Reasoning Checkpoint
A design challenge, worked through in writing — no auto-grading, just a real attempt.
The Challenge
Samantha has good news: BlueTicket is hiring three people next month — a designer who edits large images and short videos, a backend developer who runs the app, a database and a few test servers on their laptop, and a support agent who answers customer emails and chats all day.
John gives the job to Anna: "Choose a laptop spec for each of them, and explain every choice. Don't just pick the most expensive one for everyone — the budget is real." Use everything from this Act: CPU, RAM, storage, GPU and how a computer starts.
What Your Answer Needs
- For each of the three people, choose: number of CPU cores, amount of RAM, storage type and size, and integrated or dedicated GPU.
- For every choice, give one sentence explaining why that person needs it (or doesn't).
- Say which of the three needs the most RAM and why, using the desk-and-cupboard idea.
- Say why all three should get an SSD (ideally NVMe) instead of an HDD.
- Bonus: one of the new laptops shows "No bootable device found" on day one. Write the steps you would check, in order.
Stuck? A Few Hints
- Start from the work each person does, then pick parts — not the other way round.
- Running a database and test servers locally uses a lot of RAM and benefits from more cores.
- Look back at the "Reading boot problems by their step" table in the last chapter for the bonus.
Before You Move On
There's more than one right answer here — real IT teams argue about specs all the time. What matters is that every choice is tied to the work the person does. That habit, "start from the need, then choose the tool," will come back in every Act of this course.