This blog has two purposes. One is to demystify complex terms often referred to in computing circles, and the other is to take a look at how computers are represented in various forms of media.

The first - demystifying complex terms - is really to address a fundamental problem associated with technical systems. They take so long to understand, that often the best people to explain them, haven't had as much time available to develop the social skills required - to adequately describe them. Or. What is more likely to be closer to the truth - it's actually very difficult to 'pitch' an explanation for a large generic audience, when you're too close to it. It's almost as difficult to explain something complex, as it is to understand it.

How a computer works is now so complicated, an expert would be scratching their head for some time before deciding where to start. Which sounds ridiculous, but in fact it has a close parallel to something we all understand something about - the human body.

If you're ill, you visit a GP - give them a list of symptoms and they either try to solve the problem with advice and medication (there and then) - or - refer you to a hospital where you can see a specialist. If you have a heart condition, it's not much use visiting the ear, nose and throat clinic. Exactly the same kind of grouping occurs in computing. People become experts in one or two areas and although they have a grounding in 'general terms' as all doctors, surgeons, etc. have a grounding in 'general medicine'; they can appear vague, when wandering outside their boundaries.

So, often when an expert in computing can't explain something, it's not because it's 'too complex' for the person listening. It's because the person explaining - has not used enough analogy, metaphor or simile. Everything on planet Earth is 'like' something else. Anyone who can read or write, can process complex ideas. So, it's the way information is explained, which has the most impact on it's understanding. Not necessarily, the intelligence of the listener.

Anyone can understand complex ideas, which hopefully, some of these articles prove.