Home Computer The Setup

(Amstrad CPC 6128 come with monitor and Disk Drive unit built-in)

Those day the simplest home computer system consists of three main unit; computer, cassette recorder (If you're lucky your computer can accept Floppy Disk Drive or built-in Cartridge Slot) and TV set. This, and any other equipment used for computing is called the hardware. Most people who want a home computer already have a cassette recorder (Still remember the sound of program loading using cassette recorder?) and a TV set, so the computer and a few connecting leads are all that are needed to form a complete computer system.
Before a computer can carry out any task, it must receive a set of instructions called a program. This is also called software, and is what determines whether the computer acts as a games machine, or carries out some other task, such as drawing diagrams, or making music. For a home computer, the program usually consists of coded signals recorded on a cassette tape. They sound like whistles or an unpleasant buzz. The tape is played on a cassette machine connected to the computer. As a result, the instructions enter the computer as a stream of electrical signals. These are held, or stored , in a part of the computer called the memory. The computer is now ready for action, and details of what to do next will probably appear on the screen. You may have to press buttons on the keyboard, or operate come other device connected to the computer.
Operating a computer, therefore, involves three main steps: connecting the equipment together; loading a program into the computer; and following instructions that are supplied with the program, or that appear on the screen. Those day most games and other popular programs are simple to use-if they were difficult, they would not be popular and so would not be profitable for the makers.
Those day computer used for business purposes, and many home computers, use a Floppy Disk
Drive unit instead of a cassette machine, and a special monitor screen instead of a TV set. The Floppy Disk Drive Unit and Monitor Screen may be built in to the computer, or supplied separately.
These refinements make the computer system even easier to use. Many other items of hardware can be connected to the system. For example joystick unit makes it easier to play some games. And a printer will be essential for word processing.
Those day users need really involved in setting up their computer and sometime learning the computer language, usually BASIC, must know how to entered the program into the computer and trial and error on running those BASIC program. Today users are indeed very lucky, majority users never need to learn any programming language, the computer is very much easier to use nowadays.