I learned the the theoretical workings of jpeg in school in the early 2000. I personally think it is easier to comprehend the different stages coming from an original picture (Bitmap). But this article illustrates again what we all just take for granted. I had the luck to learn about all the then major image types (jpeg, gif, tiff, bmp and png) in school plus the compression algorithms behind them. But I only learned about image types (Media Design school for nonprint media) I try to learn and understand as much as possible but it gets harder and harder. To fully understand the complexity of todays computers is nearly impossible. So kudos for the post but I still think the other way of explaining it makes more sense :)