How Computers Work - Oversimplified

Do you ever wonder how do computers actually work? In this video, I'll give you an oversimplified explanation of how computers are able to both store and compute information using transistors.


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Here’s a bit more in-depth explanation of some of the ideas simplified in the video:
- In addition to storing and computing information, computers are generally also considered to need to handle inputs and outputs (otherwise there would be nowhere to get that information from or to send the result of computations).
- Transistors act as on/off switches, controlling the flow of electrical signals that represent information.
- Each bit of Random Access Memory (RAM) is typically stored in a memory cell consisting of a capacitor and a transistor. The capacitor holds a charge that represents a 1 or a 0, and the transistor controls the flow of current to the capacitor. This construction is known as Dynamic RAM (DRAM).
- There are however other types of RAM with different constructions and trade-offs. Most notably, Static RAM (SRAM) usually uses a flip-flop circuit for each bit, which typically requires ~6 transistors per bit and is generally more expensive to produce.
- While transistors are a fundamental building block of logic gates, which are the basic building blocks of computer circuits, there are also other potential electronic components involved in those circuits such as capacitors and resistors, depending on the specific gate.