This is a computer. 
However if you only call it a computer people will become confused.
Saying "My computer is broken," doesn't really
indicate whether the problem is that you can't type because the keys have fallen
off the keyboard or the screen/ monitor has shattered, or if it won't open a
program.
Real
names are important. I'm not saying that you have to be able to tell
if you've got a 6273TX motherboard or an S312gig video card... but you do need
to know the difference between your computer and your monitor (one runs everything,
the other is just like a tv screen). It's very hard to tell someone what is
going wrong or follow instructions if you are using the wrong names.
Your
computer is made up of:
'Computer' This is the big box that everything else plugs into. (This may be a tower (upright) or desktop (horizontal) model).
Monitor: - basically this is the
screen.
Mouse: - The strange little creature
you use to move the cursor around on the screen. One of the best ways to develop
your mouse skills is to play lots of solitaire and minesweeper games on your
computer ;-)
Most mice have 2 buttons. Some also have a scroll wheel. Some have 3 buttons.
You might also have a scanner, a printer, a set of speakers, digital camera, microphone, headphone, zip drive etc, but let's not confuse the issue ;-)
Inside
your computer most people have these basic components:
Motherboard: - this is basically
what everything in the computer has to connect to to make the computer run.
Processor: - (CPU) this determines how powerful your
computer runs or how fast. This is what makes your computer a 486 or Celeron
333a or PII (Pentium 2) etc.
Video Card: - this controls the quality display that
you get on your monitor and affects what speed your computer runs while loading
graphics etc.
Sound Card: - this controls the...surprise, surprise...
sound. ;-)
If you don't have a sound card you will still get beeps from your computer but
no music.
Memory: - (RAM) this determines how much your computer
can do at a time and how quickly before having a nervous breakdown. (Usually
installed as either 32, 64 or 128mb (megabytes)
Hard Disk Drive: - (HDD) This is what stores your files.
It can be any size usually from about 500mb (megabytes) to 20 gig (gigabytes).
The HDD is what gets filled up with your files, your programs, things you download,
things you install, and things you write :) The HDD is where you save your files
to. You may have more than one physical HDD, or your HDD may be partitioned.(more
about this later). Your main HDD is usually called "C" drive.
CD ROM drive: 
-
not a cup holder "grin" This plays those round shiny things - both
those with programs and those containing music. Often referred to as "D"
drive. However if you ahve more than one HDD, then it may be any other letter
from D - Z.
There are two types - CD Rom (read only) drives which will only get info from
a cd, and CD Writers which will also store info onto a CD. A CD holds about
the same amount as you can store on 450 floppy disks.
Floppy Disk Drive: 
-
this looks like a little slot in the front of your computer tower and takes
those almost square things (floppy disks) to store or extract data. Often called
the "A" drive.
Modem: - 
This
may either be internal or external. If it's internal it is inside the case attached
to your motherboard and you probably can't see any of it. External looks like
the picture. The modem takes your computers signal and converts it so it can
be sent across the phone lines to communicate with other computers. If you are
reading this on the internet then you have a modem ;)
