at some examples to show how this works:

In the following AND comparison, the result is true:

5 is more than 3 AND 10 is more than 5

Let’s break it down.

There are three comparisons happening here:

1. Comparing 5 and 3 to see if 5 is larger than 3 (is 5 larger than 3?)

2. Comparing 10 and 5 to see if 10 is larger than 5 (is 10 larger than 5?)

3. Comparing the results of those two comparisons, using the Boolean comparison

AND (are both comparisons true?)

This is the overall comparison.

It is true that 5 is greater than 3, so the first comparison is true.

It is also true that 10 is greater than 5 – so the second comparison is true as well.

A Boolean AND comparison is true if the other comparisons are all true – so in this example, the overall comparison is true, since the first comparison is true and the second comparison is true.

In this next example, the result is false (not true):

5 is more than 7 AND 10 is more than 5

Even though 10 is more than 5, 5 is not more than 7 – so the overall comparison is not true.

A condition is an item that