Week 1 Vocabulary

An industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply between personal computers and their peripheral devices.

USB(abbreviation of Universal Serial Bus)

Any device that provides input to a computer. There are dozens of possible input devices, but the two most common ones are a keyboard and mouse. Every key you press on the keyboard and every movement or click you make with the mouse sends a specific input signal to the computer. These commands allow you to open programs, type messages, drag objects, and perform many other functions on your computer. Since the job of a computer is primarily to process input, computers are pretty useless without input devices. Just imagine how much fun you would have using your computer without a keyboard or mouse. Not very much. Therefore, input devices are a vital part of every computer system. While most computers come with a keyboard and mouse, other input devices may also be used to send information to the computer. Some examples include joysticks, MIDI keyboards, microphones, scanners, digital cameras, webcams, card readers, UPC scanners, and scientific measuring equipment. All these devices send information to the computer and therefore are categorized as input devices. Peripherals that output data from the computer are called output devices. An input device is any device that provides input to a computer. There are dozens of possible input devices, but the two most common ones are a keyboard and mouse. Every key you press on the keyboard and every movement or click you make with the mouse sends a specific input signal to the computer. These commands allow you to open programs, type messages, drag objects, and perform many other functions on your computer. Since the job of a computer is primarily to process input, computers are pretty useless without input devices. Just imagine how much fun you would have using your computer without a keyboard or mouse. Not very much. Therefore, input devices are a vital part of every computer system. While most computers come with a keyboard and mouse, other input devices may also be used to send information to the computer. Some examples include joysticks, MIDI keyboards, microphones, scanners, digital cameras, webcams, card readers, UPC scanners, and scientific measuring equipment. All these devices send information to the computer and therefore are categorized as input devices. Peripherals that output data from the computer are called output devices.

Input device

Any device that outputs information from a computer is called, not surprisingly, an output device. Since most information from a computer is output in either a visual or auditory format, the most common output devices are the monitor and speakers. These two devices provide instant feedback to the user's input, such as displaying characters as they are typed or playing a song selected from a playlist. While monitors and speakers are the most common output devices, there are many others. Some examples include headphones, printers, projectors, lighting control systems, audio recording devices, and robotic machines. A computer without an output device connected to it is pretty useless, since the output is what we interact with. Anyone who has ever had a monitor or printer stop working knows just how true this is. Of course, it is also important to be able to send information to the computer, which requires an input device.

Output device

Any external device that provides input and output for the computer. For example, a keyboard and mouse are input peripherals, while a monitor and printer are output peripherals. Computer peripherals, or peripheral devices, are sometimes called "I/O devices" because they provide input and output for the computer. Some peripherals, such as external hard drives, provide both input and output for the computer.

Peripheral device

This little chip is the heart of a computer. Also referred to as the "microprocessor," the processor does all the computations such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. In PCs, the most popular microprocessor used is the Intel Pentium chip, whereas Macintosh computers use the PowerPC chip (developed by Motorola, IBM, and Apple). The speed of a computer's processor is measured in megahertz, or cycles per second. But higher megahertz doesn't always mean better performance. Though a 600-MHz chip has a clock speed that is twice as fast as a 300-Mhz chip, it doesn't mean that the computer with the 600-Mhz chip will run twice as fast. This is because the speed of a computer is also influenced by other factors, such as the efficiency of the processor, the bus architecture, the amount of memory available, and the software that is running on the computer. Some processors can complete more operations per clock cycle than other processors, making them more efficient than other processors with higher clock speeds. This is why the PowerPC chip is typically faster than Pentium chips at that are clocked at higher megahertz.

Processors

Any type of hardware that stores data. The most common type of storage device, which nearly all computers have, is a hard drive. The computer's primary hard drive stores the operating system, applications, and files and folders for users of the computer. While the hard drive is the most ubiquitous of all storage devices, several other types are common as well. Flash memory devices, such as USB keychain drives and iPod nanos are popular ways to store data in a small, mobile format. Other types of flash memory, such as compact flash and SDcards are popular ways to store images taken by digital cameras. External hard drives that connect via Firewire and USB are also common. These types of drives are often used for backing up internal hard drives, storing video or photo libraries, or for simply adding extra storage. Finally, tape drives, which use reels of tape to store data, are another type of storage device and are typically used for backing up data. A computer storage device is any type of hardware that stores data. The most common type of storage device, which nearly all computers have, is a hard drive. The computer's primary hard drive stores the operating system, applications, and files and folders for users of the computer. While the hard drive is the most ubiquitous of all storage devices, several other types are common as well. Flash memory devices, such as USB keychain drives and iPod nanos are popular ways to store data in a small, mobile format. Other types of flash memory, such as compact flash and SDcards are popular ways to store images taken by digital cameras. External hard drives that connect via Firewire and USB are also common. These types of drives are often used for backing up internal hard drives, storing video or photo libraries, or for simply adding extra storage. Finally, tape drives, which use reels of tape to store data, are another type of storage device and are typically used for backing up data.

Storage device

refers to the physical parts of a computer and related devices. Internal hardware devices include motherboards, hard drives, and RAM. External hardware devices include monitors, keyboards, mice, printers, and scanners. The internal hardware parts of a computer are often referred to as components, while external hardware devices are usually called peripherals. Together, they all fall under the category of computer hardware. Software, on the other hand, consists of the programs and applications that run on computers. Because software runs on computer hardware, software programs often have system requirements that list the minimum hardware required for the software to run.

computer hardware