How to gain expirience and knowledge

[RowanSpry]

At the moment, i'm 16 (well nearly) and i've decided i want to go into something with computers. Not sure WHAT yet though, as i've only recently finished GCSE's (high school basically, for non brits). Im going in to do Computing for A-level this year, and then maybe (MAYBE) go to do something with computers at university...basically im going to decide alot along the way, what im good with, what i enjoy etc etc..

At the moment though of course i'm a complete computer retard. not compared to some other people in my class, but in a general sense, i know nothing.

At such a young age, now would be the best time to learn and stuff..

What would you guys recommend for learning abouts computers, and computing? I spoke to my dad, who's a geeeeenius, and he said he just learnt from reading books, and if there was something he didnt understand, he would look it up in another book. i tried it and its a vicious cycle. dont understand one word, look it up...for the explanation theres another word i dont understand...look it up...so on so on.

Are there any other ways? Or do i do as he says?

[mairving]

Most people learn by doing. A good way to start is to build a new computer. PCMech offers a pretty good BYO guide. That's how most here got started.

[Lespaul20]

I think you going to find a lot of people say that doing to is the best way. I almost guarantee that the people here with the most experience have built, broke and fixed their own computers.

I learned from classes at school, books and the internet( especially this site). I'm also the kind of person who would rather do something myself than pay someone else to do it, so I've learned a lot out of necessity.

[RowanSpry]

Yeah. Well as i said, i've just come out of GCSE. depending on my grades, my parents will fund me to build a computer. Which im looking forward to...and luckily, my father can look over what i'm doing before i frazzle any components! also explain the do's, donts, tips, and explain things.

Coooooooooooool.

Im so looking forward to this. I get my results on the 23rd, but my birthdays on the 20th. On my birthday i should be compiling the list of components, ill post it on this site once im done, see what you chaps think

Thanks a bunch.

anything else?

[LeftyAce]

Take a look in the Build Your Own PC section of this forum for parts lists from recent builds. That'll give you an idea of what parts we recommend, and how much you need to budget depending on your intended use, etc.

I agree that building (breaking?) your own pc is probably the best way to learn about it.

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by Lespaul20 I think you going to find a lot of people say that doing to is the best way. I almost guarantee that the people here with the most experience have built, broke and fixed their own computers.

For me it was more like broke, broke, broke, broke, fixed, broke, fixed, built, fixed, fixed, fixed... My dad did most of the fixing when I was young, but once I got older and better with computers, he didn't mind that too much because I was doing the fixing for him.

[tigstah]

or just find a yard sale or equivalent and piece together a system. you'll learn how to build without investing a lot of money. that system can also lead to other things, like learning how to network pcs, setting up a server.

[RowanSpry]

When i build this new computer, i could just download a nasty virus and then fix it :P or other things. Because this laptopo im on right now, is shockingly awful..its broken in all kinds of ways. my dad wont want to keep it, and no one will want to buy it lol. So i'll ask him if i can break it educationally!

I suppose there would be alot of usefull things i can use this laptop for once its rendered obsolete.