How are computers built?

[at_anchor]

There is the intangible programming part and then there is the physical part of a computer.

Are pixels like little lightbulbs that lit up and off from wired electricity that is sent to them with tiny wires all around the screen or how does it work?

What materials go into making computer parts such as the screen, hard disc, processor, etc.? How did they work in the early days? 

How does the soundbox make sound? It's magical, cause I don't know the technicality of it. Very complex.

What kind of cast moulds go into making this and so forth?

People don't ask these kinds of questions about cars before they start driving them, and yet I'm wondering how does it work before I start programming them, if ever. 

[Osaid]

It is pretty magical, isn't it.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” -Arthur C Clarke.

 

[spiritual memes]

On 2/3/2023 at 1:34 PM, at_anchor said:

Are pixels like little lightbulbs that lit up and off from wired electricity that is sent to them with tiny wires all around the screen

pretty much but Pixels are LED's and the wires are intragrated into the circuit

Creating a processor is one of the most advanced feats of engineering on the planet. Its so unbelievably complex:

 

On 2/3/2023 at 1:34 PM, at_anchor said:

How does the soundbox make sound? It's magical, cause I don't know the technicality of it. Very complex.

An electric signal is passed into a magnet that turns on and off repeatedly. The magnet moves the speaker.

 

[Osaid]

10 minutes ago, spiritual memes said:

An electric signal is passed into a magnet that turns on and off repeatedly. The magnet moves the speaker.

Magnets are also basically magic. Oh yeah ok, so you're telling me this rock has an invisible force field around it, and I'm supposed to accept that as if it isn't magic. Right. You can't fool me. It's a magic rock let's just call it what it is.

[Eyowey]

I'm open to the possibility that it wasn't made by humans. Perhaps we're being ruled by machine elves.

[at_anchor]

I have no idea how an electrical signal makes a magnet produce real fucking voices and sounds. I also don't see how the screen works. Transistirs are like wires connected to mini bulbs called pixels, no? I mean, can't even understand how sound and picture is produced, let alone how memory is stored for use.

[spiritual memes]

15 hours ago, Osaid said:

Magnets are also basically magic. Oh yeah ok, so you're telling me this rock has an invisible force field around it, and I'm supposed to accept that as if it isn't magic. Right. You can't fool me. It's a magic rock let's just call it what it is.

All of existence is magic! why would magnets be any more magical than anything else?

[thenondualtankie]

If you wanna get into the technical nitty gritty, you can do a famous online course called nand2tetris. It's a course where you build an entire CPU and memory out of what's called NAND gates. You then go on to built Tetris. Which means you've built Tetris solely out of NAND gates.

NAND gates are just small bits of circuitry that take in two inputs of 1s and 0s. NAND stands for "NOT AND", meaning that if the two inputs are 1 AND 1, then the output of the NAND gate is a 0. Otherwise, the output of the NAND gate is a 1. (In other words, if the inputs are NOT 1 AND 1, then the output is 1)

Edited February 5, 2023 by thenondualtankie

[thepixelmonk]

4 hours ago, thenondualtankie said:

If you wanna get into the technical nitty gritty, you can do a famous online course called nand2tetris. It's a course where you build an entire CPU and memory out of what's called NAND gates. You then go on to built Tetris. Which means you've built Tetris solely out of NAND gates.

NAND gates are just small bits of circuitry that take in two inputs of 1s and 0s. NAND stands for "NOT AND", meaning that if the two inputs are 1 AND 1, then the output of the NAND gate is a 0. Otherwise, the output of the NAND gate is a 1. (In other words, if the inputs are NOT 1 AND 1, then the output is 1)

Great suggestion. The engineering of modern cpus is certainly a feat but simply understanding the core logic of how computers operate via projects like this is certainly possible to grok if you're interested. It's not a gift from the machine elves lol.

Edited February 6, 2023 by thepixelmonk

[Osaid]

9 hours ago, thenondualtankie said:

NAND gates are just small bits of circuitry that take in two inputs of 1s and 0s. NAND stands for "NOT AND", meaning that if the two inputs are 1 AND 1, then the output of the NAND gate is a 0. Otherwise, the output of the NAND gate is a 1. (In other words, if the inputs are NOT 1 AND 1, then the output is 1)

Oh ok so it's like a box with magic inside of it

[Carl-Richard]

On 5.2.2023 at 10:33 AM, Eyowey said:

I'm open to the possibility that it wasn't made by humans. Perhaps we're being ruled by machine elves.

Alan Touring was an alien? ?