ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

EEPROM

An EEPROM is like a very tiny and special kind of computer memory that can remember information even when the power is turned off. It's like having a little notebook that you can write things down in, and it will still be there even if you close the notebook and come back to it later.

When you turn on a computer, it needs to load some information to get started, like what programs to run and what settings to use. This information is usually stored in the computer's memory, which is like a temporary notebook. But if you want to save something for a long time, like a document or a photo, you need to put it somewhere that won't disappear when the power is turned off. That's where the EEPROM comes in.

EEPROM stands for Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory. It's a chip that can store anything from a few bytes (like a single letter or number) to several kilobytes (like a whole paragraph of text) of information. It works by using tiny electrical charges to store and retrieve data.

Here's how it works: when you want to store something in the EEPROM, the computer uses a special program to send a signal to the chip that tells it where to put the information. The chip then sends back a signal to say that it's ready to receive the data. The computer then sends the data (like a letter, number or sentence) to the chip, which stores it in a specific location.

Then, later on, when you want to retrieve that information, the computer sends another signal to the chip asking for that specific piece of data. The chip then sends back the data, and the computer can use it.

One cool thing about EEPROMs is that you can erase and rewrite the data on them many times. So, if you wanted to change the information you saved, you could send a signal to the chip to erase the old data and then re-write the new information in its place.

Overall, EEPROMs are a very useful tool for computers to save information for long periods of time, and they use special electrical signals to store and retrieve data.