CPU = person (researcher at library) RAM = bounded physical space on desk Swap = cart for stacks Disk = the stacks (requiring scheduling of the elevator)
In my mind, the discussion of second/nanosecond is unimportant and makes this seem more technical than it needs to be to illustrate the point that "fetches from (non-SSD) disk are very slow and waste a lot of time." But this doesn't seem to be quite as focused as "A complete idiot's guide to the main components in a computer and what they do." (though I'm not sure that it's either time scales or components or SSD)