Inside your computer - Bettina Bair
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/inside-your-computer-bettina-bair How does a computer work? The critical components of a computer are the peripherals (including the mouse), the...
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Do you remember when you first realized that your computer was more than just a monitor and keyboard? That between the mouse click and the video playing, there was something that captured your intention, understood it, and made it real? What is that something? Is it gremlins? Let's imagine that we can shrink down to the size of an electron and inject ourselves into a click of a mouse. If you took your mouse apart, you'd see that it's really a very simple machine. It has a couple buttons and a system for detecting motion and distance. You might have an optical mouse that makes these measurements with lights and sensors, but older ones did this with a hard rubber ball and some plastic wheels. Same concept. When you click the button on yo...
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Do you remember when you first realized that your computer was more than just a monitor and keyboard? That between the mouse click and the video playing, there was something that captured your intention, understood it, and made it real? What is that something? Is it gremlins? Let's imagine that we can shrink down to the size of an electron and inject ourselves into a click of a mouse. If you took your mouse apart, you'd see that it's really a very simple machine. It has a couple buttons and a system for detecting motion and distance. You might have an optical mouse that makes these measurements with lights and sensors, but older ones did this with a hard rubber ball and some plastic wheels. Same concept. When you click the button on yo...
