Explain how a modern computer works at the most basic level.

Question

How do you go from some silicon wafer with some metallic lines printed on it to having a GUI desktop. I don’t understand the intersection between hardware and software at the fundamental level.

In: Technology

Answer 1

Imagine a huge square, 100×100, of lightbulbs. Each lightbulb can be only ON or OFF, but together, depending on which lightbulbs are ON, they can create shapes that you will perceive as letters or numbers for example. The computer reads which lightbulbs (transistors on the chip) are on, and shows you on the screen what it perceived.