Launch this link below to read a PDF copy of my book “Step inside a Computer” published by DMB Publishing in 1994.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1th2N6Ifa-3zLnSFxGuCfDjIBHTZzwZIb/view?usp=sharing
This year, 2024, is the 30th
anniversary of me publishing my book called “Step Inside a Computer” under my
DMB Publishing imprint brand name as an Indie Publisher, the American
expression for me being an English Independent Publisher.
It was targeted at school
children wanting to learn about how computers work. It used a simple style of
writing with everyday examples to introduce them to the complex terminology and
principles behind how computers work. There was no Rasberry Pi computer to play
with in those days unlike computer education these days. Well, that is hoping
that is what is happening these days in our school classrooms. You have to get
to experience working with (or playing with) the hardware as well as the
software. Its no good everything being in the “cloud” looked after by those mystical
experts you need to get your hands dirty and using the Raspberry Pi Computer is
the ideal way to do it. Yes and it is another British invention and educational
initiative.
I had started DMB Publishing in
1976 producing my “The Development of the Jet Fighter” using all my own photographs.
It was a true cut and paste (scissors and glue) stapled binding with a cover protected
with clear Fablon like having a wide roll of Sellotape stuck over a photocopied
cover design. Sold at £1. Marketing was
based upon providing free “sale or return” copies to local shops provided they
gave it some window or shelf space this
included my father’s Hardware Shop. Needless to say it was not a commercial
success but I did not lose me too much money. Unlike my previous off-set
printing project which had lost me hundreds of pounds. That is another story
for another day. I have been messing around in this printing come publishing space
for over 50 years now and have never made the elusive 10,000 sales target for
anything. But there is still time to do so and the act of keep trying keeps you
active mentally in your mid-70’s.
Reading "Step Inside a Computer" today (090824)
for the first time for a number of years I must admit although extremely dated the
fundamentals are still very well explained. Binary and Logic Gates and so
forth. The use of a printer to highlight what an Output Machine achieves seems very dated in the world of the smartphone. Where both the Input and Output Machine is the smartphone screen. There is a common view as why do you need to know this level of detail
when you can just operate at the top level of the software stack. Well I don’t agree
since whatever you do always benefits by you understanding the underlying
layers of anything in life let alone computers. You may not comprehend everything but just
understanding parts will , without you appreciating it , effect your way of
thinking and working. If you choose to read through this book above I am sure
as a writer I am going to change the way you are thinking as the reader. Even
if your thinking decides it is rubbish, I will still have achieved the objective of having changed your thinking.
Maybe it is time to write an
updated version and try to sell it on Amazon. Maybe it could make the elusive 10,000
in sales.
Although to be honest I am going to recommend you read another excellent book that never ceases to impress me since I brought a copy back in 2016. It is “Learning Computer Architecture with Raspberry Pi" by Eben Upton, the co-creator of the Raspberry Pi. Although considerably more complex than my “Step Inside a Computer” , which I think you should read first, it does teach you so much about the underlying architecture of the Rasberry Pi and therefore any modern computer like your smartphone.
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