Technology Toolkit

Computer games have been an incredibly popular part of computer technology almost from the very start. People have loved the challenge represented by the computer’s ability to carry out so many calculations so quickly, and computer so many possible combinations. Computer games have come a very long way since the earliest versions of ‘pong’ arrived – a simple bat and ball game.

Today, computer games rival the film industry as far as cost of production, time of production, and overall income is concerned. The demands that modern computer games place on computers is extraordinary, with a massive requirement of memory, processor speed and disk space.

Unsurprisingly, because modern computer games have been compared to the film industry, they are considered a form of media that is worth more than the technology required to run a spreadsheet or a simple word-processing package. The entertainment industry is alive and well within the world of computers, yet for many people they are using a basic business machine to enjoy that entertainment.

In the same way that nothing can quite compare to watching your favourite film at a cinema, rather than on a small portable black and white set, nothing can compare to playing a good computer game or video game on a computer system that is armed to the teeth with high quality hardware and peripherals that match.

Most 3D, immersive computer games today require a very fast processor, and dual core processors, especially those capable of hyper threading, have become an absolute necessity. At the same time, memory is also crucial, and without at least a couple of gigabytes of RAM, many computer games will perform below the optimum level.

But as well as considering the physical characteristics of the internal components of a computer, it is also important to consider the peripherals which are used. Your standard keyboard and mouse may be fine for typing up letters, updating a spreadsheet or creating a database file of clients, but when it comes to interacting with an amazing and very active world within an advanced computer game, they often fall far short of what is required.

Gaming mice and gaming keyboards are available, and it is well worth considering purchasing these in order to make the gaming experience more enjoyable. Gaming keyboards often have extra keys, some of which may be programmable, and keys placed in particular ergonomic and convenient positions. This helps you to keep looking at what you are doing in the gaming world, rather than hunting for keys on your keyboard.

Similarly, gaming mice have a number of extra buttons which can be programmed so that you can carry out commands or actions easily, and without having to look away and risk making a mistake. Another important aspect of gaming mice is their resolution. Standard optical mice tend to have a fairly low resolution, which si fine for most work, but in the gaming world, accuracy is important, and smooth moving about may be impossible with a basic mouse. Gaming mice have very high resolutions, providing smoothness and accuracy.

Gaming mice and keyboards also tend to be designed with ergonomics in mind, making them more comfortable, and in the longer term, safer to hold for long periods at a time.

One of the biggest advances in terms of computer storage and transfer of data is flash memory. Today we use flash memory in a number of different ways, from portable USB drives to storage facilities used by digital cameras. Flash memory has become so powerful, so fast and so large as far as volume is concerned that it has even been used in some digital video cameras, and as external portable hard drives.

There are several good reasons why flash memory represents an important and advantageous step forward for data storage, retrieval and transfer. To begin with, flash memory does not rely on any moving parts. Unlike hard disks, CDs, floppy disks, zip disks and tapes or cartridges, flash memory does not rely on any moving or mechanical means by which data can be stored and retrieved.

This is important because whenever any system relies upon moving parts in some way, there is the danger of failure. Moving parts break down, damage, fail and become worn out and in need of replacement. If this happens at an important time it can spell disaster, losing data completely or at least causing severe delays and inconvenience. There is no moving part of mechanism in the world that is not inevitably subject to deterioration and damage.

With data transfer and mobile technology increasingly popular and important in today’s digitize culture, this becomes even more important. Carrying about disks, moving drives and other methods of data storage that require mechanical or physical parts, there is always the danger of damage.

Even inside your computer at home there is a danger. The head that reads the data encoded on a hard disk sits just a tiny fraction of a millimetre above the disk itself. The disk is spinning at thousands of revolutions a minute, with this head so close that a single particle of dust could not fit between the head and the disk. Yet, if this head were to come into contact with the disk, both would be trashed in seconds. Now think about how many times your computer is shoved about and moved whilst the disk is running. Perhaps you need to move the computer to access a port or socket at the back.

When it comes to laptops, the danger becomes even greater, with the same hard disk technology at work inside, but a far greater risk of the laptop being moved, knocked or even dropped.

Because flash memory has no moving parts, you can shake it, drop it and generally abuse it without any significant danger of the data being wiped or corrupted in any way., The only danger facing the data on flash memory storage is magnetic. A strong magnetic field could corrupt the data, but since it is unlikely that you will be coming into contact with such a strong field, you can easily go about your daily life with data stored on a USB stick in your pocket quite safely.

With the cost of flash memory coming down, and storage volumes continually increasing, it is no surprise that more and more people are looking to flash memory to store, transport, carry or access data quickly and reliably, whether on the move, in the office or at home.