Computers have become an integral part of our daily lives. They fascinate us with their capabilities and utility, but can also seem like mystifying black boxes. Riddles about computers provide an entertaining way to get insight into how these machines work. Here are 69 riddles about computers to test your knowledge about their components, functions, history and impact on society.
Riddles about Computer Hardware
1. What’s round as a dishpan, busy as a bee, and has ears that cannot hear?
Answer: The CD/DVD drive on a computer.
2. What hangs on the wall, is always on call, has a peck you can’t miss, but never uses a mouth for a kiss?
Answer: A microphone.
3. I’m where yesterday follows today, and tomorrow’s in the middle. What am I?
Answer: The calendar icon on a computer.
4. When you need me, you throw me away. But when you’re done with me, you bring me back. What am I?
Answer: The anchor/pointer in software applications.
5. I have billions of eyes but cannot see. I have millions of ears but cannot hear. I have no mouth but can speak to you all day. What am I?
Answer: A computer monitor.
6. What has a face, two hands but no arms or legs?
Answer: A clock on the toolbar.
7. You can see right through me as if I’m not there, but I allow you to go anywhere. What am I?
Answer: A browser/internet window.
8. I’m hidden in ridges side by side. I’m useless by myself but with my brothers I guide. What am I?
Answer: The ridges on a computer chip.
9. I’m where things go round and round, only stopping when the chips are down. What am I?
Answer: The CPU fan.
10. I’m boxy and big, with space inside, for PC parts and more besides. What am I?
Answer: The computer case.
11. You can see your reflection in me, but I’m not a mirror. I let others admire your work from afar. What am I?
Answer: Monitor/screen.
12. I’m not the mouse, keyboard or screen, but a computer is useless without me. What am I?
Answer: Motherboard.
13. I’m not the biggest part of a PC, but you’ll likely find me above the CPU. What am I?
Answer: Heat sink/fan.
14. I’m the barriers and pathways that data flows through. Control me and you rule the roost. What am I?
Answer: The bus.
15. Think of me as a computer librarian, I keep files neatly in rows. Ask for one, I’ll find it fast, that’s how my system goes. What am I?
Answer: Hard disk drive.
Riddles about Computer Software and Programming
16. I’m text, images and more, zipped up in one file store. Open me up to sample my wares, then close me when you’re done. What am I?
Answer: A compressed folder.
17. Unwanted messages in your inbox, that try to trick and fool. What are these pesky things, we try hard to filter and rule?
Answer: Spam emails.
18. Click and drag to make me longer, click again to make me short. I can be a single letter, or ten thousand words or more. What am I?
Answer: A highlighted text selection.
19. I’m a prankster and hacker’s delight, mischief and mayhem are my blight. Beware of my traps and tricks, I’m that code with malicious kicks. What am I?
Answer: A computer virus.
20. I’m the maps and location dots, that drivers use on all their plots. Navigation is my expertise, getting you from A to B with ease. What am I?
Answer: GPS application software.
21. Without me, your designs would be tasteless and bare. I add some spice with fonts and colors, polishing things up with care. What am I?
Answer: Graphic design software.
22. I’m the little digital assistant, happy to help with tasks small and large. Calendar, email, music and more, just say “Hey!” and I’m at your charge. What am I?
Answer: Virtual assistant software like Siri, Alexa, etc.
23. Weave your words with flair and grace, check spelling to keep mistakes at bay. Format your text in style sublime, make your work look really fine. What are we?
Answer: Word processing software like MS Word.
24. I’m the maestro directing the bits, sending data on its way. I make sure everything’s working right, running the show day after day. What am I?
Answer: Operating system software like Windows, Mac OS, Linux etc.
25. 01100011 01100001 01101110 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100001 01100100 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01100011 01101111 01100100 01100101 00111111
Answer: Can you read my code?
26. I’m a web where millions congregate, to chat, shop and participate. Content shifts fast on my distressed face, with new trends popping up to replace. What am I?
Answer: Social media website.
27. With me, buying things is slick and quick, products galore just a credit card flick. What am I?
Answer: Online shopping website.
28. I’m where you go to search for facts and things, my algorithms sort and order, rank and link. Type a word and off you go, down the rabbit hole of info. What am I?
Answer: Search engine like Google.
29. We’re a box of tools for business users, number crunching, data analytics too. Reports, graphs, do math by rote, even forecast trends shall be our lot. What are we?
Answer: Spreadsheet software like Excel.
30. I’m a virtual storage sack, that you can stuff with files and pack. Share me across your devices, so you can access your stuff any time. What am I?
Answer: Cloud storage services like Dropbox.
Riddles about Computer Parts
31. I’m the circuit city where bits meet bus, the data superhighway’s driving force. Connect the parts and logic flows, crunch the numbers, the system goes. What am I?
Answer: Motherboard.
32. Deep inside I hide a laborious transformation, as electricity becomes information. I coordinate the dance between memory and logic, my billions of switches toggle with clockwork rhythm. What am I?
Answer: CPU (Central Processing Unit).
33. My name rhymes with mambo, I’m the beats of your computer. Your CPU can’t work without me, setting the pace, driving it faster. What am I?
Answer: RAM (Random Access Memory).
34. I’m your computer’s long-term memory, permanently storing data like a library. Photos, files and programs too, all get saved inside my shelved view. What am I?
Answer: Hard disk drive.
35. I’m the gatekeeper interface ‘tween user and PC. Type, point and click, that’s how you communicate through me. What am I?
Answer: Keyboard and mouse.
36. Like a digital replica, I reflect back a computer’s contents. Mouse over me to interact, without harming the original artifacts. What am I?
Answer: Cursor.
37. I’m the plumbing of your PC, shuttling data betwixt parts with glee. USB, HDMI, DVI, the bits flow thanks to me. What am I?
Answer: Cables and ports.
38. I’m many cubes and columns filled, molding sand into shape. Etched precise, my patterns yield pathways electricity can trace. What am I?
Answer: Integrated circuit/semiconductor chip.
39. Rectangular, plastic and skinny, I’m inserted into a slot. My contents you can’t see directly, but represent data a lot. What am I?
Answer: Memory card like SD card.
40. I’m the piping hot heart, the engine in your machine. My microscopic elements allow data processing seen. What am I?
Answer: Microprocessor.
Riddles about Computer History and Evolution
41. Bulky and massive, I used valves instead of chips. I could do complex math remarkably fast, but was painfully slow to program initially. What am I?
Answer: The ENIAC, or Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer.
42. I weighed 30 tons and had 18,000 vacuum tubes, but was a computational marvel of my time. Code breakers used me during WWII, but I kept that secret for decades hence. What am I?
Answer: Colossus, the codebreaking computer.
43. My name is short for Mathematics Automatic Relay Calculator. Designed at Harvard, I was one of the earliest digital, general purpose, programmable computers. What am I?
Answer: The MARK 1 computer.
44. I’m considered the first commercial computer, sold by IBM in the 1950s. Businesses used me for data processing jobs previously done manually. What was my model name and number?
Answer: The IBM 305 RAMAC (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control).
45. I’m a counting aid that used beads on wires to calculate. My mechanical automation freed humans from repetitive arithmetic. What am I?
Answer: An abacus.
46. Charles Babbage designed me in the 1800s, but couldn’t fund my construction. An analytical engine for automatic computation, it took over a century to build me. What am I?
Answer: The Difference Engine.
47. Who invented the punch card tabulator in 1890, kicking off automated data processing decades before computers emerged?
Answer: Herman Hollerith.
48. What groundbreaking discovery in 1947 lead to the development of transistors and later microchips?
Answer: The invention of the point-contact transistor at Bell Labs.
49. ENIAC was the first general purpose electronic computer, but I was the first machine to store programs internally. Developed at the University of Manchester, what was my name?
Answer: The Small-Scale Experimental Machine, nicknamed “Baby”.
50. I was the first commercially successful minicomputer, launching the desktop PC revolution. My first model released in 1974 for just $795. What am I?
Answer: The Altair 8800.
Riddles about Impacts of Computers and the Digital Age
51. What modern phenomenon related to computers supposedly began around 2006, when data generation began massively outpacing data storage?
Answer: The creation of “big data”.
52. I’m not a meteor, though I transform society. Marshall McLuhan coined me in the 60s, referring to computerization’s cultural effects. What am I?
Answer: The information “supernova”.
53. What is the condition of being constantly connected to technology and demanding instant results, which some believe is negatively affecting attention spans?
Answer: Information overload.
54. What is the displacement of human jobs and decision-making by computerization and AI called?
Answer: Technological unemployment.
55. What was pioneering computer scientist J.C.R Licklider’s 1960s vision of networked computers facilitating human interaction called?
Answer: The Intergalactic Computer Network.
56. What does the hacker ethic refer to – the belief that information should be freely shared and computer access unlimited?
Answer: Hacker ethics or the hacker ethic.
57. I radically expanded communication, commerce, and creativity, unleashing an era of citizen journalism, sharing, and interactivity. What wave am I?
Answer: Web 2.0.
58. What is the growing gap in society between groups with easy access to technology and those without called?
Answer: The digital divide.
59. What is the fallacy that human society has stopped progressing technologically, and that significant innovations are no longer on the horizon?
Answer: Digital complacency.
60. What is the loss of productivity and distraction from technology addiction called?
Answer: Technostress.
Funny Riddles about Computers
61. Why was the computer cold?
Answer: It left its Windows open!
62. I email and surf the net, I do it all with just one finger. What am I?
Answer: A computer mouse.
63. Why was the computer sleepy?
Answer: It had a hard drive!
64. What do you call a computer that sings?
Answer: A-dell.
65. How do you fix a broken pizza?
Answer: Debug it.
66. Did you hear about the computer programmer who was stuck in the shower because he couldn’t GET OUT?
Answer: Haha! GET OUT is an invalid command to exit the shower!
67. Why don’t computers take coffee breaks?
Answer: Because they’re programmed that way!
68. Why was the computer tired when it got home from work?
Answer: It had a hard drive.
69. What’s the best kind of computer to have?
Answer: A MacBook Pro!
Conclusion
There you have it – 69 playful riddles about computers covering their components, history, software, impacts and more. How many were you able to decipher? Riddles engage our problem-solving skills and reveal interesting details in an entertaining format. Hopefully these shed light on computers as more than just a “black box”. Understanding the technology around us better will allow us to use it more effectively and deliberately.
