Computers are a part of today's bustling world and play a role in everybody's life, young or old, whether they like it or not. A version of a computer, whether it be highly technologically advanced or not can be found in household appliances such as refrigerators, ovens, toasters and microwave ovens. Cars have their own unique kind of computers, as do televisions, DVD players and so much more. But when we think computer what comes to mind first is generally what is known as a PC (or personal computer). Almost every household has at least one and most companies could not be without one today. So much is done on the computer and over the computer.

A personal computer can mean so many things to so many people and it has a variety of functions. For students it's great for doing research using the Internet as well as typing up essays and papers for school. The Internet is a tremendous resource for anyone wanting to learn about practically any subject from animals to authors and everything in between. And what of e-mail? Twenty, thirty years ago no one could have conceived of the idea that a person could sit down in front of a computer screen and type a message to someone who is close or far away and then send it to them and have it received almost instantly! It's quite an amazing development for our world. And for those who enjoy solitary recreational pursuits, there are a variety of games that can be played on computers. One can also watch movies and listen to music via the use of a computer.

A computer is often thought of as a machine that processes information in a timely manner and is very general-purpose in its application. An individual types information into the computer through the use of the keyboard as well as the mouse and watches what he/she is typing materialize on the computer screen. The computer then begins the process of sorting through the data it is receiving and processing it as is necessary. The computer user can then save what he sees in front of him on the hard drive of the computer or onto a floppy disk or CD. If saved to the hard drive then the information cannot be used on any other computer but if saved on a disk that information has now become portable and can be used on other computers and not just that one in particular.

Every computer contains certain elements which in brief include the CPU or central processing unit or the brain of the desktop computer, the memory where information is stored, the motherboard or main circuit board, the power supply which regulates electricity going through the computer, the hard drive, or permanent storage, the operating system, or basic software, the integrated drive electronics controller or IDE, the peripheral component interconnect bus or PCI which allows other items to plug into it, the small computer system or SCSI which allows devices such as scanners to be plugged into it, the accelerated graphics port or AGP which is used by the graphics card which in turn translates visual information from the computer into a format it can read. And last but certainly not least is the sound card, which allows the computer to record as well as play anything with an audio element to it such as a CD that is accompanied by music.