Howstuffworks Computer Channel helps visualize A+ topics
September 15, 2009Jeff Zahorowski No Comments »
Perhaps you’re familiar with the How Stuff Works series of books. They cover topics from military hardware to the mundane, explaining how they work in full page, full color graphics. They are like picture books for adults, and they’re great for visual learners. Success brought sequels, some of which focused on topics that would be useful to those gunning for CompTIA A+ certification. How Networks Work is a wonderful resource for those who find textbook descriptions of routers and switches lacking, and I’ve often recommended it for visual learners. Once upon a time, A+ certification courseware even came with a copy of How Computers Work, which was very useful for students curious to see the inner workings of hard drives, RAM and more.
As good as some book illustrations are, they are almost always black-and-white, and of course non-interactive. That’s why I’m fond of pointing A+ certification students towards How Stuff Works’ Computer Channel. The full color illustrations are nice, but the real draw is the interactive Flash-based graphics that can show processes, not just hardware. Some of the nice ones I’ve found:
- Front-side buses
- DRAM
- Flip-flops (used in high-speed cache memory)
- Inkjet printers
- Routers
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