input device
<hardware>
A peripheral used to transfer data from the outside world into a computer system. Some input devices are operated directly by the user, e.g. keyboard, mouse, touch screen, joystick, digitising tablet, microphone; others are sensors or transducers which convert external signals into data, e.g. using an ananlog to digital converter (this would also be true of a microphone). Other kinds of inputs are really one half of a bidirectional link with another computer or storage device, e.g. serial line, SCSI interface.
Last updated: 1996-11-03
Nearby terms:
Input ♦ input ♦ input device ♦ input/output ♦ input/output redirection
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