It's not called a Freaking CPU

It drives me crazy when people refer to a computer as a cpu.

I wrote a small article about it on my blog, and want to know where this came from and why people started calling there computer the CPU?

here is the blog article, pretty short quick read, please feel free to digg it, and comment maybe we can help people understand that it is not called a cpu


http://bill.checkmyhead.com/2007/04/08/its-not-called-a-cpu/

 

I had a friend who was very new to computers call his a "Main Frame"... hehe

 

I hate it when people call the screen the computer, when the box is actually the comptuer lol

 

Thats interesting to read... well DUGGED it too.

Thanks for sharing

 

Yeah, I know someone who refers a floppy drive as a sloppy drive. I have been correcting him on it for the last ten years, I don't think some people will ever get it.

 

Don't have that problem i use a laptop

 

I've never heard anyone call a computer, a CPU. though many people point to the screen when talking about the computer, I guess this is understandable.

 

Technical support people (like me) encorage this this in a way.

When you tell a customer to unplug their computer and they say, "you mean the CPU ?" it's a lot easier to just let it slide (which reinforces their misinformation) than to correct them on every thing they get wrong.

If every time I helped someone I corrected them on their misunderstanding of what is what it'd take 50x longer to get the job done.

 

computer = common multi purpose terminal!
cpu = central processing unit! [processor]

the box is actually called the cabinet!

 

It bugs me too, but whatever solves the problem, let them call it !@$!@#$

 

Perhaps its due to videogames? Like when people use to play NES and Super Nintendo games against "the computer" the computer controlled players were named CPU.

 

During my school days, we had those basic computer classes (This is a monitor, this is input blah blah blah,). In those days, everybody used to call the case the CPU.

 

Its an MPU

 

What bugs me more is when they call the monitor the computer.. it bugs me more than the CPU thing...

 

Really? I don't remember that, even though it was nearly 20 years ago, I remember my "basic" and Advanced Basic" class very well, but maybe it does stem from something in the past.

I remember when my crazy computer teacher stood in front of the class and told us about these new amazing disks called "compact disks" and they held more than all the computers in the lab, and they were indestructible, we all though he was going to have to be rushed to the mental word right then and there.

I talk to some great people from Churches every day at my regular job, even though they are great, they say all the things we are talking about. They call the monitor the computer, they call the computer the cpu or the hard drive, and 99.9% of the time, I totally agree to just agree with them as long as they are doing what I am asking.

Sometimes though, I just get in one of those moods, and I just can't take it, and it takes everything I got to keep from saying some smart ass comment to them. It's so funny, because they always have the same attitude or tone in there voice "you mean the cpu?" Like they can't believe I don't know the technical term (well what they think is the technical term) I want to say "the CPU? did I say the god dam CPU? Do you know what the CPU is? OK, your right I want you to turn of just the CPU, grab a screw driver open the case and reach in and rip that sucker out of the computer, don't worry about turning it off either, a little static electricity never hurt a cpu, then wipe all that paste of the back of it off and don't worry about getting it on anything, it usually wipes right off (ya right) and slap that sucker back in there and that should fix the problem. Be sure to start a defrag, and turn the air conditioning in the church off tonight while it's running." Thank you for calling Tech support, good bye...

 

(Central Processing Unit) The computing part of the computer. Also called the "processor," it is made up of the control unit and ALU. Today, the
CPUs of almost all computers are contained on a single chip.

CPU means computer. It is correct usage to call a computer a CPU.

It usually lets you know that you are dealing with an older person.

Does it annoy you if I call a CD a record too?

My grandma tells me she saw a nice film, when she goes to the movies.

People used to call pot, reefer.

Words get replaced by newer words - - - that is part of the cycle of life.

 

here's what I want to know? is mine the only keyboard that is missing the "any key"???

 

No. You are only missing the Bender Key

Col

 

I do understand what your saying about the film, and record, but I have been working with computers for 20 years, and I have never heard a computer referred to as the cpu.