Winn L. Rosch Hardware Bible, Sixth Edition

Part I: Introduction

Before venturing off on some quest, most people find it handy to know what they are looking for. Imagine King Arthur's knights off looking for the Holy Grail and returning with an old fishing net, a lipstick-stained Starbucks cup, an empty wine bottle, and so on—with each knight claiming he had found the one true holy relic from the Last Supper. Without guidance as to what a “grail” really is, each could easily justify his find and claim success in his quest. Certainly such a free-form search would have changed the face of literature, but anyone depending on the magical powers of the Grail would likely be disappointed.

Although you're more likely to succeed in a quest to learn about computers than Arthur's knights were ...