Technology Explanation

Technology Explanation

There are many different kinds of technologies that are available for the world to use today. We have the convenience of all different types data input and output devices and the means to store and make available at lightning fast speeds. Some of the input devices that we use every day are essential in different kinds situations and projects everyday. We also use many different types of output devices to view our finished product. The input devices that we use are keyboards, scanners, a mouse, and a few others in there as well. We use output devices to see our finished result or our desired outcome just as much, or if not more than input devices. Some of these output devices are monitors, printers, LCD screens, audio speakers, and many others as well. With all of this technology at our fingertips, it is important to which one to take advantage of or use for different reasons.

Databases have become more and more prominent for mass storage of information to be readily available. There are many different input mechanisms out there for all different types of inputting of data, but other input devices and mechanisms are better than others depending on what one is going to use them for. Printed questionnaires are one example of a document that can be inputted into a database or spreadsheet to keep track of how many people answered the questions correctly or what kind of answers did they give on the questionnaire. Depending on what kind of questionnaire it is, the best way to input these in a computer is to have a predetermined answer sheet for the answers given. A survey is a questionnaire that is used to come up with all different kinds of answers that can be given in a multiple choice answer sheet. These multiple choice answer sheets have circles with an A, B, C, or D answer. A special scanner that can read the results in a very fast speed then scans these circles. All of us have probably filled one of these out, especially in our school days. By filling in the circle the scanner then knows what the results are very quickly and can read a bunch of them very fast. Then the information is fed electronically in a computer and calculated. This is the best way to read questionnaires in a very short time, especially if you have a lot of them to read and calculate within a short amount of time.

There are other surveys out there that may be done differently, rather than a written questionnaire. There are also electronic phone questionnaires that are used for data input into a computer. These surveys are basically the same thing as written, but instead of coloring in a circle for the computer to read, it is an audio recognized input to the computer. Each number on the telephone has a specific type of tone that the computer recognizes as a letter or specific answer. We all use these types of surveys all the time any more when we call any type of business. We have to direct our way around a computer menu by pressing buttons for the appropriate signal. Another data inputting device that we use all the time but are really not aware of them are electronic bank check scanners. Instead of the bank teller, or a checker at a grocery store inputting numbers and letters by hand on a keyboard, they use a device that scans, reads, and inputs it for them. We’ve all seen the checks zip through when the scanner is scanning them. It uses an optical character recognizer to read the numbers and letters on the check and then digitally inputs them into the computer once again. This has helped the retail and banking industry tremendously by speeding up the process and data accuracy and quality is without error on all of these types of new technologies.

Another amazing technological breakthrough is the laser scanner and bar code. Everywhere that we go nowadays and everything we buy has a bar code on it that is scanned by a laser, bounced back to a mirror and read by a bar code recognizer. It is read by the number and the thickness of the lines on the code, and every different product has a different code that the laser reads without error. This is a quick way of inputting retail tags into a computer so the total of the amount of money you owe can be calculated. This ensures proper inventory control and reliable accuracy for the retailer as well as the consumer. Another breakthrough that we have to enjoy for documents to be inputted accurately into a computer is the document scanner and fax machine to scan and send thousands of miles away. All of these input devices are a breakthrough in the technology world today and has made our lives a lot easier when it comes to massive inputting and accuracy of the inputs themselves.

We have talked a lot about inputting devices, now we’ll talk about output devices and the quality of these outputs. When we want to see something, we