Often our field requires that we explain technical terms to non-technical people. Analogies provide a frame of reference that enables people who lack IT knowledge and skills to grasp technical concepts.
I am curious what are some metaphors or similes that you might use to explain technical terms in a report, research paper or in a court room. Examples would be IP addresses are like phone numbers, hashes are like finger prints, etc.
RAM and HDD is still one of the hardest to get across for me.
I use the bookshelf (HDD), book in hand (RAM) analogy.
I found one that was effective in the CPU/HDD/RAM basics
CPU is the carpenter
HDD is the woodshed
RAM is the workbench
How about
HDD Town
RAM Airport
CPU Plane
ie the RAM is the area between where people live and the act of flying
I generally refer to the CPU as the engine in your car, which is funny because it's not in line with all my other analogies.
A hard drive is like a filing cabinet, whilst RAM is the amount of square footage on your desk.
Just a quick note Memory is _not_ always cleared upon shutdown. Remnants of data may be found in memory upon reboot. What remains is operating system, architecture, and system configured dependent.
Cheers!
farmerdude
RAM is like a box of chocolates… You never know what you're gonna get.
Sorry. I couldn't resist… oops
RAM is like a box of chocolates… You never know what you're gonna get.
Sorry. I couldn't resist…
Hahaha. Better than my one-liner. 😉