Lab: Find Other Devices With Similar Hardware

Objectives

Look for other devices that use hardware similar to computer hardware.

What to do

Your personal computers are not the only devices that uses computer hardware components. There are lots of different appliances that use microprocessors and different kinds of memory, but aren’t actual computers even though they “compute” things. There are 5 main characteristics that distinguish computers from other appliances. Computers are flexible which means they can be programmed to do more than they were first built to do (their function can be modified). Computers have connectivity which means they have a way of connecting to the Internet or some sort of network. They also have non-volatile memory which is a way of storing data when they are shut off. Like many devices they have chips which allow them to computer. Lastly, computers have an operating system. There are many devices that have some of those 5 characteristics in different groupings. Look around your house and classroom for some devices that share some of those characteristics. Take note of which characteristics those devices have and how closely their components relate to a computer. Hopefully, you or your teacher has one of those devices laying around that can be opened. If you get to open one, look at the physical similarities in hardware between their components and components in a personal computer.