Connecting the computer to some other technological realm
involves some kind of specialized interface. For audio, a "Sound Card"
is used. For telephones, an "Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA)". For
video, Analog and ATSC tuner cards are available.
Note that these "Technology Transducers" provide much more
than the simple "Signal transducer" role. Sound cards add mixing and
switching features in addition to analog-to-digital and
digital-to-analog conversion. Video cards often have digital
compression and encoding features in addition to VHF/UHF radio
receivers and analog-to-digital conversion.
