Features and functions of contemporary digital devices
Topic 1 opens Unit 1, the written paper WIT11: a two-hour exam answered on paper, with no computer and no calculator.
Hardware and software is the heaviest topic on it, worth about a quarter of the marks across recent papers, and it holds most of the long levels-marked answers.
This first section gives you the vocabulary every later answer uses: the nine features and functions you need to know for judging any digital device.
Your syllabus expects you to understand the features and functions of contemporary digital devices. Features and functions: a. portability; b. performance; c. storage; d. user interface; e. connectivity (cable types (USB, HDMI)); f. media support; g. energy consumption; h. expansion capability; i. security features. Contemporary digital devices: a. computers (desktop PCs, tablets, smart TVs, games consoles, microprocessors/single board computers, wearable computers, supercomputers); b. peripheral devices (keyboards, mouses, joysticks, microphones, scanners, monitors, speakers, printers, video cameras, webcams, touch screens, graphics tablets, biometric scanners, barcode readers, chip and pin devices, sensors); c. mobile phones (smartphones); d. storage devices (magnetic storage, solid state and optical hard drives, magnetic tape drives, removable solid state (SSID) cards, network-attached storage (NAS), RAID storage).
(this applies to every section of this unit)
- The paper: 2 hours, 80 marks, five or six questions, exactly 25 marked items, all compulsory, no calculator. Each question opens with a one-line context (an organisation or a group using IT), and parts add their own short scenarios. Allow about 1.5 minutes per mark.
- Short items: State, Give and Name are recall, 1 to 3 marks, one mark per distinct point. Identify is used only for the two 1-mark multiple-choice items, answered with a cross in a box (A to D).
- Describe and Explain [2]: one statement plus one linked expansion. Explain gives a reason ("because", "so that"); Describe develops the point, or gives one step per mark for a process. Two unlinked statements earn 1.
- Construct or Complete an expression [4]: a file size or transfer time written as an unevaluated expression, one mark per conversion step.
- Levels items: one 6-mark Explain or Discuss closes Question 3; one 12-mark Evaluate is the last item on the paper. Both are judged on accurate knowledge applied to the context.
- First step every time: underline who the question is about and what they need. Context earns the second mark of most items.
The idea: what makes one device better than another for a job
A delivery rider for Kestrel Courier Services carries a handheld scanner all day.
The office manager sits at a desktop PC with two monitors.
Both are contemporary digital devices, but nobody would swap them.
The scanner wins on weight and battery life; the desktop wins on screen space and raw processing power.
Choosing well means comparing devices on the same list of qualities, and the list above gives them.
Learn the list above in its order, and learn the names exactly: an answer that says "how light it is" when the question wants a feature loses the precision the scheme credits.
- Portability: how easily a device can be carried and used away from a fixed place, which depends on its size, weight and battery life.
- Performance: how quickly and reliably a device completes its tasks, set mainly by its processor, memory and storage speed.
- Storage: the amount of data a device can keep when it is switched off, and how fast that data can be read and written.
- User interface: the way a person gives instructions to a device and receives its output, such as a touchscreen, keyboard and mouse, or voice.
- Connectivity: the ways a device links to other devices and networks, by cable (USB, HDMI) or wirelessly.
How each feature works and why it matters
a. Portability. A device is portable when it is small, light and runs on a battery for long enough to be useful away from a socket.
Portability is a trade-off: a smaller case leaves less room for cooling, so a thin laptop often runs a slower processor than a desktop.
A smartwatch is extremely portable, but its tiny screen limits what it can show.
b. Performance. The processor's clock speed and number of cores decide how many instructions are carried out each second.
Memory (RAM) holds the programs and data in use: with too little, the device keeps moving data to and from storage, which is far slower.
Storage speed matters too, because a solid-state drive loads files much faster than a magnetic hard disk.
c. Storage. Storage keeps data when the power is off.
Capacity is measured in bytes with binary prefixes such as gibibytes (GiB) and tebibytes (TiB), which you meet in full later in this unit.
A device may have internal storage, a card slot, or use network or cloud storage instead.
d. User interface. A graphics designer needs a large, colour-accurate screen and a graphics tablet; a warehouse worker wearing gloves needs large physical buttons; a driver needs voice control so the hands stay on the wheel.
The interface decides who can use the device, where, and how fast.
e. Connectivity. You need to know two cable types.
USB (Universal Serial Bus) carries data and power to peripherals such as keyboards, drives and phones.
HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) carries digital video and audio from a computer or games console to a monitor, TV or projector.
Wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular) is taught in Topic 2.
The photo above shows the plug shapes side by side.
USB Type-A is the flat rectangle found on most keyboards and memory sticks; USB Type-C is the smaller oval plug that fits either way up and now charges many phones and laptops; HDMI is wider, with slanted lower corners, and carries picture and sound together to a screen.
f. Media support. This is the range of media a device can create, play or read: audio and video formats, image types, and physical media such as memory cards or optical discs.
A camera that records 4K video is no use to an editor whose laptop cannot play that format smoothly.
g. Energy consumption. This is how much electrical power a device draws.
Low consumption gives a portable device longer battery life and lowers running costs and heat for a fixed one.
A server room full of machines pays for its energy twice: once to run the servers, again to cool them.
h. Expansion capability. This is how far a device can be upgraded or extended after purchase: spare memory slots, extra drive bays, expansion card slots, or ports for external devices.
A tower PC usually has plenty; a tablet or smartphone usually has none, so its first specification is its last.
i. Security features. These protect the device and its data: a password or PIN, biometric login (fingerprint or face), encryption of the storage, a remote-wipe option if the device is lost, and a secure chip that stores keys.
They matter most for portable devices, which are the ones that get lost or stolen.
- Say memory for RAM, the working space in use; say storage for where data is kept when the power is off. Examiners mark "memory" for storage as wrong.
- Say USB or HDMI for the cable type, and name what it carries (data and power; video and audio).
- Say energy consumption or power efficiency, not "it saves the planet".
Connecting it
These nine features are the language of three later skills: assessing performance (speed, capacity, portability, bandwidth, power efficiency), selecting devices for users, and the 12-mark Evaluate that often closes the paper.
In every one, the mark comes from tying a feature to a named user's need.
Topic 2 develops connectivity into networks, and Topic 6 returns to energy consumption as an environmental issue.
Larkspur Dental Practice gives its receptionist a tablet to sign patients in at the front desk.
Describe one feature of the tablet that suits this job.
1. Pick a feature from the list that matters for this user: the user interface.
2. Develop it in the context: what the feature lets the receptionist or patient do.
Answer: The tablet has a touchscreen user interface (1) so patients can tap their name and appointment time on the screen themselves, without needing a keyboard or mouse at the desk (1).
Why it scores: the second mark develops the first; "it is easy to use" alone would not.
Kestrel Courier Services is choosing handheld devices for riders who are out on deliveries for ten hours.
Explain one reason why energy consumption matters when the company chooses the device.
Top answer: A device with low energy consumption has a longer battery life (1) so it lasts a full ten-hour shift without the rider needing to stop and recharge it (1).
Weak answer: "It uses less energy.
It is better for the environment."
Two separate statements, neither linked to the riders, earn 1 at most.
What it lacks: the "so that" link to the rider's shift.
The context sentence (ten hours on the road) is there to be used.
Complete the table by giving the feature from the list of nine that each statement describes.
Statement about a device
Feature
It has two empty memory slots for later upgrades
expansion capability
It can be unlocked with the owner's fingerprint
security features
It plays the video formats the college uses
media support
It sends its display to a projector through one cable
connectivity (HDMI)
Answer: one mark per correct cell, using the listed names.
"Upgradeable" for the first row is close, but the listed term is expansion capability.
When a question names a device and a user, choose the feature that matters for that user, then write the "so that" in their terms.
A feature named without a consequence for the user is a one-mark answer to a two-mark question.
- Writing "memory" for storage capacity. Memory (RAM) is cleared when the device is switched off; storage keeps the data. The reports list this as a terminology slip that costs marks.
- Listing features without linking them to the user in the stem. A tablet's portability is irrelevant to a desk-bound receptionist; its touchscreen is not.
- Treating HDMI as a data cable for drives. HDMI carries video and audio to a display; USB carries data and power to peripherals and drives.
- Saying a device "has good performance" with no cause. Name what gives it: a faster processor, more RAM, a solid-state drive.
Check your understanding
1. State what is meant by the term portability in the context of a digital device. (1) Total [1]
2. Give two security features a laptop used by a travelling sales manager might have. (2) Total [2]
3. A student says: "A tablet always has better expansion capability than a desktop PC, because it is newer technology." Explain why the student is wrong. (2) Total [2]
4. A school media department wants a computer to edit video recorded on 4K cameras. Describe one feature, other than performance, that the computer must have. (2) Total [2]
5. A hotel buys a smart TV for each guest room so guests can show their laptop screen on the TV. Explain one way the TV's connectivity supports this use. (2) Total [2]
6. Here are four features: A storage, B energy consumption, C user interface, D portability. A specification sheet says a device "draws only 6 watts of electrical power when running". Identify the feature this describes. (1) Total [1]
7. Northfield Sixth Form College is replacing the computers in its library. Students use them for research, writing essays and printing, and some want to take a device to a quiet corner. Discuss the benefits and drawbacks to the college of buying tablets and desktop PCs for the library. (6) Total [6]
Answers
1. How easily the device can be carried and used away from a fixed place (1). Accept answers built on size, weight and battery life together; "small" alone does not earn it.
2. Any two, one mark each: password or PIN login (1); biometric login such as fingerprint or face recognition (1); encrypted storage (1); remote wipe or remote lock if lost (1); a secure chip storing encryption keys (1). Two kinds of password are one point.
3. A tablet usually has no spare memory slots, drive bays or expansion card slots (1) whereas a desktop PC's case is built with room to add memory, drives and cards, so it can be upgraded more (1). Being newer does not add expansion capability.
4. Media support (1): it must be able to open and play the 4K video formats the cameras record, so the files can be edited (1). Or storage (1): it needs a large storage capacity because 4K video files are very large (1). Or user interface (1): a large high-resolution monitor so the editor can see the full 4K detail (1).
5. The TV has HDMI ports (1) so a guest can connect the laptop with one HDMI cable and send its video and sound to the TV screen (1). Accept a wireless screen-sharing feature linked to the same outcome.
6. B, energy consumption: the power a device draws. A is about keeping data, C is how a person controls the device, and D is how easily it is carried. (1)
7. Levels answer. Level 3 (5-6) covers both devices with developed benefits and drawbacks for library users, for example: tablets are portable, so students can take one to a quiet corner, and their touchscreens suit reading and research, but typing a long essay on a screen keyboard is slow, they have little expansion capability, and as portable devices they need security features and a way to stop them leaving the library; desktop PCs have full keyboards and large monitors for writing essays, more performance and storage, and can be upgraded, but they are fixed to a desk and use more energy, so they cost more to run. Level 2 (3-4): correct points for both with some library context. Level 1 (1-2): generic features with little link to the library.