Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
receives. is,. as. we. discussed. before,. a. series. of. electronic.
pulses.that.translate.into.a.series.of.ones.and.zeros..Those.
in. turn. are. translated. by. the. processor. into. machine. code.
that.it.“processes”.(maybe.that.is.why.it.is.called.a.processor).
and. passes. on. over. the. electronic. communications. system.
(known.as.a.bus,.and.consisting.of.cables.or.channels.of.con-
ductive. metal. on. a. plastic. board). inside. the. computer—the.
“ankle.bone”.as.it.were.
This. processed. information,. basically. saying. something.
along.the.lines.of.“he.pushed.the.lowercase.'t'.key!”.arrives.
at.the.central.processor.(yes,.the.leg.bone).
The. central. processor. meanwhile. has. been. processing.
away.and.keeping.track.of.everything.happening.in.and.on.
the.desktop.computer..It.knows.that.I.started.up.a.word.pro-
cessing.application,.and.it.has.been.receiving.and.processing.
the.input.and.output.from.that.application's.programming..It.
is.aware.that.the.input.it.just.received.from.the.keystroke.pro-
cessor.belongs.to.the.word.processor.application.that.is.cur-
rently.running,.so.it.does.several.things.with.that.information..
And.here,.I.am.sure.to.your.everlasting.relief,.the.“dry.bones”.
metaphor.becomes.less.apt,.so.we.abandon.it.(for.now)..Try.
not.to.be.too.disappointed.
To.me,.the.most.obvious.thing.that.occurs.is.that.it.sends.
more.ones.and.zeros.over.the.communications.channels.to.
another.processor.connected.by.a.cable.to.my.monitor.
That.processor.interprets.those.ones.and.zeros.and.hav-
ing.processed.the.information,.sends.ones.and.zeros.to.the.
monitor.telling.it.to.light.up.certain.pixels.on.the.screen.and.
darken.certain.other.pixels.on.the.screen.(pixels.are.tiny.dots.
of.different-colored.light.on.a.monitor.that.create.the.graph-
ics.you.see)..Those.pixels.turn.on.or.off.in.the.right.part.of.
the.screen,.depending.on.the.programming.and.information.
received.from.all.of.the.processors.along.the.way.and.result.
in.the.letter.“t”.showing.up.on.my.screen.
Meanwhile,. back. at. the. central. processor,. that. informa-
tion.that.it.received.from.the.keystroke.processor.was.sent.to.
other.places.as.well.
