The best method to learn general hardware?

[SunYatsen]

Sup,

I now have access to a computer for the first time in my life. I NEED to understand this machine ?how it works, how it evolved, how to build it, etc. My lack of computer knowledge fills me with shame. I?m still young; there is no excuse! Windows OS operations are now second nature ?whoopee -_-?. What troubles me is hardware.

Anyways, here is my plan:
I will purchase Michael Meyer?s A+ Certification book. I will fervently study the text.

I want to (in no particular order):
1. build a computer
2. Understand the evolution of computer hardware
3. Transcend the typical user?s computer knowledge
4. Understand what all the archaic terms on this board mean

I am so frustrated with my ignorance. If computers are the wave of the future, I don?t want to be scared of the water anymore. I hope that my plan will be a good start. Yeah, I am naïve as fsck; if you flame?whatever. Hopefully, with the information I gain from the book, I will be in a position to further my understanding through this webste and forum. If you have any suggestions at all (any good books, advice, websites) on how I could improve the success of my future quest I would GREATLY appreciate them! Sorry for the spelling errors and what not.

Your typical newbie,

Sun Yat-sen

 

[DJFuji]

I like your initiative on learning hw stuff. Good job on picking up a book. I think the best way to learn is a) read a lot of books and articles, b) play with the computer incessantly (you will eventually break it in some way or another and be forced to fix it), c) read every article you can on anandtech, sharkyextreme, tomshardware, and other hardware sites you can find, and d) hang around the AT forums and read the hardware discussions and tech support solutoins.

I figure that aside from breaking and fixing my computers, i learned a HUGE amount of information from simply reading the articles anand has put out over the last several years. That, and I have a powerpoint presentation somewhere here on my hard drive that i made for a hardware class i had to teach last year. The information is still pretty up-to-date. Let me know if you want me to send it to you. It covers the basics of hardware. Good luck.