Date First Published: 29th June 2023
Topic: Computer Systems
Subtopic: Computer Hardware
Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions
Difficulty: EasyDifficulty Level: 3/10
Learn about what an input device is in this article.
An input device is any physical hardware device that sends data to a computer system. The most commonly used input devices are the keyboard and mouse, but there are lots of others that provide input to a computer. Input devices allow instructions or signals to be sent to computers to perform all sorts of actions and for users to interact with them, including opening programs, dragging objects, typing messages, moving files, moving the cursor on the screen, and so on.
Input devices are a type of peripheral device. This means that they are not necessary for the primary device to work, but without them, it would be very difficult to use them. For example, without using a keyboard or mouse on a desktop computer, there would be no way of controlling the cursor or typing anything, making the computer quite useless.
Examples of input devices include:
As technology has advanced, input devices have been built into the primary device without the need for it to be physically connected, making devices more portable. For example, webcams and keyboards are built into laptop computers and mobile devices. Webcams are built into the frame of the devices instead of having to connect external webcams and the keyboards appear on-screen on mobile devices without the need for a physical keyboard.
In order to make devices portable, built-in touchpads and touchscreens on laptops and mobile devices have replaced the functions of a computer mouse. However, nearly all laptops come with built-in USB ports, which you can use to connect a corded or wireless mouse if you prefer to use one.
Mobile devices, like tablets and smartphones don't come with mouses. Because they are designed to be portable, they use a touchscreen and your finger is the mouse on those types of devices. Most of them do not come with USB ports, so it probably won't be possible to use a corded mouse with them. However, you can connect a Bluetooth mouse to a mobile device if it is compatible with the model.
The main difference between an input device and an output device is that an input device, like a keyboard or mouse, sends data to another primary device, but cannot receive data from another device, whilst an output device, like a monitor or speakers, only receives the output of data from another device, but cannot input data to another device for processing.
Input devices can accept data sent from the user and send it to another device, whilst output devices cannot do this. Instead, output devices can only receive incoming data from the primary device. For example, a computer monitor outputs electronic images, text, and videos from the computer (primary device), but does not send any information to the computer.
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