The most important tool of any web designer or webmaster is their computer. That is why it is important for you to be very familiar with how a computer works and what it can do. It would be IMPOSSIBLE to use a computer without a display or monitor giving you visual feedback on what you are doing. The monitor shows you what is going on inside the computer. Many people think of the monitor as an inseparable part of the computer, when in fact it has nothing to do with what the computer can or can't do. In fact, you could hook a different monitor up to your computer every day if you wish and it would not effect your computer's performance, programs, or files in any way. Monitors are usually connected to a video card, which has been snapped into a slot in the motherboard, allowing the computer to send the display to the monitor.

A computer is simply a machine that is programmed to follow instructions. For example, they can be used to calculate personal finances, make animated films, order airline tickets, develop blueprints for a building, listen to a live concert, and of course, view and build web pages.

The computers of today have grown to become both economical and powerful. Just to give you an example, in 1998, the Gateway G6-450 was "top of the line", the fastest computer Gateway offered. Compared it to the eMachines ET in Notice that the processor has become 4 times faster, the hard drive is over 20 times larger, and your mouse no longer needs a track ball that can get clogged up with dirt. Not only does the new computer have all those improvements, but it costs $3,920 less!

The mouse is simply a device used for pointing, selecting, and highlighting things visible on your monitor. Traditionally, most mice have used a mouse-ball on its underside to navigate around the screen as you move the mouse. This proved problematic since dust and debris were constantly being picked up by the underside ball effecting its accuracy. Most mice sold today are optical mice, which use a laser for more accurate motion tracking. Many different mouse designs have been tried in the quest for the most natural and comfortable user experience. There are two buttons at the top of most mice. The left button is most commonly used when you need to select or click on an item. The right button is usually used to show the properties or options of whatever it is you are clicking on. Mice now use the USB port to connect to the computer whether it be wireless or wired. Gaming mice are also available, which are more sensitive than regular mice. Some features added weights to give the mouse just the right feel.

As with the mouse, people have experimented with how to make the keyboard more user- friendly. Many keyboard designs have come and gone. One of the latest designs is the foldable keyboard, shown at the right, which provides high mobility and is often used with laptop computers. Most Keyboards today are the multi- function models that have added built-in "short cut" buttons which immediately allow you to jump to such functions as controlling video, audio, printing, scanning, or going online.

You can think of the scanner as the "eyes" of your computer. Scanners allow you to convert anything it can scan to a digital image, which it then stores inside your computer. There are many types of scanners, but only two have grown to common use among today's personal computers, the flat-bed scanner and the sheet-fed scanner. From a web designer's perspective, the flat bed scanner is preferred since it is the most reliable for scanning images. Your computer communicates with the scanner through software that comes with the scanner. Any software program you are scanning from will access that scanning software. Scanners usually connect to your computer through a USB 2.0 or Fire wire connection. Like most computers and their peripherals, scanners have dramatically dropped in price over the last few years. It is easy to now find a quality scanner for under $100

Many people today use their personal computer to listen to music. You can now purchase speakers for your computer similar in quality to those you would find with a stereo system. "Higher-end" speakers often feature volume control, a sub-woofer for a deeper sound, and upon occasion, rear speakers for "Surround Sound.“ The two most common printers today are the Photo and All-In-One printers. Photo printers print on photo paper of various sizes. All- In-Ones print with very good quality and are versatile with the ability to print labels, envelopes, and more. All-In-Ones can offer phone, fax, scanner and copier. These printers are very popular because save space, where before you had to make room for all these different machines in your work area, now you just have one device. Both use Ink Cartridges that fasten into a print head that moves back and forth across the page. Inside the print heads are many nozzles putting ink on the page

Computers typically play both DVDs and CDs in the same drive. DVD can hold approximately 5GB of information. They first broke into the market as a format from which to watch movies. They have begun to push CDs out of the market. Both external and internal versions of all DVD/CD drives are available. Therefore if for some reason your computer does not already have one, you can install an external version using a USB or Fire wire connection. The newest drive to gain popularity is the USB Drive or Flash Drive. This is also known as the "thumb" drive since it is about the size of your thumb. This little drive simply slides into one of your computer's USB ports, allowing you to save to it. When you are finished, you can just slide it out and it is small enough to fit in your pocket. Storage capacity on these drives are constantly increasing. Many offer storage capacity up to 128 GB.

When it comes to file and media storage, the best "bang for your buck" definitely belongs to the external hard drive or disk. These typically connect to your computer via a USB or Fire wire port and can store several Terabits (TB) of data. Most drives cost well under $1 per Gigabyte of storage.