computron /kom'pyoo-tron`/
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. "That machine can't run GNU Emacs, it
doesn't have enough computrons!" 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'.)