System does what with the data or input

Your commands, ideas, demands and concepts form the data your system processes and stores. Without user input, a computer simply takes up desktop space and waits for directions, like a lost motorist with a broken-down car. Without input methods and devices, your correspondence, reports, images and numbers remain in your head rather than becoming work in progress. Your computer can accept input from myriad types of peripheral devices, each designed to accommodate specific types of data.

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Pointing Devices
Data Drives
Audio/Video Devices
MIDI Devices
Specialized Hardware
What Computers Do
Input, Process and Output
Understanding Input, Process and Output
Digital Camera
Word Processor
Discussion Points
Our purpose is to transform access to education.
What the computer does with input data?
What is an input in a system?
Do systems have inputs and outputs?
What is data or input?

Keyboards

Wired and wireless data keyboards break down linguistic input and software commands into individual units of meaning. You can type a single letter, combine alphanumeric keys with command keys to produce accented or specialized characters, and enter simple or complex instructions to control software processes. From the traditional QWERTY keyboard, adapted from the typewriter, to layouts such as the Dvorak keyboard, which promotes faster typing, and adapted variations with additional keys, these devices translate finger-based keypresses into data input.

Pointing Devices

Pointing devices translate taps, gestures and drawing input, either through wired or wireless interfaces. From clicking on a menu with a mouse or trackball, to tapping on a touchpad or touchscreen, or drawing on a graphics tablet, these devices instigate commands and help retouch photographs, create illustrations and simulate the behavior of other devices, including paintbrushes and airbrushes. CAD pucks enable you to establish precise points of reference on an architectural plan or 3D rendering. Recreationally speaking, the world of computer games relies on devices that translate three-dimensional gestures into the world of a flight simulator, fight scene or race track, including joysticks, game pads and driving simulators.

Data Drives

Flash, optical and hard drives store the output of computer processes, but they also provide the input for other functions. From files that contain data to be manipulated to temporary data storage that provides input from a clipboard or program, these devices simplify and speed the act of making information available to software processes. Some of these devices contain moving platters, whereas others rely on solid-state NAND flash chips or inserted writeable/rewriteable optical discs. They may be installed as internal computer components or plugged in to a USB, FireWire or Thunderbolt port.

Audio/Video Devices

Computers accept a wide range of audio-data inputs. You can dictate audio input into a headset for use in a text-to-speech program that converts your words into word processing, sing or play a musical instrument into a microphone for recording in an audio file, plug an electronic instrument into your computer for direct input of synthesized sounds or transfer audio from a recording device. To bring visual information into a new or existing document, you can digitize objects or printed information on a two- or three-dimensional scanner, transfer files from a digital camera or combined audio/video input from a camcorder, or record an individual or a surveilled scene captured on a webcam or security camera.

MIDI Devices

Keyboards, synthesizers and other musical technologies provide computer input in the form of MIDI data. The Musical Instrument Digital Interface specification includes three types of data pathways, received and transmitted through MIDI IN, MIDI OUT and MIDI THRU ports. Instruments plug in to a MIDI IN jack on a computer interface, which plugs in to a USB or other standard data port. Instruments connect into series of daisy-chained devices by means of their MIDI THRU jacks, which enables the output of one piece of hardware to control or influence the behavior of another.

Specialized Hardware

From testing and diagnostic equipment, laboratory measurement devices and manufacturing hardware to assistive technology that makes computers accessible to persons with disabilities, specialized input hardware solves equally specialized problems or overcomes specific challenges. Along with devices designed for medical, scientific, engineering and manufacturing use, these special-purpose input devices include gestural hardware that translates three-dimensional movement of the hands or body into character movement for animation or provides a substitute for conventional pointing devices.

Computers, no matter how they are programmed, work through input, process and output. All computers accept inputs. An input is data that is entered into or received by a computer.

2.8

Computers work with inputs, processes, and outputs. An input is data entered into or received by a computer, such as a keypress, mouse click, or sensor reading. Inputs can give instructions to a computer or provide data to process, but inputs don’t need to be initiated by people. For example, a temperature sensor could gather and input data into a computer, or a message could be wirelessly received by a computer from another device. A process determines what a computer does with an input, but the same input can be processed in different ways.

47.4

For example, pressing the A key on your keyboard will display the letter A when using word processing software, or it could be a directional control for moving a character in gaming software. A program contains the set of instructions that define the process. The output is how the computer presents the results of the process, such as text on a screen, printed materials, or sound from a speaker. Young learners don’t need to know how the computer processes the data but should be aware of something happening between entering the input into the computer and producing the outputs. The process might be Make It Bigger, Double It, Turn On, or Turn Off.

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As your pupils develop the understanding of how computers work, you can reflect on the inputs, processes, and outputs of everyday digital devices. Think about your day. How many times have you used a computer? What were the inputs, processes, and outputs of those devices? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Over the past forty years, developments in technology have meant that computers have become much more portable and affordable than ever before. As a result, the prevalence of computers in our everyday lives has grown exponentially.

What Computers Do

Computers can be programmed to solve problems or complete tasks that make people’s lives easier. General purpose computers include desktop computers, laptops and mobile phones. These devices can be programmed to perform many varied tasks. Among other things, you can use these computers to communicate with friends online, create picture collages, or play games.

Other computers are dedicated to doing one specific job. These devices have been programmed to complete particular tasks, such as satellite navigation devices, traffic light control systems, or weather forecasting devices. Although these computers complete the tasks they have been built for extremely well, the drawback is that they lack versatility as they cannot be used to complete a range of different tasks.

Input, Process and Output

Computers, no matter how they are programmed, work through input, process and output.

Input

All computers accept inputs. An input is data that is entered into or received by a computer. This could include a user pressing a key on a keyboard, clicking a mouse to select something on screen or tapping a touch pad. Some inputs indicate to the computer what we want it to do, while others provide data for the computer to process. Inputs don’t always have to be initiated by human beings. For example, a temperature sensor could gather and input data into a computer or a message could be received by a computer from another device.

Process

The process determines what the computer does with the input. The same input can be processed in different ways. For example, in word processing software, when you press the letter A on a keyboard, the computer may process the input and display it as a letter A on the screen. In gaming software, pressing the letter A may be a directional control, moving a character in the game to a different place on screen. A program contains the set of instructions that define the process.

Output

The output is how the computer presents the results of the process. Outputs can be returned to the user in many ways such as text on a screen, printed materials, or as sound from a speaker.

Understanding Input, Process and Output

Younger learners do not need to know how the computer actually processes the data, but should be aware that something has happened once the input has been entered into the computer before the output is produced.

However, as you support children in becoming more proficient in understanding how computers work, you will discuss what the term ‘process’ actually means.

It might be helpful to think of some of the digital devices you use in your day-to-day life and consider the input, process, and outputs in relation to them.

Digital Camera

Input: pressing the button on the top
Process: it captures and stores a picture
Output: the image is shown on the screen

Word Processor

Input: pressing a button on the keyboard
Process: checking which letter has been pressed and adding the letter to the document in its memory
Output: showing the correct letter on the screen

Discussion Points

Think about your day. How many times have you used a computer? Describe some of these times.
Look at some of the examples you listed in the question above: – What was the input? – What was the process?
– What was the output?

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What the computer does with input data?

An input is data that is entered into or received by a computer. This could include a user pressing a key on a keyboard, clicking a mouse to select something on screen or tapping a touch pad. Some inputs indicate to the computer what we want it to do, while others provide data for the computer to process.

What is an input in a system?

Input is something put into a system or expended in its operation to achieve output or a result. The information entered into a computer system, examples include: typed text, mouse clicks, etc. Output is the information produced by a system or process from a specific input.

Do systems have inputs and outputs?

Systems always have inputs and outputs. An input is whatever you put into a system. An output is whatever comes out of the system. For example, a computer has inputs like electricity, the movements and clicks of your mouse, and the keys you type on a keyboard.

What is data or input?

Any information that is provided to a computer or a software program is known as input. Since the information provided is also considered to be data, the process of providing information to the computer is also known as data input. The input enables the computer to do what is designed to do and produce an output.