Photo: These two hard drives are examples of auxiliary computer memory. Memory sticks, SD memory cards (which plug into things like digitalĬameras), plug in hard-drives, CD/DVD ROMs and rewriters and so on. PCs often have plug-in auxiliary storage in the form of USB flash Memory is also called external memory because in older, largerĬomputers, it was typically housed in a completely separate machineĬonnected to the main computer box by a cable. In a typical PC or laptop, auxiliary memory is generally provided by a hard drive or a Memory (or storage) as well, which remembers things even when the power is disconnected. That's why computers also have what's called auxiliary Generally, internal memory is volatile, which means it forgets its contents as soon as the power is It can store and retrieveĭata (computerized information) very quickly, so it's used to help the computer process whatever it's currently working on. Up of silicon chips ( integrated circuits). There's a built-in main memory (sometimes called internal memory), made A typical computer has two different kinds of memory as well. Memory (of things we've recently seen, heard, or processed with ourīrains) and a long-term memory (of facts we've learned, events we'veĮxperienced, things we know how to do, and so on, which we generally Human memory is actually split into a short-term "working" One thing human brains and computers do have in common is different types of With the pioneering anatomist Andreas Vesalius. Historic illustration of brain anatomy c.1543 by Jan Stephan van Calcar, who worked closely Possible to program a computer to remember things and recognize patterns in a brain-like way Illustration: Computers remember things in a very different way from human brains, although it is What they've achieved is far less impressive than anything aįive-dollar, USB flash memory stick could do! Information, they're celebrated like great magicians-even though Master tricks that allow them to memorize thousands of pieces of Like art or magic than science or technology. German word for cherry when I was at school") without necessarily being able to Or feel certain that we know something ("I remember learning the We can recognize things ("I've seen that face before somewhere") Is like turning out old junk from your closet to make room for new stuff.Ĭomputers don't remember or forget things the way that human brains do.Ĭomputers work in binary (explained more fully in the boxīelow): they either know something or theyĭon't-and once they've learned, barring some sort of catastrophicįailure, they generally don't forget. Immediately relevant and important in the endless clutter of ourĮveryday lives-a way of concentrating on what really matters. Tactic humans have evolved that helps us to focus on the things that are In other words, forgetting is most likely a clever Like a major defect until you consider that we can only payĪttention to so many things at once. Human memory is that it's extremely good at forgetting. One of the really noticeable things about The basic purpose of memory-human or machine-is to keep a record of How memories store information in binary.
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