Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

computron
     
        /kom'pyoo-tron"/ 1. A notional unit of computing power
        combining instruction speed and storage capacity, dimensioned
        roughly in instructions-per-second times
        megabytes-of-main-store times megabytes-of-mass-storage.
        "That machine can't run GNU Emacs, it doesn't have enough
        computrons!"  This usage is usually found in metaphors that
        treat computing power as a fungible commodity good, like a
        crop yield or diesel horsepower.  See {bitty box}, {Get a real
        computer!}, {toy}, {crank}.
     
        2. A mythical subatomic particle that bears the unit quantity
        of computation or information, in much the same way that an
        electron bears one unit of electric charge (see also {bogon}).
        An elaborate pseudo-scientific theory of computrons has been
        developed based on the physical fact that the molecules in a
        solid object move more rapidly as it is heated.  It is argued
        that an object melts because the molecules have lost their
        information about where they are supposed to be (that is, they
        have emitted computrons).  This explains why computers get so
        hot and require air conditioning; they use up computrons.
        Conversely, it should be possible to cool down an object by
        placing it in the path of a computron beam.  It is believed
        that this may also explain why machines that work at the
        factory fail in the computer room: the computrons there have
        been all used up by the other hardware.  (This theory probably
        owes something to the "Warlock" stories by Larry Niven, the
        best known being "What Good is a Glass Dagger?", in which
        magic is fuelled by an exhaustible natural resource called
        "mana".)
     
        [{Jargon File}]