Incremental backup
An incremental backup includes only files with their archive bit on. The archive bit indicates whether a file has been backed up since it was last changed. Whenever you back up a file in Windows, the operating system automatically sets the archive bit to 0 (off). I (on) indicates a file has not been backed up since it was last worked on. This way, as you append a series of incremental to your full backup, each contains only those files that are new or have changed since your last backup. This keeps your backup set up to date using a minimum of time and tape. The disadvantage is that it may need many tapes to fully restore the hard disk.
Student В.
Differential backup
A differential backup doesn't set the archive bit to the off position after backing up the file. In a full backup in Windows, the operating system automatically sets the archive bit to 0 (off). I (on) indicates a file has not been backed up since it was last worked on. Thus, if you do a series of differentials, each backs up all the files created or modified since the last full backup, not just those that have changed. Normally, you keep only the most recent differential backup on hand. This minimizes the size of your backup set, since it will never contain more than two copies of any file — one in the full set and one in the differential. This method is mostly used when you're backing up to disks. The downside is that it won't back up files that were created and deleted before the differential backup.
LISTENING ACTIVITIES
1. Watch video “Information Security” and answer the following questions.
Suggested online resource:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfWMIK1ka1o&feature=related
Define Information Security.
What are the two lines of defense?
What is information security plan?
What are the five steps of information security plan?
2. Comment on the following statements. Agree or disagree with the statement. Give your reasons to support your opinion.
Antivirus software is the most common tool for detection. Antivirus software protects and responds to viruses, spywares and worms.
3. Watch video “12 Steps to IT Security” and name these steps. Which of them do you consider the most important ones?
Suggested online resource:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS5_t_11eaU&feature=related
UNIT 6. INTERNET
WARM UP
Work in pairs. Answer the following questions. Then read the text to check your answers.
What is the Internet?
What are the most popular Internet services today?
What are the most essential problems of the Internet?
Internet and modern life
The Internet has already entered our ordinary life. Everybody knows that the Internet is a global computer network, which embraces hundred of millions of users all over the world and helps us to communicate with each other.
The history of Internet began in the United States in 1969. It was a military experiment, designed to help to survive during a nuclear war, when everything around might be polluted by radiation and it would be dangerous to get out for any living being to get some information to anywhere. Information sent over the Internet takes the shortest and safest path available from one computer to another. Because of this, any two computers on the net will be able to stay in touch with each other as long as there is a single route between them. This technology was called packet switching.
Invention of modems, special devices allowing your computer to send the information through the telephone line, has opened doors to the Internet for millions of people.
Most of the Internet host computers are in the United States of America. It is clear that the accurate number of users can be counted fairly approximately, nobody knows exactly how many people use the Internet today.
Nowadays the most popular Internet service is e-mail. Most of the people use the network only for sending and receiving e-mail messages. They can do it either they are at home or in the internet clubs or at work. Other popular services are available on the Internet too. It is reading news, available on some dedicated news servers, telnet, FTP servers, etc.
In many countries, the Internet could provide businessmen with reliable telecommunication systems. Commercial users can communicate cheaply over the Internet with the rest of the world. When they send e-mail messages, they only have to pay for phone calls to their local service providers, not for international calls around the world, when you pay a good deal of money.
But saving money is only the first step and not the last one. There is a commercial use of this network and it is drastically increasing. Now you can work through the internet, gambling and playing through the net.
However, there are some problems. The most important problem is security. When you send an e-mail, your message can travel through many different networks and computers. The data is constantly being directed towards its destination by special computers called routers. Because of this, it is possible to get into any of the computers along the route, intercept and even change the data being sent over the Internet. But there are many encoding programs available.
Another big and serious problem of the net is control. Yes, there is no effective control in the Internet, because a huge amount of information circulating through the net.
In the future, the situation might change, but now we have what we have. It could be expressed in two words— an anarchist's dream.
SPEAKING ACTIVITIES
1. Fill in the verbs from the text.
Internet is a global computer network, which … hundreds of millions of users all over the world.
Any two computers on the net will be able to … with each other as long as there is a single route between them.
Invention of modems, special devices allowing your computer to … the information … the telephone line, has opened doors to the Internet for millions of people.
Most of the people use the network only for sending and … e-mail messages.
In many countries, the Internet could … businessmen with reliable telecommunication systems.
Now you can work through the internet … and … through the net.
The data … constantly … … towards its destination by special computers called routers.
A huge amount of information … through the net.
2. Comment on the following statement about the Internet. Agree or disagree with the statement. Give your reasons to support your opinion.
In the future, the situation might change, but now we have what we have. It could be expressed in two words— an anarchist's dream.
3.What Internet services were mentioned in the text? Match each of the Internet services 1-7 with the uses A-G.
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4. Learn more about the history of Internet. Present your report in class.
Suggested online resources:
http://www.internetsociety.org/internet/internet-51/history-internet
http://inventors.about.com/od/istartinventions/a/internet.htm
http://www.ehow.com/internet-history/
5. Read the text CHOOSING INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER. Decide which of the options available offer the best deal to these users. Support your statement using the phrases in the LANGUAGE BOX to help you.
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CHOOSING INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER
Using an Internet Service provider, ISP, requires no new technology - all you need is a computer, a modem, a telephone line (preferably broadband), and the appropriate software (which is available free of charge when you sign up with the service).
Most of the services are very similar, but it is still worth looking around for a service that offers at least the following features:
High speed
Connection can be provided by standard dial-up using an ordinary modem or by using a broadband connection. Standard dial-up is the slowest at 56 Kbps. Broadband such as ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) provides different speeds for uploading (sending data) and downloading (receiving data) ranging from 256 Kbps to 2 Mbps.
High Usage Allowance
The amount of data that you are allowed to upload or download in a given time period may be limited. Sending email, browsing the Web or downloading images does not require high usage allowances, downloading MP3 music files requires more. Online gaming and viewing video online will require a high usage allowance. Usage allowance is normally quoted as GB per month.
Good Value Packages
Various packages are available offering different options that can be paid monthly, annually, bi-annually etc. With these packages, after paying the initial fee, Internet access is usually unmetered. You can also opt for pay-as-you-go packages. Look for a package where the initial rate is reduced. You have to compare ISP offers carefully to find a package that provides what you want at the cheapest cost.
CD-ROM or Online sign up
Some ISPs require you to sign up for their service online (which obviously means you already need to have an Internet connection and some experience with setting up a dial-up networking connection). If you are a complete beginner, you'll need an ISP which can provide its sign-up software on CD-ROM that will automatically configure your computer to access the Internet.
Local rate calls
Nearly all ISPs provide local call access numbers. Any ISP that uses a national rate number or charges an initial set up or administration fee should be avoided.
Having several email accounts is very useful - you can separate business and personal email for example, or provide an address for each member of your family. Many ISPs also offer only Web-based mail which is great if you need to get into your computer on the move as you can access it from any computer with Internet access. POP3 email, however, is faster and more efficient and can be downloaded to your PC to read offline - a combination of the two is ideal.
Junk mail filtering and virus checking Spam (unsolicited email) is very common. It fills up your storage space and is time consuming to deal with. It is also one of the main sources of viruses that attack your computer. Look for an ISP that provides good filtering services to remove junk mail and viruses before they reach your computer.
Free Web space
A decent amount of free Web space would be around 25-50Mb. This would be sufficient for most of your own personal website developments. Also check to see if there are any restrictions on your use of web space, since some ISPs will not let you use the space for commercial purposes.
Customer Support
The accessibility and quality of customer support provided by ISPs varies greatly and some ISPs make an additional charge for support.
Reliable Service
Of course all the features in the world won't make a scrap of difference if the ISP is unreliable and you find it impossible to log on. Look out for recommendations from friends and shop around.
6. Learn more about Internet service providers.
http://www.net4nowt.com http://www.ispa.org.uk
How to choose the right ISP? Make some suggestion to your group mates if you should change the one you have. Use the phrases in the LANGUAGE BOX to help you.
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LISTENING ACTIVITIES
1. Watch video “History of Internet” and answer the following questions.
Suggested online resource:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hIQjrMHTv4
What is “batch processing”?
What is “time-sharing” concept?
Why was DARPA founded?
What does DARPA stand for?
What are the three fundamental concepts for the history of the Internet?
What is the specific feature of the TCP?
What does the term “packet switching” mean?
What is the key idea of CYCLADES concept?
2. What do these abbreviations mean?
NCP, TCP, IMP, ISO, NPL.
3. Match the concept (1-3) and the country it was developed in (A-C).
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UNIT 7. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
WARM UP
What is artificial intelligence?
1.Discuss your answers in small groups and then check your answers. Below are the definitions of artificial intelligence.
American Heritage Dictionary: artificial intelligence |
n. (Abbr. AI)
The ability of a computer or other machine to perform those activities that are normally thought to require intelligence.
The branch of computer science concerned with the development of machines having this ability.
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: artificial intelligence |
Ability of a machine to perform tasks thought to require human intelligence. Typical applications include game playing, language translation, expert systems, and robotics. Although pseudo-intelligent machinery dates back to antiquity, the first glimmerings of true intelligence awaited the development of digital computers in the 1940s. AI, or at least the semblance of intelligence, has developed in parallel with computer processing power, which appears to be the main limiting factor. Early AI projects, such as playing chess and solving mathematical problems, are now seen as trivial compared to visual pattern recognition, complex decision making, and the use of natural language
SPEAKING ACTIVITIES
2. Skim the text from McGraw-Hill Science & Technology Encyclopedia about artificial intelligence and answer the following questions.
What activities involve intelligent action?
What is artificial intelligence primarily concerned with?
What are the foundations of artificial intelligence?
Give some examples of artificial intelligence.
What are expert systems?
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
The subfield of computer science is concerned with understanding the nature of intelligence and constructing computer systems capable of intelligent action. It embodies the dual motives of furthering basic scientific understanding and making computers more sophisticated in the service of humanity.
Many activities involve intelligent action - problem solving, perception, learning, planning and other symbolic reasoning, creativity, language, and so forth - and therein lie an immense diversity of phenomena. Scientific concern for these phenomena is shared by many fields, for example, psychology, linguistics, and philosophy of mind, in addition to artificial intelligence.
The starting point for artificial intelligence is the capability of the computer to manipulate symbolic expressions that can represent all manner of things, including knowledge about the structure and function of objects and people in the world, beliefs and purposes, scientific theories, and the programs of action of the computer itself.
Artificial intelligence is primarily concerned with symbolic representations of knowledge and heuristic methods of reasoning, that is, using common assumptions and rules of thumb. Two examples of problems studied in artificial intelligence are planning how a robot, or person, might assemble a complicated device, or move from one place to another; and diagnosing the nature of a person's disease, or of a machine's malfunction, from the observable manifestations of the problem. In both cases, reasoning with symbolic descriptions predominates over calculating.
The foundations of artificial intelligence are divided into representation, problem-solving methods, architecture, and knowledge. To work on a task, a computer must have an internal representation in its memory, for example, the symbolic description of a room for a moving robot, or a set of features describing a person with a disease. The representation also includes all the knowledge, including basic programs, for testing and measuring the structure, plus all the programs for transforming the structure into another one in ways appropriate to the task. Changing the representation used for a task can make an immense difference, turning a problem from impossible to trivial.
Given the representation of a task, a method must be adopted that has some chance of accomplishing the task. Artificial intelligence has gradually built up a stock of relevant problem-solving methods (the so-called weak methods) that apply extremely generally.
An important feature of all the weak methods is that they involve search. One of the most important generalizations to arise in artificial intelligence is the ubiquity of search. It appears to underlie all intelligent action. In the worst case, the search is blind. In heuristic search extra information is used to guide the search.
Some of the weak methods are generate-and-test (a sequence of candidates is generated, each being tested for solution hood); hill climbing (a measure of progress is used to guide each step); means-ends analysis (the difference between the desired situation and the present one is used to select the next step); impasse resolution (the inability to take the desired next step leads to a subgoal of making the step feasible); planning by abstraction (the task is simplified, solved, and the solution used as a guide); and matching (the present situation is represented as a schema to be mapped into the desired situation by putting the two in correspondence).
In artificial intelligence, the basic paradigm of intelligent action is that of search through a space of partial solutions (called the problem space) for a goal situation. Each step offers several possibilities, leading to a cascading of possibilities that can be represented as a branching tree. The search is thus said to be combinatorial or exponential. For example, if there are 10 possible actions in any situation, and it takes a sequence of 12 steps to find a solution (a goal state), then there are 1012 possible sequences in the exhaustive search tree. What keeps the search under control is knowledge, which suggests how to choose or narrow the options at each step. Thus the fourth fundamental concern is how to represent knowledge in the memory of the system so it can be brought to bear on the search when relevant.
An intelligent agent will have immense amounts of knowledge. This implies another major problem that of discovering the relevant knowledge as the solution attempt progresses. Although this search does not include the combinatorial explosion characteristic of searching the problem space, it can be time consuming and hard. However, the structure of the database holding the knowledge (called the knowledge base) can be carefully tailored to suit the architecture in order to make the search efficient. This knowledge base, with its accompanying problems of encoding and access, constitutes the final ingredient of an intelligent system.
An example of artificial intelligence is computer perception. Perception is the formation, from a sensory signal, of an internal representation suitable for intelligent processing. Though there are many types of sensory signals, computer perception has focused on vision and speech. Perception might seem to be distinct from intelligence, since it involves incident time-varying continuous energy distributions prior to interpretation in symbolic terms. However, all the same ingredients occur: representation, search, architecture, and knowledge.
A class of artificial intelligence programs called expert systems attempt to accomplish tasks by acquiring and incorporating the same knowledge that human experts have. Many attempts to apply artificial intelligence to medicine, government, and other socially significant tasks take the form of expert systems. Even though the emphasis is on knowledge, all the standard ingredients are present.
As computers become smaller and less expensive, more and more intelligence is built into automobiles, appliances, and other machines, as well as computer software, in everyday use.
Now scan the text and find the following:
the starting point for artificial intelligence;
two examples of problems studied in artificial intelligence;
an important feature of all the weak methods;
some of the weak methods;
what computer perception is;
one important lesson learned from incorporating artificial intelligence software into ongoing practice.
4. Finish the sentences from the text and translate them.
The subfield of computer science concerned with …
Scientific concern for these phenomena is shared by many fields, for example, …
Artificial intelligence is primarily concerned with …
The foundations of artificial intelligence are divided into …
In artificial intelligence, the basic paradigm of intelligent action is …
An example of artificial intelligence is …
5. Comment on the following statement about artificial intelligence. Agree or disagree with the statement. Give your reasons to support your opinion.
As computers become smaller and less expensive, more and more intelligence is built into automobiles, appliances, and other machines, as well as computer software, in everyday use.
6. Learn more about artificial intelligence. Read the news from Science Daily magazine and answer the following questions.
Suggested online resource:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/computers_math/artificial_intelligence/
What are Kilobots? What are their characteristics?
Where were they created?
What is the key to achieve high-value applications for multi-robot systems in the future?
What can Kilobots do?
Kilobots Are Leaving the Nest
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111122112020.htm
ScienceDaily (Nov. 22, 2011) — The Kilobots are coming. Computer scientists and engineers at Harvard University have developed and licensed technology that will make it easy to test collective algorithms on hundreds, or even thousands, of tiny robots.
What are the basic features of Mask-bot?
Where was it designed?
What was a talking head animation engine developed for?
Can Mask-bot understand much of the spoken word?
What is the cost of the first prototype and for the successor model?
Mask-Bot: A Robot With a Human Face
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111107161758.htm
ScienceDaily (Nov. 7, 2011) — Robotics researchers in Munich have joined forces with Japanese scientists to develop an ingenious technical solution that gives robots a human face. By using a projector to beam the 3D image of a face onto the back of a plastic mask, and a computer to control voice and facial expressions, the researchers have succeeded in creating Mask-bot, a startlingly human-like plastic head. Yet even before this technology is used to give robots of the future a human face, it may well soon be used to create avatars for participants in video conferences.
7. Make a presentation “Robots Application in Modern Life “.
LISTENING ACTIVITIES
Can a Robot be Your Friend?
MIT researchers have created some of the most emotionally engaging robots in the world. Watch this video about friendly robots. Can a Robot be Your Friend?
Suggested online resource:
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/wgbh-nova/2351-can-a-robot-be-your-friend-video.htm
PART II. READING AND WRITING
UNIT 1. COMPUTERS IN HUMAN LIFE
READING ACTIVITIES
Read the text and find the answers to the following questions.
Name some types of devices that use 'computers on a chip'.
What uses of handheld computers are mentioned in the text?
What are the benefits of using computers in security systems, cars, and phones?
What smart devices are mentioned in the text?
What are smart cards used for?
What are the advantages of multimedia?
What can medical expert systems do?
How can computers help the disabled?
What types of computing systems are made available to people in remote locations using electronic classrooms or boardrooms?
What aspects of computing can people determine?
COMPUTERS MAKE THE WORLD SMALLER AND SMARTER
The ability of tiny computing devices to control complex operations has transformed the way many tasks are performed, ranging from scientific research to producing consumer products. Tiny 'computers on a chip' are used in medical equipment, home appliances, cars and toys. Workers use handheld computing devices to collect data at a customer site, to generate forms, to control inventory, and to serve as desktop organizers.
Not only is computing equipment getting smaller, it is getting more sophisticated. Computers are part of many machines and devices that once required continual human in supervision and control. Today, computers in security systems result in safer environments, computers in cars improve energy efficiency, and computers in phones provide features such as call forwarding, call monitoring, and call answering.
These smart machines are designed to take over some of the basic tasks previously performed by people; by so doing, they make life a little easier and a little more pleasant.
Smart cards store vital information such as health records, drivers' licenses, bank balances, and so on. Smart phones, cars, and appliances with built in computers can be programmed to better meet individual needs.
A smart house has a built-in monitoring system that can turn lights on and off, open and close windows, operate the oven, and more.
With small computing devices available for performing smart tasks like cooking dinner, programming the DVD recorder, and controlling the flow of information in an organization, people are able to spend more time doing what they often do best - being creative. Computers can help people work more creatively.
Multimedia systems are known for their educational and entertainment value, which we call 'edutainment'. Multimedia combines text with sound, video, animation, and graphics, which greatly enhances the interaction between user and machine and can make information more interesting and appealing to people. Expert systems software enables computers to 'think' like experts, so medical diagnosis expert systems, for example, can help doctors pinpoint a patient's illness, suggest further tests, and prescribe appropriate drugs.
Connectivity enables computers and software that might otherwise be incompatible to communicate and to share resources. Now computers are proliferating in many areas and networks and are available for people to access data and communicate with others, personal computers are becoming interpersonal PCs. They have the potential to significantly improve the way we relate to each other. Many people today telecommute - that is, use their computers to stay in touch with the office while they are working at home. With the proper tools, hospital staff can get a diagnosis from a medical expert hundreds or thousands of miles away. Similarly, the disabled can communicate more effectively with others using computers.
Distance learning and videoconferencing are concepts made possible with the use of an electronic classroom or boardroom accessible to people in remote locations. Vast databases of information are currently available to users of the Internet, all of whom can send mail messages to each other. The information superhighway is designed to significantly expand this interactive connectivity so that people all over the world will have free access to all these resources.
People power is critical to ensuring that hardware, software, and connectivity are effectively integrated in a socially responsible way. People - computer users and computer professionals - are the ones who will decide which hardware, software, and networks endure and how great an impact they will have on our lives. Ultimately people power must be exercised to ensure that computers are used not only efficiently but in a socially responsible way.
(Adapted from 'Computing in the Information Age', Nancy Stern & Robert A. Stern, pages 19-22)
Match the terms 1-5 with the statements A-D.
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Edutainment |
A |
Software that enables computers to 'think' like experts
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Multimedia |
B |
Use computers to stay in touch with the office while working at home |
3 |
Expert system |
C |
Internet system designed to provide free, interactive access to vast resources for people all over the world
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4 |
Telecommute |
D |
Multimedia materials with a combination of educational and entertainment content
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5 |
Information superhighway |
E |
A combination of text with sound, video, animation, and graphics
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
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Mark the following statements as True or False. Correct the false ones.
1 |
Desktop organizers are programs that require desktop computers.
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Computers are sometimes used to monitor systems that previously needed human supervision. |
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Networking is a way of allowing otherwise incompatible systems to communicate and share resources.
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The use of computers prevents people from being creative.
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5 |
Computer users do not have much influence over the way that computing develops. |
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WRITING ACTIVITIES
Write one paragraph on “When Computers Changed the World”.
Suggested online resources:
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-has-computer-technology-affected-our-lives.html
http://www.clarkhumanities.org/oralhistory/2007/5304.htm
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2008/tc2008082_445669.htm
WRITING TIPS
It is common to divide writing into paragraphs. A paragraph contains sentences, and they all link to the main idea contained in the key sentence. This is called a topic sentence. It is usually the first one but may come later in the paragraph. The other sentences support it by giving more information or examples. A paragraph will have a final sentence which often signals what will come next. Most written texts have several paragraphs which connected logically to each other.
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UNIT 2. THE HISTORY OF COMPUTERS
READING ACTIVITIES
Read the text and find the answers to these questions.
What was the main principle of Babbage Analytical engine? When was it produced?
Why was Herman Hollerith's invention so popular?
What spheres did first analog and digital calculators with electromechanical components appear in?
Who is known to be the inventor of the first electronic computer?
What was the first all-electronic digital computer used for?
Where was the ENIAC developed? What for?
What was the first successful commercial computer? Who bought it?
EARLY HISTORY OF COMPUTER INDUSTRY
In 1821 Charles Babbage, professor of mathematics at Cambridge University in England, created the Analytical engine, a mechanical calculator that could automatically produce mathematical tables. Babbage conceived of a large-scale, steam-driven model that could perform a wide range of computational tasks. The model has never been completed as revolving shafts and gears could not be manufactured with the crude industrial technology of the day.
By the 1880s manufacturing technology had improved and practical mechanical calculators, including versions of Babbage's Analytical engine, could be produced. The new technology achieved worldwide fame in tabulating the US Census of 1890. The Census Bureau turned to a new tabulating machine invented by Herman Hollerith. Hollerith's invention eventually became the foundation on which the IBM Corporation was built.
Analog and digital calculators with electromechanical components appeared in a variety of military applications in 1930s. Many people credit the invention of the first electronic computer to John Vincent Atanasoff. He produced models of computer memory and data processing units at the University of Iowa in 1939 although had never assembled a complete working computer.
World War II prompted the development of the first all-electronic digital computer, Colossus, which the British secret service designed to crack Nazi codes. Similarly, the need to calculate detailed mathematical tables to help cannons and missiles led to the creation of the first, general-purpose computer, the electronic numerical integrator and calculator ENIAC at the University of Pennsylvania in 1946.
After leaving the university, Prosper Eckert and John Mauchly, the developers of ENIAC, turned to business pursuits. They also had an ugly scandal with an academic colleague, John von Neumann, whom they accused of having unfairly left their names off the scientific paper that first described the computer and allowed von Neumann to claim that he had invented it. Eckert and Mauchly went on to create UNIVAC for the Remington Rand Corporation, an early leader in the computer industry. UNIVAC was the first successful commercial computer, and the first model was sold to the US Census Bureau in 1951.
Choose the correct word to complete the sentences from the text.
1. The ___________ has never been completed.
model
experiment
frame
2. The new technology ___________worldwide fame in tabulating the US Census of 1890.
reached
achieved
took
3. Many people credit the ________ of the first electronic computer to John Vincent Atanasoff.
fame
task
invention
4. Eckert and Mauchly went on __________________ UNIVAC.
to carry out
to create
to sell
Match the terms 1-5 with the suitable statements A-E.
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
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In 1821 Charles Babbage, professor of mathematics at Cambridge University, …
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A |
appeared in a variety of military and intelligence applications in 1930s.
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The Census Bureau turned … |
B |
created the Analytical engine.
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Analog and digital calculators with electromechanical components … |
C |
went on to create UNIVAC for the Remington Rand Corporation.
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World War II prompted the development … |
D |
to a new tabulating machine invented by Herman Hollerith.
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Prosper Eckert and John Mauchly, the developers of ENIAC, … |
E |
of the first all-electronic digital computer, Colossus.
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Read the text and find the answers to the following questions.
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THE RISE OF IBM
IBM started in the late nineteenth century as a manufacturer of electromechanical office tabulating equipment. The company took its name in 1924. It financed one of the first digital computer known as Mark I, in 1943.
In 1946 IBM developed the electronic calculator, the IBM 603, followed by the 604 in 1948. In 1952 IBM introduced the IBM 701, its first large scale electronic computer.
In 1954 IBM was only the fourth-ranked computer producer, well behind computer industry pioneer - Radio Corporation of America (RCA). That year IBM introduced the Model 650, the first computer to utilize punch-card technology. In 1955 IBM 608 transistor calculator, the world's first commercially-available, all solid-state computing machine enters the market.
Over the next decade, IBM made heavy investments in research and development under Thomas Watson, Jr., who took over from his father as IBM president in the mid-1950s.
IBM capitalized on its manufacturing expertise to produce a full line of peripheral equipment that brought enormous profits for IBM and unbeatable competition for other computer manufacturers.
In April 1964 IBM introduced the Model 360, the first computer that came in a variety of sizes and that was compatible with many different applications. The Model 360 and its successor, the Model 370, led the company to dominance of both the U.S. and international markets.
In 70-s IBM introduces the 8-inch floppy disk, first speech recognition technology, the first portable computer, the 5100, the world's first laser printer, and announces Systems Network Architecture (SNA).
In its 100 year history, IBM has been at the forefront of technological advances in areas such as magnetic storage, personal computing, relational databases, supercomputing, artificial intelligence and business applications.
5. Mark the following statements as True or False. Correct the false ones.
1. |
IBM started in the beginning of the twentieth century as manufacturer of electromechanical office tabulating equipment.
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2. |
IBM took its current name in the middle of 20-s of the XX century.
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3. |
IBM immediately entered the computer business after the World War II.
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4. |
IBM always was the first-ranked computer producer.
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5. |
By the mid 1950s, IBM threatened to dominate the entire computer industry with its fast-selling Model 650. |
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6. Complete the sentences according to the information in the text.
1. IBM capitalized on its manufacturing expertise …
a) to sell a full line of peripheral equipment;
b) to produce a full line of peripheral equipment;
c) to rent peripheral equipment.
2. IBM also offered its computer …
a) for sale for the first time;
b) for improvement for the first time;
c) for expert for the first time.
3. The models 360 and 370 led the company …
a) to bankruptcy;
b) to dominance of both US and international markets;
c) to establishment of a new joint venture with Japanese companies;
4. IBM introduces the world's first laser printer in …
a) the 60-s;
b) the 70-s;
c) the mid-1950s.
7. INTERNET SCAVENGER HUNT. Visit the Web sites and find the answers to the following questions.
Suggested online resources:
http://mailserver1.itp.net/585119-100-years-of-ibm-timeline
http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/87886
http://www.askthecomputertech.com/the-ibm-pc.html