Theme: Personal computer Perfomed: Norqulova Nilufar

Theme: Personal computer

Perfomed: Norqulova Nilufar

Group: 211-11

Examiner: Atashikova N

Personal computer

A personal computer (PC) is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator. This contrasted with the batch processing or time-sharing models which allowed larger, more expensive minicomputer and mainframe systems to be used by many people, usually at the same time. Large data processing systems require a full-time staff to operate efficiently.

Market and sales

• In 2001, 125 million personal computers were shipped in comparison to 48 thousand in 1977. More than 500 million personal computers were in use in 2002 and one billion personal computers had been sold worldwide from the mid-1970s up to this time. Of the latter figure, 75 percent were professional or work related, while the rest were sold for personal or home use.

Average selling price

• Selling prices of personal computers, unlike other consumer commodities, steadily declined due to lower costs of production and manufacture. Capabilities of the computers also increased. In 1975, an Altair kit sold for only around US $400, but required customers to solder components into circuit boards; peripherals required to interact with the system in alphanumeric form instead of blinking lights would add another $2000, and the resultant system was only of use to hobbyists.

Types

Workstation

• A workstation is a high-end personal computer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to alocal area network and run multi-user operating systems. Workstations are used for tasks such as computer-aided design, drafting and modeling, computation-intensive scientific and engineering calculations, image processing, architectural modeling, and computer graphics for animation and motion picture visual effects.