Computer Information The IT worldBy Gavin ViallIt was said that the reason for information systems is to get the right information to the right person or people at the right time, and the right amount, and in the right format.
One of the main goals in an information system is to process data into information. So Data input becomes very important. We are going to look at five situations, and determine which method of data input works best for that situation. The input devices for operating systems are as follows Keyboard, mouse, microphone, camera, video, touch screen, pen and pad. Output devices are hardware that allows the computer to communicate to the end user.
The output devices are as follows monitors, speakers, printers, projectors, and mechanical devices (including robotics). A computer can only do simple things. Now they can do simple things, but with great speed and accuracy. Computers perform input and output from memory and storage. A computer can also perform simple mathematics and logic. A computer??™s main processing parts are as follows: Central processing unit (this is the chip that computes and controls). The bus is another piece of a computers main processing unit.
The bus is a set of wires that transfers data from computer to component. The basic input / output system is the chip that boots a computer. The last processing device is the controller. The controller is hardware that manages the transfer of data from computer to the device. The storage devices for a computer are where all saved data will be located.
Your primary storage for a computer is called random access memory or (RAM) for short. Random access memory is memory that the computer uses to go directly to byte of information without having to go search through the storage location sequentially. There are mainly six types of secondary storage Floppy disk, hard disk, CD, Card, Tape, and flash thumb drive. A computers network provides connectivity between the computers.
Network Interface Card or (NIC) for short is an expansion card that allows a computer to connect to a network. Another Networking device is Media. Network transfer medium there are cable and wireless. A modem is a networking device that allows data to be transferred from the telephone, and cable television lines. A hub is a networking device that is the central connection point of a network. Now a router transmits messages thru the most efficient routes in a network. There??™s a lot to take in and understand with a computer and hardware that comes along with it.
The last networking device is the tower which basically is a wireless transmitter. There are more and more devices that are being networked. This type of networking has brought more and more possibilities for virtual work environments. Accuracy of data input is very important. We have five different situations where I am going to explain which method of data input would best suit the situation. Our first situation is printed questionnaires.
For printed questionnaires I would say using the keyboard would be the best input device to use. There would be typing involved in the responses to the questionnaires where you would need to be able to read responses and type answers into the CPU. The next situation is a telephone survey. As far putting the data in a microphone would be my choice. If we need to output the telephone survey answers the speakers would let you listen to their answers. I would use a tape for the storage device of the responses.
The best network device to use for a telephone survey would be a modem. Now for data input of bank checks you might need to use a pen just because all checks are usually signed. The best output device to use would either be a printer or the monitor. For storage of the bank checks the RAM would be fine. Processing device would be the CPU. For input data of retail tags I think a camera would capture everything on the tag to input the data. The output device would be a printer since it would need to be able to go on to a piece of clothing. Since most retail tags have a bar code on them the best way to store that information would be a processed by the CPU and bar code data would be best to input it with a scanner.
For data input of long documents a pad would be the best choice since it would be able to shrink the data down somewhat. Output device I would choose would be a projector since a projector can make the data readable on a screen. Storage device of a CD would be best since a lot of data can fit on a cd with plenty of room.
I know these first situation I added little more to them then just how I would input the data. Now these next situation calls for how would be the best method of outputting the data. For a handheld computer a LCD screen would be most effective and what I would choose. For a photograph the best output device to use would have to be a color printer. People like to be able to have the photographs framed or scrap booked. Now for a resume you would want to use a printer as your best choice for an output device.
A resume is to be handed out so you can make paper copies on a printer to do so. A memorandum I would use a printer because mostly memos are posted up for reminders I actually if you wanted could use a projector but it would cost more money to have on for so long compared to the price of a sheet of paper. The last two situations are statistical and annual reports. I would choose for both of them is a projector so it could be displayed for everyone clearly in a meeting for a companyThe next situations are storage options there are four different storage options that would call for different ways of going about it. I look a floppy discs as a thing of the past so if it is a older computer a floppy might be the only way of storing data beside on to the computer. A floppy disk is portable. Same with a hard disc I would use a hard disc if the data being outputted needed to be moved to a different computer and plus a hard disc is hard to break and damage than a floppy. So if I needed to move data and wanted to be little safer I would use a hard disc.
I almost 80 percent of any data I am trying to save to be outputted later I would use RAM which keeps the data right on the computer. I would use a CD to output my data in a situation that might use graphics and if it??™s a lot of data the cd would have the most space available. If I need to output data which is speaking or sound I would use a tape. When storing data on a flash drive or I like to use the USB cord to download pictures onto the computer so that??™s when I would use flash drive. RAM is where tasks/information thats called upon frequently is stored on your computer.
Getting information from RAM is much faster than if the computer processor has to go into the hard disk to get the information. So the more RAM you have the faster your computer seems to be. A computer??™s bus is a tiny circuit on the motherboard that sends data between two points. The speed of the bus or the clock speed is the rate at which data can move in the computer and the quicker it moves the better the computer usually is. There are several buses in a computer and generally the shorter the bus the quicker the computer is the best way I can explain it. Now a CD-ROM drive contains a laser that reads data stored on a CD and transmits it to the computer.
The faster the drive can read data, the more quickly the computer will be able to copy data from CDs. The floppy disk inserted into the drive. The rpm??™s of the floppy is very slow for locating the data which takes a little bit of time to access the data stored in floppy disk. Once it locates the data it transfers the data to primary memory which again takes time. The combination of the two will affect the speed of your computer. A hard disk is the hard drive in your computer. It??™s a part that you dont want to take out unless there is a problem is what I have read about it.
Hard drives come with various amounts of storage space. They hold the operating system for your computer. So the speed is affect by how much data is being stored the lesser amount the speed increases. The more you have stored on the hard disk the slower your computer will be.
