---
title: "Inside the Box: Input, Processing, Storage and Output"
description: "Every computer, from a phone to the controller in a washing machine, does the same four jobs: take data in, work on it, keep it, and send results out. Naming which part does which job explains what an"
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/computing/inside-the-box-input-processing-storage-and-output-mt_Oms8067Pnm
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/computing/inside-the-box-input-processing-storage-and-output-mt_Oms8067Pnm.md
retrieved: 2026-09-12
---

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# Inside the Box: Input, Processing, Storage and Output

Every computer, from a phone to the controller in a washing machine, does the same four jobs: take data in, work on it, keep it, and send results out. Naming which part does which job explains what any device is.

Subject: Computing · Area: Computing Fundamentals · Ages 12 to 13
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/computing/inside-the-box-input-processing-storage-and-output-mt_Oms8067Pnm

## Ready when they can

- Sort the parts of a named device into input, processing, storage and output
- Trace one piece of data through all four, for a task such as taking a photo and saving it
- Say why memory and storage are not the same job, using a case where the power is lost

## Lesson: Four jobs inside every computer

Every computer does the same four jobs. It takes data in, works on it, keeps it, and sends results out. Your phone and the controller in a washing machine both do all four.

**Example.** Follow one photo through a phone. The camera takes the picture in, the chip processes the pixels, memory holds them while you edit, storage keeps them after you close the app, and the screen sends the finished photo out to your eyes.

Memory and storage are not the same job. Memory is a workbench that forgets everything when the power dies. Storage is a cupboard that keeps your files until you delete them.

**Tip.** To sort any part, ask which job it does. A keyboard takes in, a chip processes, a drive keeps, and a speaker sends out. If power loss would erase it, you are looking at memory, not storage.

**Recap.** Input takes in, processing works on, storage keeps, and output sends out, while memory forgets without power.

## Practice

8 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [Networks and the Internet](https://lightmysky.com/learn/computing/networks-and-the-internet-mt_JmrMg6v8V_)
- [Data and Information for Computers](https://lightmysky.com/learn/computing/data-and-information-for-computers-mt_kH1DzOPsXG)

## Opens up

- [Why a Computer Works with Only Two Symbols](https://lightmysky.com/learn/computing/why-a-computer-works-with-only-two-symbols-mt_r0wLIjpi5R)
- [Inside the CPU: Fetch, Decode, Execute](https://lightmysky.com/learn/computing/inside-the-cpu-fetch-decode-execute-mt_YT-FSWnUKR)