Unit 5
PERSONAL COMPUTERS
Lead-in
What kind of computer is the most suitable for you? Why?
What health problems can computer users experience?
What can you do to prevent the harmful influence when working at the computer?
Practise pronunciation of the following words and underline the stressed syllable. Translate the words into Ukrainian.
Compatitive, companies, survive, components, storage, expensive, suppose, introduce, popularity, technology, exist, society, manufacturer, floppy, media activities, financially, metering, quite, array, onslaught, leisure, capabilities, injection, feasible, inscribe, proliferation.
Memorize the following words and word combinations
| 1. to inscribe | , |
| 2. to proliferate | , |
| 3. stand-alone computer | |
| 4. to facilitate | , |
| 5. competitive operating system | |
| 6. IBM (international Business Machine) | |
| 7. to enter the fray | |
| 8. computer of choice | |
| 9. to survive onslaught | |
| 10. online storage | |
| 11. offline storage | |
| 12. input, output storage | |
| 13. general purpose | |
| 14. to plug in | , 䒺 |
| 15. floppy disk | |
| 16. to fall by the wayside | |
| 17. array | , |
| 18. word processor | |
| 19. technical background | , |
Read the text about personal computers. Name its main components.
PERSONAL COMPUTERS
There has been talk of a computer revolution ever since the electronic industry learned in the late 1950s to inscribe miniature circuits on a chip of silicon. What has been witnessed so far has been a steady, remarkably speedy revolution. With the proliferation of a personal computer, however, the way, indeed, be opened for a true revolution in how business is conducted, in how people organize their personal affairs, even in how people think.
Personal computers are supposed to appear in the late 1970s. one of the first and most popular personal computer was Apple II, introduced in 1977 by Apple Computer. During late 1970s and early 1980s, new models and competitive operating systems seemed to appear daily. Then, in 1981, IBM entered the fray with its first personal computer called IBM PC. The IBM PC quickly became the personal computer of choice, and most other personal computer manufacturers fell by the way-side. One of the few companies to survive IBMs onslaught was Apple Computer, which is sure to remain a major player in the personal computer marketplace. In less than a decade the microcomputer has been transformed from calculator and hobbyists toy into a personal computer for almost everyone. It is the popularity of personal computer (PC) that has made society aware of the computers tremendous potential. The PC brought computer technology down to the individual level.
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It can serve as a workstation for the individual today. Moreover, as it has become financially feasible to provide a computer for individual worker, so also technical developers have made the interface between man and machine increasingly friendly, so that a wide array of computer functions are now accessible to people with no technical background.
A personal computer is a small computer based on a microprocessor; it is a microcomputer. Not all computers however are personal computers. A microcomputer can be dedicated to a single task such as controlling a machine tool or metering the injection of fuel into an automobile engine; it can be a word processor, a video game or a pocket computer that is not quite a computer. A personal computer is something different: a stand-alone computer that puts a wide array of capabilities at the disposal of an individual.
So what is a personal computer? It is defined as a system that has all the following characteristics:
- First, a personal computer being microprocessor-based, its central processing unit, called a microprocessor unit is concentrated on a single silicon chip.
- Second, a PC has a memory and word size that are smaller than those of minicomputers and large computers. Typical word sizes are 8 or 16 bits, and main memories range in size from 16K to 512K.
- Third, a personal computer uses smaller, less expensive and less powerful input, output and storage components than do large computer systems. So the price should be as low as possible.
A PC employs floppy disks as principal online and offline storage devices and also as input and output media. The operating system facilitates an interactive dialogue: the computer responds immediately to the users actions and requests. The system is flexible enough to accommodate a wide range of programs serving varied applications, it is not designed for a single purpose. So a PC is a general-purpose, stand-alone system that can begin to work when plugged in and be moved from place to place. The range of application of the PCs is wide: business, home, science and education. Regardless of the purpose for which it is used, either for leisure activities in the home or for business applications in the office, we can consider it to be a personal computer.
Probably the most distinguishing feature of a personal computer is that is used by individual, usually in an interactive mode.
