Search the forum,

terminal

A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that can be used for entering data into, and transcribing data from, a computer or a computing system. The teletype was an example of an early day hardcopy terminal, and predated the use of a computer screen by decades.
Early terminals were inexpensive devices but very slow compared to punched cards or paper tape for input, but as the technology improved and video displays were introduced, terminals pushed these older forms of interaction from the industry. A related development was timesharing systems, which evolved in parallel and made up for any inefficiencies of the user's typing ability with the ability to support multiple users on the same machine, each at their own terminal/terminals.
The function of a terminal is typically confined to transcription and input of data; a device with significant local programmable data processing capability may be called a "smart terminal" or fat client. A terminal that depends on the host computer for its processing power is called a "Dumb terminal" or a thin client. A personal computer can run terminal emulator software that replicates functions of a real-world terminal, sometimes allowing concurrent use of local programs and access to a distant terminal host system, either over a direct serial connection or over a network using, e.g, SSH.

View More On Wikipedia.org
  • 68

    Dan

    Administrator From On the forum.
    • Messages
      2,782
    • Directory
      6
    • Video
      98
    • Reaction score
      1,222
    • Points
      113
  • 2

    leiadad

    From Glasgow
    • Messages
      84
    • Video
      9
    • Reaction score
      9
    • Points
      8
  • 1

    AnonPlumber

    • Messages
      11
    • Video
      5
    • Reaction score
      0
    • Points
      1
  • 1

    Matt0029

    36 From leeds
    • Messages
      1,136
    • Video
      15
    • Reaction score
      105
    • Points
      63
  • 1

    jrtrrror

    52 From Barnsley
    • Messages
      179
    • Video
      22
    • Reaction score
      19
    • Points
      18
  • 1

    Jim Goodenough

    From Norwich
    • Messages
      653
    • Video
      60
    • Reaction score
      353
    • Points
      63
  • 1

    boilingpoint

    54 From England
    • Messages
      18
    • Video
      3
    • Reaction score
      2
    • Points
      3
  • 1

    king of pipes

    61 From Norfolk
    • Messages
      6,157
    • Directory
      1
    • Video
      1,751
    • Reaction score
      4,329
    • Points
      113
  • Creating content since 2001. Untold Media.

    Newest Plumbing Threads

    Back
    Top
    AdBlock Detected

    We get it, advertisements are annoying!

    Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

    I've Disabled AdBlock