Technology

A computer works by storing and processing data that is given to it as input and gives out the result as output. For this a number of input and output devices are used. For computer work efficiently, the data that is put through to the computer needs to be accurate. In order to for input data to be accurate, different types of input devices provide the best solution in different situations. For example, if we consider the situation of inputting data from a printed questionnaire, an Optical Mark Recognizer would best serve the purpose as it is able to detect the marks placed by the participants on the paper and hence would greatly assist in calculating scored. For Telephony Survey, data can be inputted through voice recognizers attached to the telephony device, as this would allow a direct data input. In order to read data from bank checks, Magnetic Ink Recognizer is the best method as it allows printed magnetic character to be read from the checks for processing. For retail tags, the bar code scanner is the most widely used input device, as it uses later and a sensor to quickly read the printed barcode into the computer, providing a swift way of inputting data from real world into the computers while long documents can be inputted into the computer through the use of scanners and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. Through this way all the data that is present on the document can be inputted into computer without much hassle (Chauhan, Saxena,  Gupta, 2006).

In a similar way, data can be outputted through a number of means which depends upon the situation in which the data needs to be extracted from computer. For example, incase of a handheld computer, the best method for outputting data would be the computer screen it would allow the user to see the data and manipulate it without much hassle. For color photographs, the best way to output data to a physical form is a color printer, which allows for color photographs to be printed on a paper in a convenient way. If the photograph needs to be viewed only, the computer display offers a cheap and convenient way to view the photographs. In order to output resume, printer will be the best choice, as it would allow you to carry printed copies of the resume anywhere. For statistical and annual reports, presentations would be the best way to output data, as in this way the reports can be summarizes and important facts highlighted. While the memorandum can be output to its destination through email as it is economical, quick and can convey the message of the memorandum equally as any other from of output (Chauhan, Saxena,  Gupta, 2006).

When storing data on a computer, a number of storage types are available where the data can be stored depending on its storage duration and access requirements. For example RAM can be used in situation where the data needs to be stored for a short amount of time and needed quickly. This is because the RAM operates at a very high speed and also has a very high speed interface to the rest of the computer. Hard drive can be used to store data when it needs be stored permanently but assessed on a regular basis. This is possible because hard drives stores data on magnetic plates which rotates at very high speeds allowing for data to be written and read. The CDROM finds its use in situation where large amount of data has to be move without much hassle. The large capacity of CDROM (750MB) allows for large files such as movie files to be moved from one location to another in a simple plastic plate without the need of any major equipment installation and movement. Tape drives, on the other hand, are used to store data in situation where it needs to be achieved. That is, it needs to be stored for months or years before it can be accessed. Tape drives are best in this situation because access to data stored in them is slow while the media used in tape drives is quite cheap allowing for a large amount of data (Gigabytes) to be stored in a very economical way. In the past, when the data storage requirements were not huge, floppy drives were one of the best an economical way to move data from one computer to another. Floppy drives were extremely cheap but offered only around 1MB of data to be stored on them. This restriction caused them to become obsolete after the emergence of CDROM and USB drives (Parsons Oja, 2008).

When determining the speed of a computer, its various components play significant role. For example, RAM of the computer is the place where data is stored when the computer is running. Hence, a large amount of RAM would allow a large amount of data to be stored in RAM, making the computer less read and write on the hard drive. If the amount of RAM is reduced, the computer would become slow as then it would have to use slower media such as hard drive to store data that it needs quickly. The clock speed of a computer is also an important factor. It determines the speed at which the processor of the computer can process data therefore, higher clock speed means better performance. The access speed to data stored on hard drive, CDROM and Floppy Disk also matter to some extent in determination of computer speed. The faster the data can be read from these drives the faster it would be available for execution. Speed of accessing the data stored on these devices very with hard drives offering the highest speed and floppy drive being the slowest (Soper, 2004).