Eftpos*

Cashless shopping, or electronic funds transfer at point of sale (EFTPOS), will soon become the commonest form of retail trade. There are already 63,000 establishments with 132,000 terminals in France, and the other major European countries are not far behind.

It works like this: a customer goes into a shop to buy goods, and when it comes to payment, he or she draws a plastic card through an electronic terminal and then enters a code number known only to him or her. Details of the transaction and the code are then sent by a telecommunications network to a central computer which checks that the card is neither 'out of order' nor stolen. Funds are then transferred electronically from the customer's bank account to the shopkeeper's.

There are obviously advantages and disadvantages in this new method of payment and you are invited to complete the tables shown here.

For	Against
From the customer’s point of view:
1. Time saved at checkouts	1.
2.	2.
3.	3.

From the retailer’s point of view:

1.	1.
2.	2.
3.	3.

From a bank’s point of view:

1.	1.
2.	2.
3.	3.

Text 2

The Smart Card

The so-called smart card is an ordinary plastic credit card* with an embedded microprocessor plus a computer memory chip. It can be used as an identity card, a passport, for access to medical records and even for paying for telephone calls, train and bus fares and satellite television programmes.

Although in its infancy in the UK there are currently 17,000,000 such cards in use in French and French banks are expecting all their customers to own one. Outside Europe, perhaps not surprisingly, it is Japan which is showing most interest in the concept.

In Britain, the Barclays and Midland banking groups are conducting pilot schemes. The Midland scheme is centred on Loughborough University and smart cards are being used in three applications.

Being charged (like a battery) with money, they can be used for purchases at shops and bars on campus. They can also be used by students paying for photocopying. The card can be recharged at an automatic telling machine.

They can be used as a debit card. As the goods are purchased, the cost is transferred directly from the student’s account into that of the shopkeeper. With the aid of a personal identity number (PIN), details of all transactions stored in the memory can be viewed at any terminal.

Finally, of value to the students at Loughborough, but with obvious commercial applications, information can be accessed from a variety of publishing sources.

There are two major advantages from the bank’s point of view. First, smart cards cut down on paperwork. Second, they improve the effectiveness of controls over bad debts and frauds. Customers and retailers may still need to be convinced of the advantages of smart cards, but the implications are incredible.

In terms of signature verification, it is possible to check the shape of letters, speed at which the signature is written and the amount of pressure on pen. The variables are then converted into algorithms which are fed into the card’s memory store. Even more exciting is the possible integration into biometric systems. Unique shapes of eye retinas or fingertips can be stored digitally on the card and matched with the owners when required.

At this point of time the expense of the smart card is prohibitive, but, as with all technological innovations, the price to the consumers is likely to fall as the initial development costs are recovered.

Section C. Fill in the blanks

Your task: Fill in the blanks in this passage, using words from the list given below.

programs	graphics	binary	utility	code
software	integrated	backing	operating	orbits
optic	terminals	retrieval	library	microwave
manipulation	translators	light pen	satellites	computers

1. Fibre ……….. cables allow data to be transmitted as pulses of light along thin strands of glass about the thickness of human hair.

2. Data communications over very long distances can make use of communication …………… which are placed in fixed ………… above the earth.

3. Data can be communicated over long distances and over water by using ……………... radio links.

4. A ………………. terminal is specially designed to display pictures, maps, graphs and diagrams, and has a ……………….….. attached to allow the user to «draw» on the screen.

5. A mainframe computer and its ……………… are situated a long distance apart.

6. The numbers used in computers are called …………….….. numbers.

7. ………….. are sets of instructions telling the computer what operations have to be carried out and in what order they should be done.

8. Database programs are for information ………….……… and word processor programs are for text …………………. .

9. A collection of applications programs kept in a ……….……… store is known as a program ………………….. .

10. …………….. packages have a number of programs combined in one package so that the same data can be shared by them all.

11. The …………….… system consists of a group of programs designed to manage and coordinate all the hardware and …………..….. of a computer system as efficiently as possible.

12. …………….….. programs are small systems programs which perform one simple task.

13. Language ……..……….. convert programs written in various computer languages into machine …………..…….. and include assemblers, compilers and interpreters.

14. ……………….……. understand commands expressed in the form 0 and 1.

Section D. Opposites and synonyms

For each of the following words you are asked to provide a synonym (a word with the same or similar meaning) and another word which is opposite in meaning.

In his presidential address to the Chartered Institute of Bankers, Sir John Quinton said information technology was at the heart of banking. Whether as corporations or as individuals, he said, we ignore the implications of IT at our peril. The impact of IT upon banking is so radical that it will be a key determinant of success or failure in the industry; a key determinant of whether “banks” as a recognisable grouping continue to exist, and a key determinant of the differentiation between competitors in financial services.

If information is seen as a resource, it follows that it can be managed. We can attempt to produce it in the most cost-effective manner, determining how it should be processed, stored, retrieved and disposed of. The implication is that businesses – not only banks – should be prepared to develop an information strategy.

To relate information to the management function it has to contribute to the achievement of some organisational objective. The relationship between the information and the attainment of the objective needs to be clearly shown, and the relationship has to be capable of being tested empirically. If we see information as a resource, it also follows that we have to be selective. As Sir John Quinton also said, it really comes back to the basic question that all companies need to ask themselves – what business, or should I say, businesses, are we in? Having answered that question we can decide what information we need, how it is to be obtained, and how it is to be treated.

Section E. Linking statements with purposes

Link each statement in the first column with a purpose in second column.

Application programs are designed for general use		to produce detailed graphics.
Custom programs are written for the user		to provide easy access to a range of programs.
A program library is often kept in backing store		so the user can «draw» on the screen.
A word processor justifies each line of text		to prepare, test and document computer programs.
A high resolution monitor is used		so they can be used in many different situations.
A graphics terminal includes a lightpen		as an economy measure.
A computer is often leased rather than bought		to distinguish diverse values or features.
The functions of programmers are		to suit a particular situation.
The keyboard of a computer is used		to input data.
Dual-density characters are introduced		to form a straight edge.

Section F. Vocabulary

core	cursor	track	robot	chip
spreadsheet	off-line	on-line	matrix	punched
floppy	byte	bugs	access	user
flowcharts	algorithm	digital	decoder	screen

Match the words listed above with the definitions which follow:

1. A printer which uses pins to print a pattern of dots on paper.

2. Very light, flexible, plastic diskettes usually used with microcomputers.

3. The channels of a magnetic tape on which information is recorded.

4. Another word for program errors.

5. A sequence of steps or instructions used to solve a problem, as in a program.

6. This is the individual operating the computer.

7. When the computer system operates independently of the central processing unit.

8. A small metal ring, part of the computer memory, which can be magnetized and demagnetized.

9. A group of eight binary digits considered as a single unit. In other words, eight bits make one of these.

10. This type of computer works by counting, and data is represented by combinations of discrete electronic pulses.

11. This is the display unit on which the data and/or graphics appear.

12. This type of card is used to input information or to receive the outputted result.

13. To retrieve information which is on tape or disk.

14. A piece of silicon on which several layers of an integrated circuit have been etched.

15. This takes the coded instruction and breaks it down into the individual commands which allow it to be carried out.

16. An arrow or similar marker to show where the next character will go if you enter data.

17. These are diagrams used to sort out the procedural steps in a program and as an aid to program construction.

18. A machine which replicates human thinking and behaviour patterns.

19. When the computer system is connected to the central processing unit.

20. A package used extensively in financial planning, budgeting, forecasting and other financial modelling.

Section G. Conference (role-play)

Your task: Prepare a talk on a topic related to contemporary situation in the market of soft and hardware and applications of IT in business, e.g. “Developments of IT” (use the text below and the tips to it in the sub-section “Your views”). Speakers will produce their talks in English while some students will act as interpreters and interpret the conference for the Russian-speaking delegates.

Most of the world's hardware manufacturers are either in the United States of America or Japan. Is this because the Americans and the Japanese have innate skills which the rest of us do not possess? Perhaps that is the explanation, but it is far more likely to be the result of economies of scale. American manufacturers are catering for a domestic market of over 220,000,000 while the Japanese domestic market tops 120,000,000.

If you accept that both these domestic markets tend to be 'captive', with the Japanese market particularly difficult to enter, one reason why individual companies can afford to spend large sums on research without overpricing their product becomes clear.

If a Japanese company produces 100,000 units and spends (the equivalent of) £10 million on research, the price at which it sells its units has to be increased by £100 to cover the research costs. However, if a smaller British company produces 10,000 units and spends £10 million on research, it will have to increase the price of its units by £1,000 to cover its costs. Is it any surprise to find the Americans and the Japanese, with their large, and rich, domestic populations dominating world markets in technological products?

By contrast the present European computer scene is dominated mainly by software and services, but this is not such a disadvantage as it seems. As users look more and more for systems that work the way their business requires, the role of the software element is becoming more important. At the same time, in cost terms alone, software is becoming the major part of IT investment as hardware costs tumble. Why should hardware costs tumble? The manufacturers of technological products always aim to recover development costs as quickly as possible. After that, as competition begins to bite, prices become more competitive.

Perhaps there is another explanation. It could be that the scope for further development in the IT industry lies in the field of software rather than hardware, at this point in time anyway.

Europe, with a population larger than that of the USA but with an IT market only half its size, offers more potential for growth, but is not by any stretch of the imagination a single market, nor is it likely to be so for many decades. The 12 national markets that make up the European Community are separated by differences in culture, language and hardware environments. The European software and services market is likely to be dominated by four or five indigenous heavyweights coming from France, Italy and Britain, but since the unified Germany has a domestic market which is likely to extend deeper and deeper into Eastern Europe, its progress is likely to prove most significant.

One of the big question marks will be whether, as a result of mergers in the IT industry in the new Europe, the Europeans are able to challenge the Americans and the Japanese in the hardware market. An encouraging factor could be the inevitable linkage between hardware and software. The formation of large, pan-European user companies will open up fresh markets for pan-European suppliers, for both hardware and integrated software.

Your views

1. How do you see the European Community affecting and being affected by developments in IT?

2. Which European countries/companies do you see benefiting most from the enlarged markets?

3. What do you think users are looking for when they buy new IT systems? Compatibility with the existing equipment? The size and stability of the vending corporation? The user-friendliness of the system? The cost? The estimated working life or, conversely, the obsolescence date?

4. Do you think developments in IT are affecting, and will affect

a) your future career, and b) the world of business generally?

5. Do you think IT tends to help women gain equal treatment with men, or the reverse? Justify your opinion.

Section H. Text for home translation

Your task: Give full written translation of the text with analysis of translation techniques. Pay special attention to the highlighted words and phrases. While translating, complete your glossary on the topic.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56

Profile: A Man and His Information Machine By Lisa Napoli New York Times Ubiquity, says Michael Bloomberg, was never his intention. Nonetheless, his name seems to be everywhere these days. A new deal with AT&T, announced on Monday, will plaster the Bloomberg name on Internet cell phones. An autobiography, Bloomberg by Bloomberg, is out in stores this week. He owns a news wire service and a satellite television network. He also syndicates radio programming, publishes a consumer financial magazine and maintains a Web site that he says gets 45,000 visitors a day. None of these, however, represents the core business of this 55-year-old from Medford, Massachusetts; they are all parts of a multimedia empire founded in 1981 when Bloomberg left Salomon Brothers with $ 10m and an idea centered on the most basic and valuable of late 20th century commodities: information. Bloomberg set to work, with the money and a small group of computer programmers, to come up with an analytical system that would be simple for brokers to use. With some initial financial backing from Merrill Lynch, he built his network to deliver stock and bond information, a database of corporations’ histories and analysis. And he named it Bloomberg. Today, Bloomberg terminals, for which subscribers pay $1,200 a month, sit on the desks of 75,000 financial analysts around the world. He has turned his original concept into a reported $1 bn-a-year multimedia news and information empire. Bloomberg’s name has become a one-man brand, prominent throughout the investment and newsgathering industries. Yet, unless you travel in the financial world, you may not have seen his empire growing. Rupert Murdoch and Ted Turner probably have vaster holdings, but Bloomberg, with his privately held company, may exert more autocratic control than any one man in the information business. A recent visit to Bloomberg world headquarters on Manhattan’s Park Avenue found people crowding into and through the lobby as if it were the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange. On this day, many of the young employees were carrying advance copies of Bloomberg by Bloomberg, a clear demonstration of what one outsider described as the “cultish” devotion employees seem to have for the man, his empire and his vision. These are impressive offices by any newsroom standards, and there are perks. A veritable convenience store of soft drinks and chocolates and other snacks, all free, draws an endless stream of workers. The premises are crowded, but no one, not even Bloomberg, has a private office. Although his desk is off to one side, right next to a small glass-enclosed sitting area, nearby employees can easily hear him on his phone. Surrounded by state-of-the-art digital equipment which powers his information network, this Johns Hopkins-educated engineer with an MBA from Harvard keeps a slide rule (a kind of ruler with moving parts for calculating) on his desk. “Other people must be smarter than I am, because they can use calculators and see relationships; I think calculators mask”. He says he wrote his book on a yellow pad. He disdains critics who predict that the Internet will displace the need for the “Bloomberg box”; the Internet, he asserts, is nothing more than a delivery system – and an unreliable one at that. “Our long distance bills, hardware, deprecation and money sent to phone companies, is about $100m a year”, he said. “If the Internet really worked and I could get our customers to come to us through the Internet, we’d save $100m. Why can we charge $1,200 a month and these other idiots can’t get away with anything?” he asks. “Because on the Internet when you try to charge for anything, usage goes to zero. The data that we have is publicly available, but the value added is in the categorization and the utilities that let you do something with it”. Though Bloomberg has fewer subscribers than Reuters and Dow Jones / Telerate, his competitors in the financial information business, his system is growing faster and is often praised as easier to use. Bloomberg claims he doesn’t pretend to know the direction he’ll go. What happens next, as Bloomberg figures it, is equal parts luck and design. “There are many reasons why some succeed and others don’t”, Bloomberg writes. “Three things separate the winners from the losers over the long term: time invested, interpersonal skills and plain old-fashioned luck”.