‘xplaining computers to my mom: Main Memory vs Hard Disk

I guess it’s my bad for using the word “memory” interchangeably for main memory and hard disk space to my parents. They’re pretty computer enthusiastic but don’t quite know all the ins and outs yet. I built them a new box with plenty of RAM this time around since that had been the big issue before, dragging the old box down. I assured them that “You have plenty of memory.” So fast forward a few months and I get a call saying that the “Computer says it’s running out of memory. You said we had plenty of memory!” Yikes.

I tried to find a way to explain the problem without getting all bogged down in tech details, so I tried to explain it like this:

Mom, your computer has two kinds of memory. One is called its “main memory,” and the other is called the “hard drive.” They both store information, but they’re pretty different. Think of your main memory as your kitchen counter. When you’re cooking you do your actual work there. You can put some stuff on the counter but not a lot, but when you need stuff on hand to grab quickly you put it there. Also in general you can’t leave stuff on your counter forever. You only use your kitchen counter when you’re cooking. Think of the hard drive as your refrigerator. Its for long term storage. You can put a lot more stuff in there, but it takes a little more time to go over, open the door, look for what you need (especially say if it’s hiding behind the milk), and bring it over to the counter where you’re actually doing stuff.

Your main memory.
Omelet fixings not included.

Your hard disk.
Need to defrag the eggs.

So when we upgraded your “main memory” we were giving you a bigger counter so you’d have more space to fit more stuff. That helps a lot if you’re making something really complicated or just doing a lot of cooking. But I forgot that you like to take a lot of photographs. Think of it as how you like to grow lots of your own veggies at home which you then store in the fridge. So after putting so many homegrown tomatoes in the fridge you basically ran out of fridge space (ran out of “hard drive” space). So what we need to do is get you a bigger refrigerator or at least an extra, maybe smaller one to hold just your veggies or drinks or something like that.

My mom really seemed to like and understand that pretty well. I had originally gone with long-term vs. short-term memory, but our family is all about the food-service business so I thought maybe going-with-what-you-know would help.

I suppose if you want to get really into it you could compare a cutting board to a cache, but maybe that’s a little too nerdy. O.o

I hope if you ever need ‘xplain to your mom or another loved one that this helps a little.

Now excuse me, I think I might have put that zip file I need behind the milk.