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The usual misunderstanding about memory is due to the fact that two completely different parts of a computer are measured in bytes, megabytes and gig-on-a-stick with soy sauce. There is storage and there is memory. Also, some people shouldn't be allowed to own a computer, but that's another issue.
Here's what's going on - every good computer, and PCs, keep the important stuff in one of two places;
First, there is STORAGE - This is usually an internal hard disk where you keep work and programs when they are not being used. Let's imagine that this is a file cabinet that holds everything you're currently not working on.
Then there is MEMORY (or RAM) - the electronic space where whatever you are currently using lives. Like your wooden or Formica desk in the real world, memory is where you do today's work. The bigger your desk is, the more you can do at once.
The important difference is that storage is happy when it's turned off, but memory, like me, only works when it's turned on, At night when your computer is asleep, all your software and documents snuggle safely in their little magnetic beds until such time as they are needed. They'll patiently wait there for years or until your ZIP disk is chewed up by a visiting nephew, grandchild or other vermin. Turning your computer on brings what's stored in the drive onto your desktop - puts it into RAM so that you can get some work done.
But unlike disk drives, memory is "volatile"- when you turn off your computer, everything in RAM goes to Data Heaven with no chance of reincarnation. Whatever isn't saved to a disk is gone for good. In Hawaii, we call that "stay make" ("mah-key") in English "well and truly snuffed."
Here's another difference - storage is cheap. Disk drives of astronomic capacity are cheaper than a Union Official. At ClubMac you can get an 80 Gigabyte ('feckin' huge' in Irish) internal drive to pop in your G4 for under a hundred dollars. An external Firewire drive of that size ('faster than feces' in Detroitish) goes for about $120. Replacing your hard drive is trivial, except that the usual reason for replacing a drive is because the old one suddenly bit-the-big-pooch and took your career with it.
This brings me to a very important issue. If you don't back up your important documents to a place other than your existing drive, YOU WILL EVENTUALLY LOOSE EVERYTHING. God knows if you don't back up and she will punish you. At Apple, we had something called "Graduating from Backup School" where a heart-stopping scream from one of the cubicles would be followed by a hail of floppies and derisive jeering from the rest of the office.
Too many go through the traumatic process of this graduation. Some are able to climb back on after a brief scramble for old printouts and disks. Some are given an opportunity to understand the true meaning of surrender. Each victim exhibits the complete Kubler-Ross range of denial, anger, bargaining, and depression, followed by a powerful new compulsion to make copies of everything immediately. You can recognize these survivors by the pile of ZIP disks, CDs or external drives on their desks.
RAM on the other foot, is expensive, the price can change daily. However, increased RAM will also make your computer go faster, work better and crash less.
4:46:37 PM
The biggest differences are price and volatility. Where hard drives are dirt-cheap these days, memory has always been dear. Like gold, RAM is a commodity and the price can change overnight. It's been very economical for a while, but a few years ago, after a bad fire at the Japanese factory where the goop that holds chips together was made, the price of RAM skyrocketed overnight. Anyone holding inventory scored by selling it at the new prices, but when IBM quickly brought one of their old facilities back on-line to ease the crisis, prices dropped so fast your could hear the screams all the way to Bangalore.
That's one reason why you never get enough RAM with your computer it would raise the price of the computer and people would bitch. Apple got stung real bad once buying tons of chips when they thought the price would go up, only to be stuck with millions of dollars worth of silicon suddenly worth hundreds of dollars. Someone in Corporatetino no doubt made a career change over that farkup.
The other reason your new computer doesn't come loaded with chips is because Apple has no idea what you will ultimately be doing with your computer. If you only use the word processor and check email, 256 megs may suffice. Your computer will be a bit slow but it's still faster than you can type. However, if you suddenly feel a need to illustrate your work, then you may slam up against the infamous RAM wall and hurt yourself.
Because RAM is where you do your all your work, any problems in that area it will cost you whatever hasn't been saved. Because RAM is fast, this will happen quickly. Very fast freezes or lockups are often caused by memory problems. Before OSX, the Mac was famous for bombing once or twice a day, usually due to impolite memory. Internet Browsers like Netscape and many programs by our dear friends at Microsoft are famous RAM assassins as were Extensions, Control Panels and Fonts.
The answer, of course, is to save your work as often as possible. I once refceived a desperate phone call from a gentleman who's wife had been working on something for hours, but hadn't stopped to save anything. When a power tool he was using popped the circuit breakers, all her efforts went to "Data-Heaven" and he moved into the dog house. I explained that it was actually her fault for not saving, but he still had to live on Gravy Train for a week.
4:40:14 PM
Concerning socio-politial catharsis and some other stuff that might piss-off a few of my more less-informed friends
http://gibrat.blogspot.com/
10:29:58 AM
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