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18e. Terminals & PCs |
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18e. Terminals & PCs
Terminals are considered dumb devices. They can only display data on the screen and input data from a keyboard. They communicate with a mainframe or minicomputer which does the number crunching and work. Terminals do not have hard-drives for storing files or RAM for running programs. Terminals cannot work by themselves, they are an extension of the mainframe or minicomputer's display and keyboard.
PCs have microprocessors which are the smarts or brains that can do number crunching and work. They have hard-drives for storage and RAM for running programs. They are stand-alone devices.
The purpose of communication programs like Procomm Plus, Kermit, PCLink or Quicklink II is to turn your PC into a terminal. It is the computer world's equivalent of a lobotomy.