Hardware and Software
Input and Output Hardware
Input hardware is any physical device used to enter data or instructions into a computer. Output hardware presents the work so you can see or hear it. When planning on a computer, you need both: a way to get your ideas into the computer, and a way to check what you have made.
Input devices and their jobs
The device you choose depends on what you need to put in.
| Device | Job during planning |
|---|---|
| Keyboard | Types text, such as the words of a script or labels on a wireframe |
| Mouse, trackpad or trackball | Points, selects, drags and arranges items on screen |
| Graphics tablet or touchscreen with a stylus | Draws and sketches freehand lines and shapes |
| Microphone | Records audio, such as a spoken note about an idea |
| Digital camera or scanner | Captures something that already exists, like a photo of a location or a page of hand-drawn sketches |
A keyboard is usually best for words and a graphics tablet with a stylus is usually best for drawing, because each one matches the kind of data going in.
Seeing and hearing the work
A display or monitor is the main output device: it shows the document on screen so you can judge its layout, colour and spelling. Speakers let you check any audio you have recorded. Without output hardware you could still type and draw, but you could not tell whether the result looks or sounds right.
Two displays, more space
Adding a second display gives you more desktop space. You can keep the document full size on one screen and put the things you are referring to on the other, instead of switching windows all the time. For example, while laying out a leaflet for a local climbing club, you could keep the leaflet open on one display and the club's logo files and a list of session times on the second. The two displays can also show different views of the same work, such as the whole page on one and a zoomed-in corner on the other, so small alignment problems are easier to spot.
Practise this
OCR Creative iMedia · Hardware & Software