Hardware

  • If, like me, you sometimes count using your fingers, odds are you can count up to 5 things on one hand (using 5 fingers). But that’s if you’re using “unary” notation, whereby you only have a single digit (pun intended) at your disposal, a finger, which you can think of as a 1. Binary, by contrast, allows you to use two digits, 0 and 1. How high could you count on one hand (with 5 fingers) using binary? Assume that a raised finger represents a 1 and a lowered finger represents a 0.

  • Recall that we looked at ASCII in lecture, which uses just 7 or 8 bits to represent letters of the alphabet. Read up on “Unicode,” as via Google, and explain in your own words how Unicode is able to represent many more symbols than can ASCII, which is particularly helpful for written languages with many more characters than English.

  • 01000001 01101110 01110011 01110111 01100101 01110010 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 00110100 00110010 00101110

  • If asked by someone how much memory your computer has, odds are they’re asking how much RAM your computer has. But laptops and desktops have other kinds of memory. Cite at least one and explain in your own words how it differs from RAM.

  • Some computers, particularly PCs, come with stickers that say “Intel Inside.” What is it that’s inside of most computers that’s made by Intel? In your own words, what does that hardware do?

  • Roughly how much RAM might a new laptop come with these days?

  • Roughly how much disk space might a new laptop come with these days?

  • Name at least 3 devices that can be connected to a laptop or desktop via “USB”.

  • Even though both are wireless, how does Wi-Fi differ from Bluetooth? You’re welcome to Google as needed, but take care to distinguish the two in your own words.