Explanation Of Input, Output, Storage Devices And Speed

Accuracy of data input is important. What method of data input would be best for each of the following situations and explain why:

Printed questionnaires - The best method for data input would be a keyboard. The reason the keyboard would be best is because it enables some one to create the needed test that makes the questionnaires.

Telephone survey - The best method of data for this situation would be a voice input device. By doing this a live person does not have to conduct the survey, it can all be done my computer.

Bank checks- The best input for bank checks would be MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) a magnetic scanning input device. Because banks have to deal with large volume of checks they need a system that can read checks fast. This system reads the numbers at the bottom of the checks and will automatically make adjustments to the proper accounts.

Retail tags- The best data input for retail tags would be a bar code scanner. This is called an optical scanning input device. By using a bar code scanner the user does not have to rely on manually inputting numbers into a keypad. They can use either a handheld or fixed scanner to do this. The tags must also have these bar codes on them for this to properly work. The bar codes have specific codes that apply to certain types of merchandise.

Long documents- The data input for this would also be a keyboard.

Convenience and quality of output are important. Explain what method of output would be best for each of the following situations and explain why:

Hand held computer - The output device for device would be a Organic Light-Emitting Diode, they have sharper, brighter colors and do not break when dropped.

Color photograph - The best output for would be a display monitor and a printer.

Resume - The best output would be a laser desktop printer. The reason for this is because most of the time resumes are created at home and printed from there. In addition the laser produces the best quality of document and a resume is an important document.

Memorandum- The best output for this would be a high volume printer. The reason for this selection is because of its ability to print out many copies. A memorandum usually needs to be passed out to many people in a company and the printer would be able to create these documents quickly.

Statistical report - A dot matrix printer would be the best output selection for this report. Because statistical reports tend to be long, this printer would do a fine job and also not cost a lot of money.

Company annual report- The best output for this will also be a high volume printer.

Different types of storage devices are optimal for different situations. Explain what situations are appropriate for the following devices and explain why:

Hard disks have faster data access rate and are of high capacity. They are useful in areas where it is required to frequently read and write data to a secondary storage device like desktop PC's, Notebooks, palm pilots, servers, UNIX systems etc.

Floppy disk is a removable storage medium. A Standard 3.5 inch floppy disk can store 1.4 MB of data. Floppies have been the most widely used removable storage medium since the mid-to-late 1980s.

RAM is the primary storage device of a computer. It is the working memory of a computer. It is a temporary memory which computer uses to store data like Operating system, application programs and data that are in the current use by the processor. The processor can read or write to a RAM much faster than any of the secondary storage devices. The more RAM a computer has, the more data a computer can manipulate and hence the speed of the computer.

CD ROM (Compact Disk read-only Memory), a firmware can store and read 5 times the capacity of the floppy. Unlike the data