ELI5: Why do regular computers seem slow?

Regular computers seem slow because they're doing lots of things at once, and sometimes they have to wait for different parts to finish their jobs.

Imagine your computer is like a busy chef in a kitchen. You ask the chef (your computer) to make a sandwich (run a program).

• First, the chef needs to find the bread (data) in the pantry (hard drive). Finding the bread takes time, especially if the pantry is messy and full of other ingredients!
• Next, the chef needs to get the ingredients (more data) like cheese and ham from the fridge (RAM). The fridge is quicker to access than the pantry, but still takes a little while.
• Then, the chef needs to use a knife (processor) to cut the sandwich. If the knife is old and dull, cutting takes longer. A newer, sharper knife is faster.
• Finally, the chef has to put the sandwich on a plate (display) so you can see it.

Also, imagine if the chef has to constantly clean up the kitchen (run background processes) while making the sandwich. This slows them down too.

So, a "slow" computer is like a chef with a messy pantry, a slow knife, lots of orders, and constant cleaning to do. A "fast" computer is like a chef with everything organized, a sharp knife, and fewer things to worry about at once.