THE IMAGINARY CIRCUIT: Relationship of User, Application, Operating System and the Hardware

 Here's what:

I'm one of those common folks who are always on their phones, fiddling with applications but then, do not really understand the intricate processes going on inside the phone that makes all that possible; and, I wasn't in a rush to find out either. The diagram above looks simple by itself - it shows a relationship, and more so, a cyclic type of relationship between the user, the application, operating system, and the hardware.

It's pretty obvious that the user would be me, or any other people who make use of applications; an application is whatever software we download on to our phones that perform specific functions for us; the operating system (OS) — well, this one is a bit complicated — it's like the middleman that facilitates between the application and the hardware; and the hardware is the phone, as in the machine or computer that it is, together with its memory, processor, etcetera.

Interpreting the diagram, I gather it's the way the data is being passed from one point to another. From the user, most specifically, the data is in the form of command or access. The user navigates through their phone and opens an application, for example, in my case, I always use a digital art app called 'ibis Paint X'. I inputted a data which was that I simply opened the app, accessing it. The application, however, has to make sure, of course, that I am allowed to access it; but then, it doesn't have that kind of faculty. The one that basically contains all my information, permissions and access is the hardware, the phone itself. All my data, as well as the records of my past transactions in all my applications are embedded in its system. There is no direct contact, however, between the hardware and the application. The one that creates a bridge between them is the operating system, or the OS. In more technical terms, the OS creates the 'interface'. Somehow, it's like the OS is also making sure that everything the application is allowed to do is within the capacity, or resources, of the hardware (however, I guess it becomes a bit more complicated internet is involved). Once the access has been confirmed by checking with the hardware, the OS relays the permission to the application, and then user can now finally smoothly navigate through the application.

PS. With how fast I can access 'ibis Paint X', I can sort of say that the aforementioned process works as fast as how the human brain works during sensory perception.