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Storage devices
Magnetic Storage
Magnetic storage media is one of the most common forms. It works by altering
the level of magnetisation in a different region of the storage device in order to
represent the data it is storing.
Advantages
Disadvantages
They can be fragile though and won’t stand up too long many knocks
and bangs.
They are also much slower to read from and write to.
Optical Storage Media
Optical storage media is a form of storage that is usually used for its
portability. Common types include CDs (fixed storage size of approx.700Mb),
DVDs (fixed storage size approx. 5 – 10 GB) and Blue-Ray Disk. Data is stored
on the disks by making the disk surface using a laser. This is known as
“burning”.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Automated Systems
Fast
Safe
Accurate
Automated Systems will often rely on specialist input device for capturing data
that you wouldn’t normally use on a home computer system.
Magnetic strip readers will read the strip on a card, such as credit card. The
strip is known as a magistrate.
OCR will read characters (text) and convert them into digital text. Simple OCR
will convert printed text into digital text. More sophisticated OCR can read
handwriting and convert it into a digital text.
OMR will read marks on a pre-printed sheet. It is used for surveys, multiple
choice forms and lottery tickets.
Barcode scanner
A device that can read printed to a computer system. These are commonly
used on products in shops to look up item prices on the stock database.
A device that read the encoded data stored on a magnetic strips. This is
commonly used on credit cards, loyalty cards & membership cards.
A device that can read text from paper and translate it into an electronic
document that then can be edited by a computer. Commonly used for
scanning a report for editing in word processing software.
RFID