size and quality of the display screen (17 inch recommended), the kind of processor (Pentium III recommended), the amount of memory (128 megabytes recommended), the clock speed (100 MHz recommended), and the modem for getting on the Internet (56K recommended). The computer's clock keeps everything synchronized, and generally the faster the clock, the faster the computer can process information. I am giving you these details so you will generally know what to look and ask for when you finally go to purchase a computer.In spite of what you may have heard, the computer's program is the real intelligence in the computer. Without a program the computer would be worthless. With a program, the same computer comes to life. Computers are used for a variety of things such as word processing, spreadsheets, email, internet surfing, and playing games, to mention a few. The word processing category now includes desktop publishing, which is using a computer to create flyers, banners, cards, even book manuscripts, with photographs and graphics. Spreadsheets, originally just an electronic ledger have the ability to make graph the results of their tables. The number of email letters sent in a year has surpassed the U.S. Postal Service for three years in a row. Internet surfing has the ability to bring information to the home or office inexpensively and efficiently. Computer gaming has enjoyed the fastest growing segment of this industry for ten years, and it looks that this trend will continue for some time. Before you actually buy programs or a computer, you should sit down at one, preferably with someone who knows computers and isn't trying to sell you anything. Perhaps you have a friend, who owns a computer, or you may go to the local college and take an introductory course about computers. The basics you need to know are how to run a program, how to use a keyboard, and how to save your work. Certainly the worst place to learn about computer...
