Download the course
Windows setup
One file, one click. It downloads the verified course package during setup, opens the course by itself, and leaves an icon on your desktop and Start menu.
Download for Windows (747 KB)SHA-256: 2bf6adc5bbe35388c10d68df1ec8806cfcbc37f80122e9f7b7fee3f3cac372fb
Linux setup
One file. Make it runnable (chmod +x), run it, and the course installs, verifies its package, and opens in your browser by itself.
Download for Linux (9 KB)SHA-256: 82d0356b131bcf5faf4c7479b2dece0d5b885910bdb482fa590b5371278fdd55
Colour manual (PDF)
Step-by-step installation for Windows and Linux — what you will see at each step — plus everyday use and recovery.
Download the manual (877 KB)SHA-256: 8470111c4b940c53e0e46c231502e7b3086aeca037ac4f45ecafa109dc847e60
Setup needs an internet connection once (the course package is about 52.0 MB, downloaded in verified parts). After setup the course runs on your own computer, offline, and your progress is saved locally.
The ten lessons
| # | Lesson | Teaching | Content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The CPU (Central Processing Unit) — the processor chip | Video + narration | 9 steps · 7 sources |
| 2 | The Motherboard — from bare circuit board to populated board | Video + narration | 10 steps · 7 sources |
| 3 | Memory: RAM (Random Access Memory) and the DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) Module | Video + narration | 8 steps · 8 sources |
| 4 | Storage: SSD (solid-state drive) with NAND (NOT AND) Flash, and HDD (hard disk drive) | Video + narration | 10 steps · 7 sources |
| 5 | The Graphics Processor — GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) | Video + narration | 9 steps · 8 sources |
| 6 | The Display — LCD (liquid-crystal display) and OLED (organic light-emitting diode) | Video + narration | 9 steps · 8 sources |
| 7 | Power: Batteries, Battery Packs and Charging | Video + narration | 10 steps · 7 sources |
| 8 | Cooling: Heat Pipes, Vapour Chambers, Fans and Heatsinks | Video + narration | 10 steps · 8 sources |
| 9 | Ports and Connectors: USB, HDMI and Board Connections | Video + narration | 10 steps · 6 sources |
| 10 | Final Assembly: Building and Testing the Whole Machine | Video + narration | 10 steps · 5 sources |
Every lesson: what the part is · its materials and where they are sourced · fabrication step by step · the industry behind it · how it joins the machine · an honest comparison of real models, with the reason shown · a three-question quiz. Details that makers keep proprietary are labelled reconstructions from open patents and public literature — never dressed up as a maker's own disclosure. Every lesson is narrated, and inside the course you can choose between two narrator voices.
Built and checked to the house standard
Release gate: 77 of 77 checks passed. Content: 10 lessons, 71 sources, 15 labelled reconstructions. Linux setup self-test passed its 8 inner checks (clean install, quiz grading, progress surviving a restart). Ten created film lessons — every lesson's video is a created teaching film (own filmed imagery, several angles including from above), recreated under SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) sections 69-70; the six earlier narrated slideshows were replaced and the four missing videos were created.
The course software was exercised end to end before release: a clean install in a throwaway home, the lessons opening, the quizzes graded, and learner progress proven to survive a restart — all automated, all counted. Windows setup: verified structurally and by its built-in self-test; a first-click run on a physical Windows machine remains the final proof and is recorded as an open item in the project report.
The Education Series
- Title 1 — How a Computer Is Made (this page) — available now.
- Title 2 — How Phones Are Made — in preparation.
- Title 3 — How Screens Are Made (monitors and flat-screen televisions) — in preparation.
- Title 4 — How Chips Are Made — in preparation.