Summary
This episode provides a high-level overview of computer architecture, explaining how computers fundamentally operate according to the von Neumann architecture developed in the 1940s. Jason describes how a Central Processing Unit (CPU) interacts with memory, input, and output devices, using a Commodore 64 and modern smartphones as comparative examples. Through a simple four-instruction program example, he demonstrates how even the most complex software ultimately breaks down to basic operations like memory access, conditional jumps, and arithmetic calculations.