2004-4-22
This is Bob Doughty with the VOA Special English Economics
Report.
One of the most powerful tools
ever developed is the P.C., the personal computer. One of the
companies important to the history of the P.C. is Apple Computer.
Apple is based in Cupertino, California.
Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs started the company in
nineteen-seventy-six. Mister Wozniak designed an early personal
computer, the Apple One. At that time, people who wanted to work
with computers often built their own, or used larger systems.
Early personal computers had limited uses. Users had to write
commands. This was true of the Apple One. But other Apple computers
operated with a system known as a graphical user interface. Users
chose from little pictures called icons. Researchers at Xerox
designed such a system. But Apple was the first to make it popular.
Today most personal computers use icons.
Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs tried to sell their ideas to other
companies. They were rejected. But soon they found investors. Apple
began to sell shares to the public in nineteen-eighty. The company
became worth more than one-thousand-million dollars.
In nineteen-eighty-one,
International Business Machines began to sell a personal computer
that many people bought. I.B.M. was the biggest computer company in
the world. But Apple was known for its creativity. In
nineteen-eighty-four, it released the first Macintosh. These
computers were simple to use.
Over the years, Apple gained a following of loyal users. But then
lower-priced computers appeared. These used the Windows operating
system made by Microsoft. Most personal computers today use Windows.
Apple does not compete with makers of low-cost computers. Many of
its computers are designed for special uses like video and music
production.
The brain of a computer is the processor. For years, Apple used
processors made by Motorola. In two-thousand-three, Apple joined
with I.B.M. to create a faster processor. But Apple still has only a
small share of the computer market.
Now, one of its most popular products is the iPod. This is a
small music player. It can store up to one-thousand songs. Apple
says it sold more than eight-hundred-thousand iPods in the three
months ending in March.
Apple reported a profit of forty-six million dollars for the
period. It says the iPod greatly helped sales.
This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario
Ritter. This is Bob Doughty.