Научная электронная библиотека

Монографии, изданные в издательстве Российской Академии Естествознания

АДАПТИРОВАННЫЙ ПРАКТИКО-ОРИЕНТИРОВАННЫЙ КУРС АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА ДЛЯ СТУДЕНТОВ 1 КУРСА ВЫСШИХ УЧЕБНЫХ ЗАВЕДЕНИЙ ИНФОРМАЦИОННО-ТЕХНОЛОГИЧЕСКОГО ПРОФИЛЯ, ОБУЧАЮЩИХСЯ ПО ЗАОЧНОЙ ФОРМЕ

Жаравина И А,

Unit 10. Innovations in the fi eld of IT

What is namely innovation? Innovation has different dimentions and meanings for people. There’s the innovation of transformation, the innovaton intended to replace what already works quite well, and the innovation of efficiency that’s used “to squeeze out water from rocks111”.

When it comes to transformational innovation in IT, we are witnessing one occuring before our eyes today as we move from the era of the PC to the era of the personal mobile phone.

As for replacement innovation in IT, there are many of them. In addition to the normal replacement cycles for PCs, mobile devices will become seen as replacements in the longer term112, almost all virtualization and some Cloud computing applications are surely using113 replacement innovations.

The innovation of efficiency is aimed to reduce operating expenses114 or capital expenses by improving existing processes, such as finding less expensive labor centers for software development.

As for the history of IT innovations, simple examples of information – processing machines can be traced back to ancient times. The earliest forerunner of computer is the abacus. The abacus is the counting frame that was the most widely used device for doing arithmetic in ancient times and its use persisted into modern times115 in the Orient. In the 17th century calculators began to appear and Blaise Pascal and Wilhelm von Leibniz are thought to be pioneers of mechanical calculators, which were used widely until they were replaced by electronic calculators. Then the difference engine and the analytical engine were created, mostly contributed to by Charles Babbage, who is considered to be “the father of computer”. The difference engine could only compute tables. And the analytical engine could carry out any calculation, just as Jacqurd’s loom could weave any pattern.

A hundred years passed before a machine like the one Babbage conceived116 was actually built. This occurred in 1944, when Howard Aiken of Harvard University completed the Harvard Mark I Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator. It was basically mechanical, however, it was driven by electricity instead of steam. Its main weakness was the time required for mechanical parts to move from one position to another. For example, it took six seconds for a multiplication and twelve for a division. What was needed was a machine whose computing, control, and memory elements were completely electrical, and the speed of operation would depend on the speed of moving electrons, therefore would be greater.

From the 1940s to the present, the technology used to build computers has gone through several revolutions. Each of the five generations of computers is characterized by a major technological development that fundamentally changed the way computers operate, resulting in increasingly smaller, more powerful and more efficient and reliable computing devices.

First-generation computers, which prevailed in 1940–1950s, used vacuum tubes that were bulky, taking up entire rooms. They were very expensive to operate, unreliable, and in eddition to using a great deal of electricity, generated a lot of heat, which was often the cause of mulfunctions. First generation computers relied on machine language, the lowest-level programming language understood by computers, to perform operations, and they could only solve one problem at a time.

The ENIAC and EDVAC computers are the examples of first – generation computing devices.

ENIAC – Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer – used vacuum tubes for computing and memory and it was 500 times as fast as the best electromechanical computer.

EDVAC – Electronic Discrete Variable Computer – was more advanced than ENIAC. It used binary notation to represent numbers inside the machine. Binary system, which uses only two digits (0 and 1), is now recognized as the simplest way of representing numbers in an electronic machine. Furthermore, EDVAC’s program was stored in the machines’s memory, just like the data.

Second-generation computers appeared in the late 1950s. They used transistors, which generated little heat and enjoyed long life. Computers based on transistors became smaller, more energy-efficient and more reliable than their first-generation predecessors117. Though the transistor still generated a great deal of heat that subjected the computer to damage, it was a vast improvement over the vacuum tube. Second-generation computers moved from the binary machine language to symbolic or assembly languages, which allowed programmers to specify instructions in words.

The third generation of computers (1964–1975) used integrated circuits (IC), transistors were miniaturized and placed on silicon chips, called semiconductors, which drastically increased the speed and efficiency of computers. Users interacted with third-generation computers through keyboards and monitors and interfaced with an operating system, which allowed the device to run many different applications at one time. Computers for the first time became accessible to a mass audience because they were smaller, and cheaper than their predecessors. They used less energy, were faster and more reliable. However, highly sophisticated technology118 was required for manufacturing of IC chips.

The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers (1975 – present), as thousands of integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip. What in the first generation filled an entire room could now fit in the palm of the hand. In 1981 IBM introduced its first computer for the home user, and in 1984 Apple introduced the Macintosh. As these small computers became more powerful, they could be linked together to form networks, which eventually led to the development of the Internet. Fourth – generation computers are the cheapest among all generations, and have fast processing power and little power consumption, but they need the latest technology for manufacturing microprocessors.

Fifth – generation computing devices (present and beyond), based on artificial intelligence, are still in development, though there are some applications, such as voice recognition, that are being used today. The use of parallel processing119 and superconductors is helping to make artificial intelligence a reality. Quantum computation120 and molecular and nanotechnology will radically change the face of computers in years to come. The goal of fifth-generation computing is to develop devices that respond to natural language input121 and are capable of learning and self-organization.

Notes to the text:

111. to squeeze out water from rocks – добиваться невозможного, выжимать соки (фразеологизм), (дословно: выжимать воду из скалы);

112. in the longer term – в долгосрочной перспективе;

113. are surely using – зд.: непременно используют;

114. to reduce operating expenses – снижать эксплуатационные расходы;

115. to persist into modern times – сохраняться в настоящее время;

116. to conceive – задумывать;

117. predecessor – предшественник;

118. highly sophisticated technology – высокосложная технология;

119. parallel processing – параллельная обработка (один из видов обработки информации, когда несколько операций могут выполняться одновременно);

120. quantum computation – квантовые вычисления (основаны на принципе квантовомеханических явлений суперпозиции и перепутывания состояний для преобразования входных данных в выходные; количество данных измеряется здесь в кубитах);

121. to respond to natural language input – реагировать на ввод естественного языка.

Tasks for the text:

1. Say it in other words using words or collacations from the text:

a) to add –

b) an improvement –

c) a counting frame –

d) to watch –

e) to happen –

f) to extract –

g) something original, new and important –

2. Put the proper words into the sentences:

1. Computers became … to a mass audience because they were smaller, and cheaper than their predecessors.

2. Blaise Pascal and Wilhelm von Leibniz are thought to be … of mechanical calculators.

3. Fourth- generation computers could … in the palm of the hand.

4. Binary system, which uses … is recognized as the simplest way of representing numbers in an electronic machine.

5. Mark I was … , however, it was driven by electricity instead of steam.

6. Fifth – generation computers are still in … .

7. Transistors were … on silicon chips, called semiconductors, which increased the speed and efficiency of computers.

3. Circle the odd word out in each group. Decide what the rest have in common. (Go to the link Word formation to remember the rules of word building).

Eg. 1: progress, headway, breakthrough, lack, success, prosperity, advance → achievment.

Eg. 2: technical, phisical, fundamental, experimental, conical, disposal, substantial → adjectives.

1) Machine, computer, device, automobile, calculator, abacus, heat.

2) Operation, multiplication, electricity, computing, consuming, replacement, moving.

3) usual, original,visual, tall, keypal, simple, mechanical.

4) Persisted, occurred, used, need, required, desired, completed.

5) Price, packaging, colour, pattern, dimention, life, steam.

6) Well, electricity, mostly, surely, namely, widely, basically.

7) Do, improve, develope, engine, generate, represent, use.

4. Devide the text above into its logical parts. Find the main idea of each part and represent the text in the form of a plan.

5. Complete the table:

Generations of computers

6. Go to the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvhW8cp15tk and watch the video”Steve Jobes iPad 2 keynote in 5 minutes”. Count all the benefits of iPad 2 mentioned in Steve Jobes’ report.

7. Imagine that you are a participant of a science conference. Prepare a short written report for it to speak about the most interesting (in your opinion) investigation in the field of IT.

These phrases can be used in your presentation: