FREE ESSAY ON WHY COMPUTERS ARE IMPORTANT IN MY LIFE

WHY COMPUTERS ARE IMPORTANT IN MY LIFE

As each us of look at our lives, do we realize the importance of these electronic
mechanisms we call computers? I shall now endeavor to elaborate upon how these mind tools
have, and continue to affect me.
Every morning, I awake to the awkward squawking of my alarm clock. Much to my dismay, I
groggily smack the 'off' button and crawl out of bed. My first encounter of the day has
just occurred. That small black box that faithfully rouses me, is a simple microcomputer.
If it were not for this device, many days I would arrive late to class.
During the process of dressing myself, I strap a watch to my wrist. This little timepiece
is quite useful, reminding me of deadlines and appointments. Inside my watch, believe it
or not, is yet another microcomputer.
Moving on, I begin to prepare a meal. In my kitchen are several devices that are in some
fashion controlled by computers. For example, let us examine the microwave. The microwave
contains a microprocessor and memory. These work together to maintain an accurate clock,
as well as an efficient food preparatory system. Information is input to the microwave by
use of the external touch pad, this data is stored and processed in the memory and
processor as it completes it's task.
Another activity that I may do is listen to a compact disc. CD players have decoders that
interpret the microscopic pits and dents on the surface of a CD into music. This decoded
information is then converted into sound and amplified to produce the desired sounds.
Still another event that requires the use of computers is checking e-mail. I daily
communicate with friends by the use of electronic mail. The lists of occurrences that
take place for me to be able to do this are much too complicated to explain now, so I
will only briefly outline this process. 
To start with, my personal computer must be functional and be able to communicate with a
remote server. When this takes place, all of my outbound messages are sent to, and all of
my incoming messages are downloaded off the server. This is accomplished in a matter of
seconds.
Other electronic communications, ICQ, AIM, and various chat services make it possible for
me to contact those all over the world. These services are very useful and have become a
frequent form of interchange for me.
The personal computer also has many other facets of productivity that I regularly use,
including: word processing, web development, desktop publishing, entertainment and
educational studies. The PC is not limited to these fields, but I have focused my
research along these paths.
In nearly every activity that I attempt to accomplish, in some way I come into contact
with an analytical engine. From the simple task of turning appliances on, to the
complexity of powering up a Cray. We would be lost without our computers. Yes, without
these machines our society, as we know it today, could not exist.