computron

/kompyootron`/ , n. 1. [common] A notional unit of computing power combining
instruction speed and storage capacity, dimensioned roughly in
instructions-per-second times megabytes-of-main-store times
megabytes-of-mass-storage. This usage is usually found in metaphors that treat
computing power as a fungible commodity good, like a crop yield or diesel
horsepower. See bitty box , Get a real computer! , toy , crank. 2. A
mythical subatomic particle that bears the unit quantity of computation or
information, in much the same way that an electron bears one unit of
electric charge (see also bogon ). An elaborate pseudo-scientific theory of
computrons has been developed based on the physical fact that the molecules
in a solid object move more rapidly as it is heated. It is argued that an
object melts because the molecules have lost their information about where
they are supposed to be (that is, they have emitted computrons). This
explains why computers get so hot and require air conditioning; they use up
computrons. Conversely, it should be possible to cool down an object by
placing it in the path of a computron beam. It is believed that this may
also explain why machines that work at the factory fail in the computer
room: the computrons there have been all used up by the other hardware. (The
popularity of this theory probably owes something to the Warlock stories by
Larry Niven, the best known being What Good is a Glass Dagger? , in which
magic is fueled by an exhaustible natural resource called mana.
