Computer Hardware (Parts of a Computer)

I am like a magical box. I hold your favorite games and songs and cartoons. You can touch all of my parts. My screen is like a bright window where you can see funny pictures. My keyboard has lots of fun buttons to press, click, click, click. And my mouse is a little helper that you can move around to point at things. I am Computer Hardware, the body of every computer, tablet, and phone you see.

Long, long ago, my family looked very different. An early idea for a thinking machine came from a man named Charles Babbage way back in 1837. Much, much later, one of my first relatives was built in 1945 and was called ENIAC. It was a giant. It was so big it filled a whole room with blinking lights and whirring sounds. But then, a super important thing happened on November 15th, 1971. A tiny, tiny part called a microprocessor was invented. It was like giving me a powerful little brain that could fit in your hand. It was a very special day for me.

Because of that tiny brain, I started to shrink. I became small enough to sit on a desk. Then I became small enough to fit in a backpack as a laptop. Now I can even fit inside your grown-up’s pocket as a phone. I am the physical parts that you can hold and touch, and I let all the games and videos do their magic. I help you draw colorful pictures, watch silly cartoons, and talk to people you love. Together, we can build, learn, and imagine anything at all.