Hardware

What is Hardware?

Hardware is the physical parts of the computer, that is the parts you can touch. You can arrange hardware into a number of different catergories; Input Devices, Output Devices and Storage Devices.

Input Devices

Input devices allow us to enter raw data into a computer. There are a large variety of different devices however there are a number of commonly used ones;

A Keyboard - including concept keyboard.

This is a flat board that contains a grid of buttons. Each button can be programmed to follow instructions. An overlay sheet is placed on the grid with an explanation for each button. They are used in primary schools with young children. Many modern fast food restaurants have overlays with either a description or picture of the meals that are available to make ordering easier.

A Mouse

A mouse is the most common pointing device that you will come across. It enables you to control the movement and position of the on-screen cursor by moving it around on the desk.
Buttons on the mouse let you select options from menus and drag objects around the screen. Pressing a mouse button produces a 'mouse click'. You might have heard the expressions 'double click', 'click and drag' and 'drag and drop'.
Most mice use a small ball located underneath them to calculate the direction that you are moving the mouse in. The movement of the ball causes two rollers to rotate inside the mouse; one records the movement in a north-south direction and the other records the east-west movement. The mouse monitors how far the ball turns and in what direction and sends this information to the computer to move the pointer. Other pointing devices are the tracker ball and the touch pad (as found on a laptop computer).