We explain what output is in various systems and its characteristics in computing, telecommunications and economics.
What is output?
The word output is an Anglicism, that is, a loan from English (formed by out“out”; put“put”), commonly used in technical or specialized fields, as a synonym for “output” or “result”. Its opposite would be input, “entry” or “income”.
From a very general point of view, we speak of output to refer to the return or final product of some type of processthat is, to the final stage of a given system (industrial, commercial, biological, etc.), in which the information leaves the system. This can mean an already processed good, the result of a diagnosis or any other form of result: what is obtained in the end.
Like many other Anglicisms, its use in the Spanish language ends up being rather capricious, that is, unnecessary, given that there are Hispanic terms to refer to the same thing. But the use of English as a technical and technological language throughout the world generally tends to impose its nuances and lexicon.
Output in computing
In the field of computing or information technology, we speak of output or output to refer to the system information extraction processcontrary to data entry (input).
For example, computer peripherals are distinguished based on those that allow information to be entered or extracted (or do both), calling them “input”, such as the keyboard or mouse; and “output”, such as the monitor, printer or speakers: artifacts that materialize for the user the information coming from the computer system.
This concept is used in telecommunications, since almost all communication mechanisms today are computerized. Thus, for example, when speaking on a cell phone, we are entering information through the microphone, which will be processed and transmitted by the telephone system, then received and processed by our interlocutor's telephone, and finally expelled as sound waves recognizable by the ear
In this example, then, we can consider output both to the electromagnetic transmission from our phone to another through the telephone network, and to the manifestation of our voice directly to the ear of our interlocutor. That is to say, The output in telecommunications is the emission of information ready for reception.
Output in economics
In the economic field, the terms input and output are used with a similar meaning to what was described above, as part of the so-called “Input-Output Model” (or “Leontief Model”) developed by the Russian-American economist Wassily Leontief (1906- 1999), and which earned him the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1973.
According to this model, industries present a certain interdependence that can be studied under the design of outputs and inputs, outputs and incomes, understanding that the exit of one industry is the entry of a different one. This perspective can be applied both to an entire country, as well as to one of its regions, and both to an entire industrial sector (automotive industry) and to the economic activities that comprise it (tires, auto parts, etc.).
Those who apply the Leontief model prepare IO (Input-Output) tables, which describe the exchange of goods between the industries involved, at annual intervals. These exchanges consist of sales, purchases or physical goods, and allow mathematical descriptors to be applied to the production of each industrial segment. By quantifying and measuring this exchange, the path of the economic circuit can be understood and evaluated..
Therefore, We will call output in this context the final products of a specific industry. (or an entire industrial sector), which serve as input to others, or are directed to the final consumer, that is, to the product of each one.
Continue with: Systems Theory
References
- “Output” in the Dictionary of the language of the Royal Spanish Academy.
- “Input-Output Model” in Wikipedia.
- “Output (computing)” on Wikipedia.
