UNIT 3: MARKETS

An operating system (OS) is an interface between hardware and user

which is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and

the sharing of the resources of the computer that acts as a host for computing

applications run on the machine. As a host, one of the purposes of an operating

system is to handle the details of the operation of the hardware. This relieves

application programs from having to manage these details and makes it

easier to write applications. Almost all computers (including handheld computers,

desktop computers, supercomputers, video game consoles) as well as

some robots, domestic appliances (dishwashers, washing machines), and portable

media players use an operating system of some type. Some of the oldest

models may, however, use an embedded operating system that may be contained

on a data storage device.

Operating systems offer a number of services to application programs

and users. Applications access these services through application programming

interfaces (APIs) or system calls. By invoking these interfaces, the application

can request a service from the operating system, pass parameters, and receive

the results of the operation. Users may also interact with the operating system

with some kind of software user interface (SUI) like typing commands by using

command line interface (CLI) or using a graphical user interface (GUI, commonly

pronounced “gooey”). For hand-held and desktop computers, the user interface

is generally considered part of the operating system. On large multi-user

systems like Unix and Unix-like systems, the user interface is generally implemented as an application program that runs outside the operating system.

(Whether the user interface should be included as part of the operating system

is a point of contention.)

Common contemporary operating systems include BSD, Darwin (Mac OS

X), Linux, SunOS (Solaris/OpenSolaris), and Windows NT (XP/Vista/7). While

servers generally run Unix or some Unix-like operating system, embedded system

markets are split amongst several operating systems, although the Microsoft

Windows line of operating systems has almost 90% of the client PC market.

Windows 7 is the most recent publicly available version of Microsoft

Windows, a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal

computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, netbooks,

tablet PCs and media center PCs.Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on

July 22, 2009, and general retail availability on October 22, 2009, less than

three years after the release of its predecessor, Windows Vista. Windows 7's

server counterpart, Windows Server 2008 R2, was released at the same time.

Unlike its predecessor, which introduced a large number of new features,

Windows 7 was intended to be a more focused, incremental upgrade to

the Windows line, with the goal of being fully compatible with applications and

hardware with which Windows Vista is already compatible. Presentations given

by Microsoft in 2008 focused on multi-touch support, a redesigned Windows

Shell with a new taskbar, referred to as the Superbar, a home networking

system called HomeGroup, and performance improvements. Some applications

that have been included with prior releases of Microsoft Windows, including

Windows Calendar, Windows Mail, Windows Movie Maker, and Windows

Photo Gallery, are not included in Windows 7; some are instead offered

separately as part of the free Windows Live Essentials suite.

Exercise 13. What’s your immediate reaction to the article you’ve just read?

Complete one or more of the following:

1) I’m amazed that …

2) I’m not so sure that …

3) I already knew that …

4) I can hardly believe that …

5) I tend to agree that …

Exercise 14. What do the following abbreviations stand for? They are all used in the article:

API SUI CLI GUI BSD

Exercise 15. Find the words in the article which mean the following. The first and the last letters are given:

1) the physical and electronic parts of a computer, rather than the

instructions it follows (paragraph 1) h … e

2) a small computer that you can carry with you (paragraph 1) h … d

3) a type of computer that is small enough to fit on the top of a desk

(paragraph 2) d …p

4) to divide into two or more parts (paragraph 3) s … t

5) a small computer with a screen that you can write on using a special

pen or that you can connect a keyboard to (paragraph 4) t … t

6) a thing which has the same purpose as another one in a different

place or organization (paragraph 4) c … t

7) something which comes before another thing in time or in a series

(paragraph 4) p … r

8) a set of symbols that shows the programs you are using and allows

you to change them on a computer screen (paragraph 5) t …r

Exercise 16. Answer the following questions:

1) What is an operating system responsible for?

2) What devices and appliances may contain an operating system?

3) How can users interact with the operating system?

4) What are common contemporary operating systems?

5) What is the most recent operating system released by Microsoft?

6) What new features does Windows 7 possess compared to previous

Windows line?

(the Gerund)

e.g. asking - запитування, reading

1. Finding a good mathematical model is essential.

2. Our aim was finding a good mathematical model for a group of real phenomena.

3. The problem of finding a good mathematical model for a group of real phenomena is essential.

4. Cybernetics is the means of studying the analogs existing between machines and living creatures.

5. Computers can be adapted to the problem of translating lan­guages.

6. Complicated calculations are performed by using computers.

7. By storing instructions within the machine the computer can do its work without human intervention.

8. Differentiating and integrating are algebraic operations.

9. The hardware inside the computer expresses arithmetical or logi­cal relations such as adding, subtracting, comparing or selecting.

10. Robots can replace man in performing difficult and dangerous tasks.

13. Microprocessors are capable of processing at tremendous speeds.

14. Compact discs are capable of storing more information per
square inch than any other type of memory device.

15. Scientists have already built a machine which is capable of rec­ognizing objects without human help.

16. Education is not just learning.

17. The problem of using a computer in an active "man - computer"
dialogue requires the most serious approach.

18. Solving the problem of intellectual interface is the most topical
issue of our time.

19. There are several advantages in making computers as small as one can.

20. Engineers were interested in obtaining numerical results.

21.They objected to carrying out experiments which had not been planned carefully.

22.They insisted on first developing the theory.

23. The results of the calculation depended upon his having applied the proper technique.

24. What is worth doing at all is worth doing well.

1. We know of Newton’s having spent more than 20 years of scientific thinking before finaly formulating them on paper. 2. The motion of this body was changed because of its having been acted upon by an external force. 3. Many scientific discoveries proceeded Newton’s stating his laws of motion. 4. Newton’s having stated his laws of motion is very important for modern science. 5. By studying Newton’s laws of motion we learn that they are applied in our daily life as well. 6. We knew nothing of this device being broken.

UNIT 3: MARKETS

Any society has to find some way of deciding what, how and for whom to produce. A market is created whenever a potential seller of goods or services is brought into contact with a potential buyer and a means of exchange is available. The medium of exchange may be money or barter. Trade agreements are reached through the operation of the laws of supply and demand. In the business view the market is a collection of selling opportunities.

Organized markets are usually held in premises where business is transacted according to a particular set of rules. There are two types of organized markets: spot market and forward or futures market. Spot market deals in actual physical products, for immediate delivery. Places where people purchase food such as grocery markets, shops and fruit stalls physically bring together the buyer and the seller. In forward or futures markets the commodity can be bought or sold for delivery at some time in the future. Organized markets or produce exchanges have been established for cotton, wool, tea, coffee, wheat, rubber, timber, tin, copper and some other commodities. Thus, there are such commodity exchanges as Sugar Exchange, Metal Exchange, Wheat Exchange and others. Forward prices can be higher or lower than the spot prices. In a forward or futures market traders take an option to buy or to sell the product in the future. Organized markets also include financial markets, which in their turn include the Stock Exchange and foreign exchange market. Stock Exchange, for example, operates chiefly through stockholders who transact business on behalf of clients. The term ‘stock market’ refers to the buying and selling of shares in corporations as well as other activities related to stock trading and pricing. The important stock markets are in London, Geneva, New York, Tokyo, and Singapore.

Consumers are increasingly seeking out new sources for goods and services bypassing traditional markets. Growing number of working women, overworked executives and moonlighters among the people are increasingly willing to pay more money for things that save their time. The ability to deliver goods and services when and where the customer chooses is crucial to success in the new marketplace. E-commerce is not just about buying and selling products. But now firms everywhere have launched electronic marketplaces for services of all sorts – from gardening advice to financial planning. If services now exist in online world, those markets will become more competitive – as they for computers and other items sold over the Internet.

When economists use the word market they mean a set of forces or conditions that determine the price of a product, such as the supply available for sale and the demand for it by consumers. Both goods and services have expenditures for their producing, so all products and all services have prices. The price for them must justify expenditures of these services and goods. If the price doesn’t cover costs, the services or products manufacturing are not profitable, so there is no sense to produce them. Which price can produce the biggest profit during a long period of time? It is hardly possible to work out such a price. The price may be too high to produce a large volume or too low to cover costs.

The price of merchandise depends on several factors, such as credit terms, delivery, trade-in-allowance, guarantees, quality, competitive pressures, the cost of raw materials and labour.

Prices can be determined in different ways. The price of wheat, cotton and other agricultural products can be decided in large central markets where forces of supply and demand exist. This is pure price competition. The prices on industrial products, such as iron, steel, etc. are usually decided by large companies. As a rule the amount and price of goods sold to large number of buyers is controlled by a few competing sellers, i.e. competitors. Prices can also be set by government, usually for different public services – railroads, electricity, manufactured gas, bus services. If demand increases, prices rise, profits expand and new investment is attracted.

Price performs three important functions in the marketplace: resource allocation, product rationing and income distribution. Resource allocation determines which resources are given higher values. For example, land can be used to grow corn or wheat. If the farmer can make more profit growing corn, the land will be used to grow corn rather than wheat. Product rationing determines who will and will not purchase the product. Income distribution determines the value of a product and the value or price of the factors of production necessary to produce that product.

The price mechanism operates to allocate resources in such a way as to answer the three basic questions of what is to be produced, how it will be produced, and how it will be distributed among population. Prices do so by acting as signals to consumers and producers in two sets of markets: market for commodities, i.e. for goods and services – goods market and market for factors of production – factor market. Prices signal to producers which goods are the most profitable to produce. Prices signal to consumers which goods give most value for the money they must pay to purchase them.

Competition is also a necessary condition of the effective market mechanism. Depending on regime of competition it is distinguished perfect and imperfect competition. Perfect competition is a model of industrial structure in which many small firms compete in the supply of a single product. There is a multitude of firms all too small to have any individual impact on market price. Perfect competition is most efficient for functioning of market mechanism. Imperfect competition is represented by monopolies. Monopoly is the market situation in which there is only one supplier of a particular product in a particular market or otherwise isolated sector. The key aspect of a monopolist is that the single supplier can charge whatever price he likes. There are no competitors against whom to match the company’s prices. A true monopolist is consequently a price setter who enjoys the right to set prices at whichever level that will maximize his profits. In practice, monopolies with such pricing power are rare, especially in developed economies.

ACTIVE VOCABULARY

Date: 2015-01-02; view: 2415