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As others have reported, I know people who refer to the "beige box" as
the "hard drive." In fact, about six months ago it was causing great
confusion between an old friend and me. She's in Houston, I'm in Boston,
and she was having computer problems. She decided she needed a "new hard
drive" and was going to go out to buy one, she was hoping that I could
talk her through the installation over the phone. Eventually, I realized
that she meant the entire beige box, needless to say talking someone
through -that- process is much easier than a hard drive R&I.
I agree with what others have said, "CPU" isn't quite the right term.
"Computer," although accurate, may be confusing. The same folks that
now call it a "hard drive" probably include the monitor and keyboard
in their definition of "computer." I'm gonna stick with "pizza box"
until I find a term I like. People seem to know which part you mean,
and it's clearly a non-specific and non-technical term.
BTW: I'm changing jobs, I've gotten an offer from a company called
"Boston Technology" in Wakefield, MA. I start on 6/26/95, my last
day at this job is on Friday, 6/16/95. (So feel free to address all
flames directly to this mailbox starting on Monday 6/19/95....)
Rick Lippincott
Eaton Semiconductor
Beverly, MA
rlippic -at- bev -dot- etn -dot- com
