As a KS3 ICT student, you will know that before you can process data you need to get the data into the computer. There are various devices for this purpose. Input devices are examples of hardware e.g. scanners and microphones. Some input devices like a keyboard or touch screen are manual but others, such as sensors, are automatic. A keyboard in some form is a common input device since most data that needs to be entered are letters, symbols and numbers. Anyone who has used a desktop computer will also be familiar with the mouse.
Early mice for computers looked very different to how they do today. They were not designed with ergonomics (ease and comfort of use) in mind. The mouse only really became common in the mid 1980s and may become out of date, replaced by touchscreens. The development of the mouse made using a computer easier, instead of needing to use a joystick or keys on the keyboard, just moving the mouse around and clicking had the same effect. Drawing images on a computer has been made a lot easier with the development of a graphics pad (tablet). This uses a stylus which is just like an artist using a pen, pencil or brush on paper.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Data and databases
Hardware is the word used to describe any of the physical parts of a computer system
|
Examples of automatic input devices are a magnetic stripe reader and optical mark readers. You may think these are manual as a person needs to move the magnetic stripe or the sheet of paper but they are not - the device inputs the data to the computer, not the person holding the magnetic stripe or paper
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
The QWERTY keyboard layout was developed during the 1870s when mechanical typewriters were first made
|
A printer is an output device
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
This was the best way to avoid the keys of a mechanical typewriter sticking together when they were pressed quickly. There is no reason why QWERTY keyboards should be used for computers other than people are used to them
|
They don't contain moving parts
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
The pictures on the keys make them quick and easy to use
|
Software in the computer converts the signals from the mouse into movements of the cursor on the screen
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Some have a display so you can see the image develop under the stylus. Others are linked to a separate screen
|
Graphics pad and graphics tablet mean the same
|