How Does My 🤬 Computer Work

Preface

This is a book in which i attempt to figure out how my computer works. My computer is a Macbook Air with an M2 chip, 24 GB of RAM, and a 1 TB SSD. I chose to use my actual computer for a few reasons. One is that I have unfettered access. Another is that it’s an interesting and fairly modern (in 2024) piece of hardware. Also, I wanted to use a specific computer because i want to talk about real hardware and not abstractions.

My motive really is to figure out how my 🤬 computer works, however this isn’t a book about hardware. I see this as a programming book, and if there’s an audience for it they are mostly programmers. I often don’t explain things that are technical, and i sometimes do explain things that you already know. The latter happens because i’m trying to convince myself of something. Also the tone is mostly informal, sarcastic, dad-jokey, and nerd-positive. I hope that the structure and sequence of the “episodes” make sense, but it’s dictated by what i want to learn next and the questions that arise when i’m trying to figure things out.

Since this is a project of self-directed learning undertaken by someone who’s not a hardware expert, or even an operating system expert, there will probably be mistakes and oversimplifications. If you have constructive comments, or non-constructive criticisms that i might find amusing, please feel free to contact me.

This is a Quarto book.

To learn more about Quarto books visit https://quarto.org/docs/books.