UNIT VIII

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 505.

Text.

PERSONAL COMPUTERS

Pre-reading discussion:

1. Who uses computer today?

2. When did the first personal computer appear? How was it different from the computers that preceded it?

3. Where is the Silicon Valley? How is it related to the computer industry?

Active words:

user-friendly – приязний до користувача

intimidate - залякувати

chip - мікросхема

drop-out – кидати (навчання, працю)

gadget - прилад(переважно технічна новина)

devise - опрацьовувати

makeshift – саморобний конвеєр

state-of-the-art – упроваджений, досягнутий

Until the late 1970s, the computer was viewed as a massive machine that was useful to big business and big government but not to the general public. Computers were too cumbersome and expensive for private use, and most people were intimidated by them. As technology advanced, this was changed by a distinctive group of engineers and entrepreneurs who rushed to improve the designs of then technology and to find ways to make the computer attractive to people. The only people who succeeded were the ones who were able to combine extraordinary engineering expertise with progressive business skills and an ability to foresee the needs of the future.

Much of this activity was centered in the Silicon Valley in northern California where the first computer-related company had located in 1955. That company attracted thousands of related businesses, and the area became known as the technological capital of the world. The Silicon Valley attracted many risk-takers and gave them an opportunity to thrive in an atmosphere where creativity was expected and rewarded.

Robert Noyce was a risk-taker who was successful both as an engineer and as an entrepreneur. He was informal, genuine and methodical. As an engineer, he co-invented the integrated circuit, which was the basis for later design. This integrated circuit was less than an eighth of an inch square but had the same power as a transistor unit that was over 15 inches square or a vacuum tube unit that was 6.5 feet square. As a businessman,

Noyce co-founded Intel, one of the most successful companies in the Silicon Valley and the first company to introduce the microprocessor. The microprocessor chip became the heart of the computer, making it possible for a large system that once filled an entire room to be contained on a small chip that could be held in one's hand. The directors of Intel could not have anticipated the effects that the microprocessor would have on the world. It made possible the invention of the personal computer and eventually led to the birth of thousands of new businesses. Noyce's contributions to the development of the integrated circuit and the microprocessor earned him both wealth and the fame before his death in 1990.

The two men who first introduced the personal computer (PC) to the market place had background unlike Robert Noyce's. They had neither prestigious university education nor experience in big business. Twenty-year oil Steven Jobs and twenty-four year old Stephen Wozniak were college drop-outs who had collaborated on their first project as computer hobbiests in a local computer club. Built in the garage of Job's parents, this first personal computer utilized the technology of Noyce's integrated circuit. It was typewriter-sized, as powerful s a much larger computer, and inexpensive to build. To Wozniak the new machine was a gadget to share with other members of their computer club. To Jobs, however, it was a product with great marketing potential for homes and small businesses. To raise the $ 1300 needed to fill their first orders Jobs had sold his Volkswagen and Wozniak – his scientific calculator. Wozniak built and delivered the first order of 100 computers in ten days. Lacking funds, he was forced to use the least expensive materials, the fewest chips, and the most creative arrangement of components. Soon they had more orders than they could fill with their makeshift production line. From the very beginning, Apple Computer had been sensitive to the needs of a general public. Jobs insisted that the computer be light, trim and made in muted colors. He also insisted that the language used with the computers be “user-friendly” and that the operation be simple enough for the average person to learn in a few minutes. These features helped convince a skeptical public that the computer was practical for the home and small business.