ВУЗ:
Составители:
Рубрика:
Text II
Personal Computer
I.
First Thoughts
Who are Bill Gates and Paul Allan?
Are these names familiar to you?
II. Study the words. Make sure you know them.
bankrupt, hobbyist, company, easy-to-use, price, fray,
competitor.
III. Read the text and do the tasks following it:
In 1974, calculators were the hot item in consumer
electronics. A little calculator company in Albuquerque was
struggling to compete, but a price war threatened to bankrupt
it. Its owner, research engineer Ed Roberts, determined to
make it all or nothing. He decided to build a small computer
based on the recently developed, inexpensive microprocessors
from Intel, and sell it to electronics hobbyist at the amazingly
low price of about $500. Roberts called his computer the
Altair 8800 and offered it as a kit.
The Altair didn't actually do much as a computer. It didn't
have a screen or a keyboard or any software. But it filled a
hole. It was the very first personal computer on the market.
The larger computer companies were busy developing
mainframes and improving computer systems for industry,
and couldn't really see why anyone would want a home
computer. They also failed to see the implications of the new
microprocessors that were small and cheap.
Users had to program Altair in machine code using
toggle switches. A Harvard student and his friend, Bill
Gates and Paul Allen, realized Altair would be a lot better if
users could program it in BASIC, a popular, easy-to-use
computer language, instead of machine code.
The enterprising pair called Roberts offered to develop a
BASIC interpreter for the Altair. He agreed and within six
weeks bought the program from Gates and Allen. He hired
Allen as software developer. Allen and Gates later
established Microsoft Corporation.
Altair sparked an entire industry, as new personal
computer companies popped up in its wake. One of these
companies was the creation of a hobbyist who couldn't
afford an Altair kit, so he created his own from scratch.
Stephen Wozniak polished up his creation in 1976. With his
friend Steve Jobs, he began to sell it and then improve it. In
1977, they introduced Apple II and made Apple Computer
Company the fastest growing business in American history.
In 1977 Ed Roberts sold his company. Two years later,
like many others entering the volatile market, it had folded.
In 1982, IBM entered the fray with its own personal
computer, the PC, which became Apple's biggest
competitor.
IV. Comprehension Check.
1. Match each pair of antonyms in the group by drawing a
line between them:
1. expensive a. hot
2. high b. like
Страницы
- « первая
- ‹ предыдущая
- …
- 24
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
- …
- следующая ›
- последняя »
