> I guess it depends on what your goal is. If your goal is "design
> circuitry that can be manufactured in the real world and sold to people
> at a profit", there's an awful lot of real-world stuff that's quite
> important. If your goal is "I wonder how my PC works", then... not so much.

Unless, by "how my PC works", you mean why it needs a million tiny (or 
not so tiny) capacitors on the motherboard, or why the tracks are laid 
out that way, or why certain parts are grounded together and certain 
parts are not, or why there are transformers next to the ethernet 
socket, why there is a heatsink on some ICs but not others ... etc.

> Tangentially:
>
> https://hackaday.com/2016/04/30/megaprocessor-is-a-macro-microprocessor/
>
> Apparently the LEDs consume most of the power. And where I was thinking
> that LEDs are extremely low-power...

You mean like this one? :-)

http://www.leds4less.co.uk/100w-led-floodlight--ip65-waterproof--1000-watt-equivalent-459-p.asp

Are you aware that you can light your home/office with LEDs now, or 
light your way when cycling with them, or even some newer cars use them 
for headlights too?

Needless to say, LEDs come in all sizes, but a rough rule of thumb is 
that they convert about 10% of the electrical power used into visible 
light (the other 90% going to heat). Which makes them "low power", 
compared to an equivalent "old" style bulb with the same light output.

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