What is Hardware?
Hardware is "the machines, wiring, and other physical components of a computer or other electronic system." (Oxford English Dictionary.) It is what is inside the computer, plus the things that plug into it (peripherals)
This raises the two questions: What is a computer? and What are all the components for?
What is a computer?
A computer is an electronic device that has data put into it (input). It then does something to the data (processes it) following a set of instructions (a program) to produce something (output) that can be stored. The words in brackets are key to understanding what a computer is and how it works.
Components
The parts of a computer can be grouped based on the job they do:
- Input Devices
- Outputs Devices
- Processors
- Memory
- Storage
- Connectivity
- Power / Cooling
These are looked at on their own pages (Just click the links). There is also a page showing a theoretical model of the computer (called the Von Neumann Architecture ) and pages about Networks as this is part of GCSE Computer Science.
Inside a computer
There are lots of different types of computers:
- Desktops
- Laptops
- Tablets
- Smart Phones
- Smart Watches
- Games Consoles
- Data Servers
- Web Servers
- Shop tills
- GPS Navigation units
- Embedded computers
- Super Computers
- Quantum Computers (being developed)