When comparisons were initially made between the Apple Newton and the original Palm Pilot, two of the most striking differences were size and input.

ENGADGET: Switched On: Longhorn hardware advances could give PDAs a one-two punch

The smaller screen size did make touch input seem a little less natural, but the ability to just start typing and search or perform actions (such as sending an email) more than made up for the slightly cramped confines.

ENGADGET

You'll need to input information such as parental income, household size and number of children currently in college.

WSJ: College Planning: A Crash Course on Paying the Bill

For example, in a traditional schools procurement an "input" approach is taken - the authority would specify the number and size of classrooms, the size of the dining area and games hall.

BBC: How private bids work

Sony, for its part, is working to make that secondary display massively more appealing -- the company's latest generation of high-end camcorders adds an HDMI input, with an option to display content from any compatible source (a full-size adapter ships in the box).

ENGADGET: Sony Handycam PJ790V and PJ650V get brighter projectors with HDMI input, we go hands-on

People can input criteria such as their budget, how often the grocery shopping, desirable nutrition intake, size of the family, location, etc.

FORBES: Two Examples of Participant Diversity