Apple IIgs - Manual (Page 41)

Page 41 of 84 II gs
Printed: Thursday, July 25, 2002 12:14:50 PM
If you use your computer for accounting or you work with large data bases, you should consider
a hard disk drive. A hard disk drive can store the equivalent of dozens of 3.5-inch disks. It's
a fast and convenient way to get at your data. The hard disk stores your data on platters
permanently sealed inside a plastic case. Besides storing documents on a hard disk, you can
store applications on it and switch between applications without swapping disks.
Memory Expansion Card
A memory expansion card adds from 256K to 1 megabyte of RAM to your Apple IIgs. By installing a
memory expansion card in your Apple IIgs, you can take advantage of applications that require
more memory because of their use of graphics and other memory-gobbling features.
Many applications designed especially for the Apple IIgs will use the extra memory on the card
automatically as an extension of the memory that's built into the computer. You don't need to
know anything special to use the card in this way; just install it and leave the rest up to the
application.
For applications that don't take advantage of the memory on the card automatically, you can use
the Control Panel to designate some or all of the memory on the card as a RAM disk memory that
you access like a disk. The advantage of using the card as a RAM disk is that when you copy an
application to the RAM disk and run it from there, the computer can access different parts of
the application much more quickly than it can when the application is on a regular disk.
Other Devices
There are all sorts of other things you can attach to your computer. This list will give you
some idea of the possibilities. Incidentally, if a joystick, graphics tablet, plotter, or some
other device is described as an Apple Desktop Bus device, it means you can attach it to the
Apple Desktop Bus on the back panel of the Apple IIgs (where the keyboard is usually plugged
in) or to the connector on the keyboard (where the mouse is usually plugged in).
Joysticks and hand controls: Joysticks and hand controls are mostly used to control the
movement of creatures and objects in games.
Digitizer: A digitizer takes a photograph and converts the image into a digital form that the
computer can display on the screen, save on a disk, and print.
Plotter: A plotter uses colored felt-tip pens to draw graphs, charts, floor plans, Logo
drawings, and other graphics created with the Apple IIgs.
Graphics tablet: As the name implies, a graphics tablet is a device for drawing pictures. A
special pen sends out signals that are detected by wires in the tablet and sent to the computer
as X and Y coordinates that can be displayed on the screen. The pen works only with
applications designed to receive input from a graphics tablet.
Home control device: A device that you can attach to an electrical outlet and program to turn
on a light, a coffee maker, radio, sprinkler, or other appliances.
Printer buffer: A printer buffer is a place to store information you're printing. By loading
information into the printer buffer, you can get it out of the computer's RAM and free up the
computer so you can start writing Chapter 2 while Chapter 1 is printing.
Tape backup device: A device that uses magnetic tape to duplicate quickly the information
stored on a hard disk.
Co-processor: A co-processor is a microprocessor that works with or overrides the
microprocessor that comes with your computer. The main reason you'd get one is to take