1. Input Devices
2. The Display
3. Software Applications
4. The Operating System
5. The File System
6. Memory
7. The Network Environment
8. The Internet
9. Search Skills
10. Computer Specifications (Hardware Overview)

The term "memory" is used interchangably to three distinctly different parts of the working computer. As you might expect, the file system (currently stored in magnetic media on the hard drive) is one type of memory. The other main type of memory is "RAM".

"RAM" stands for "Random Access Memory". RAM is volitile memory that is immediately available for the operating system to work with, rather than the hard drive which is comparatively slow. When the computer is off the RAM is empty. RAM is relatively expensive compared to hard drive memory. Much if not most of what we wait for when the computer is running is data being copied from hard-drive (file system) to RAM or back again.

There are many other uses of the term "memory" which can be confusing. Sometimes memory is used interchangably with "storage". This suggests that a CD-ROM or a flash drive are a type of memory. This is actually true, but it tends to challenge the historical idea of what memory is to the working computer.