to follow or endeavor to follow as a model or example: to imitate an author's style; to imitate an older brother. to mimic; impersonate: The students imitated the teacher behind her back. to make a copy of; reproduce closely. to have or assume the appearance of; simulate; resemble.
The input device might be a keyboard, the output device might be a monitor, a communication device might be a modem, a secondary storage device might be disk drive, and the processing devices include central processing unit (CPU) and main memory.
Peripherals are commonly divided into three kinds: input devices, output devices, and storage devices (which partake of the characteristics of the first two). An input device converts incoming data and instructions into a pattern of electrical signals in binary code that are comprehensible to a digital computer. An output device reverses the process, translating the digitized signals into a form intelligible to the user. At one time punched-card and paper-tape readers were extensively used for inputting, but these have now been supplanted by more efficient devices.