Е.А. Копылова Тексты для внеаудиторного чтения (английский язык)

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DE:

In 1984, Sculley and Jobs planned to go one better. Early that year, using some of the most innovative advertising ever seen, the new Apple Macintosh computer was launched. The BBC’s Barry Norman sent this report on its progress from the 1984 West Coast Computer Fair in San Francisco.

Norman:

Meanwhile, back to the Fair itself and to Apple’s Macintosh which completely dominates the whole exhibition. Apple are plugging their new little portable very hard indeed, even giving away a complete Macintosh system every day as the main prize in a series of competitions, and a 12 ft model of the machine towers over the main hall. By comparison with the attention given to the Macintosh stand, poor old IBM next door looks practically ostracized.

DE:

The Macintosh looked set to be a runaway success. It sold 50,000 units in a mere 74 days and Apple’s revenues to the year ending in September jumped by a staggering 54%. Sculley and Jobs confidently forecast a turnover of $1bn for the peak Christmas quarter and decided to build up Apple’s inventory enormously to cope with the expected demand.

It never came. That Christmas, the home computer boom came to an abrupt end. The market was saturated. Apple’s revenues fell 30% short of the $1bn target. Their stockrooms piled high with unsold computers, the company was plunged into crisis. All over Silicon Valley, firms were going bust. If Apple were to avoid the same fate, John Sculley would have to act quickly and decisively. In particular, he would have to confront a number of problems that Apple’s huge growth in the 83/84 period had concealed. Unfortunately, Apples biggest problem was Sculley’s friend and partner, Steve Jobs. Jobs was chairman, founder and figurehead of Apple, but he was also the greatest source of conflict and tension within the company. Sculley’s solution was simple: he fired him.

Next, in a drive to cut costs and increase efficiency, Sculley restructured the management hierarchy along functional lines and closed 3 out of the company’s 6 factories. 20% of Apple’s workforce lost their jobs and hundreds of workers were left in tears on the company campus.

Finally, Sculley looked closely at Apple’s profitability. Because of its enormous advertising budget, the company had neglected its gross margin

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- its total profits on total revenues. Here, Christopher Hird explains the implications of this.

Hird:

In the computer business to keep ahead you’ve got to keep investing in research and development. Now the gross margin that Apple was making was big enough to pay for this massive advertising campaign and the investment in research and development. So, they just weren’t profitable enough.

DE:

It was obvious to Sculley that the company needed a radically different marketing strategy. He decided to re-position Apple and to target the business market. This would enable the company to reduce advertising and distribution costs and together with higher prices, could significantly improve the company’s gross margin. But for Apple a transition like this was not going to be easy, as Christopher Hird explains.

Hird:

So what they had to do was find a way of re-positioning Apple in the business computer market. But, of course, the thing was this didn’t fit in very well with Apple’s own traditions. They were ... a fiercely independent company, they didn’t like the idea that they would have to sort of pay attention to what the rest of the world was doing - after all, they’d really made their name by saying there’s something different about computers - it’s not just for business people, it’s for something that goes into the home. But it became absolutely clear that if they were going to survive they had to make a business computer, which was, of course, a big market and a growing market and if you make a business computer, it’s got to be compatible with the people who dominate the industry - IBM.

DE:

Apple had to change their approach in other ways, too. Business users were different from home computer enthusiasts. They weren’t going to be impressed by mere technology. They wanted computers that would work for them, save them money, solve their problems. So, Apple’s strategy was not so much to sell computers as to sell solutions to problems. The most famous example of this was the Apple Mac desktop publishing

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system. When it was launched, it cost just $12,000. The price of a conventional system offering the same facilities? $250,000. Apple had obviously found a clear winner.

Positive results from John Sculley’s controversial decisions were quick to start coming through. By 1987, Apple Macs were selling at a rate of 50,000 a month and the company’s share price was more that times higher than in the dark days of 1985.

By dramatically changing the direction and the character of the company, John Sculley had ensured that Apple survived and could continue to be IBM’s most serious competitor in the $500bn world computer market.

II. In the text, there are subordinate clauses with conjunctions ommitted, try to find them (they are four).

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Word search

III. Find international words in the text, write them and mind their meanings (they are about 90 ).

IV. Put words or phrases from the list in place of the words underlined in the text.

1. had a good result

2.the direct opposite

3.filled

4.find and make use

5.was ruined

6.ignored

7.methods of actions

8.causing much argument and disagreement

9.took and used as its own

10. public demand

11. having a fixed intention

12. thoughts

13. succeeded

14. the most popular at a particular point of time 15. not quite reaching

16. never having happened before

17. have an effect

18. was a typical example of

19. continued to live

V. Replace the words in brackets by the words from the text.

1. That dream lay (ruined).

2.A company that made it (having finished successfully).

3.Its aim was to shift (activity) of computers away from institutions.

4.1983 was an unprecedented ( period of raid growth) for the home computer business.

5.Тhe BBC’s Barry Norman sent this report on (the process of its continuing) from the 1984 West Coast Computer Fair in San Francisco.

6.Apple’s revenues fell 30% (not quite reaching) the $1bn target.

7.Christopher Hird explains (the possible later effect) of this.

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8.(To remain) ahead you’ve got (to repeat and continue) investing in research and development.

9.This would (make able) the company to reduce advertising and distribution costs.

10.(The act of changing) like this was not going to be easy.

11.They would have to (in some way) pay attention to what the rest of the world was doing.

12.They were not going to be (influenced deeply) by mere technology.

13.Apple had obviously found (something that is expected to be successful).

14.Positive results were quick to start (becoming publicly known).

15.Apple Macs ( were being brought) at a rate of 50,000 a month.

Match the synonyms

VI. Match the adjectives.

Comprehension check

IX. Are these statements true or false? If they are false, look for the right ones in the text.

1. In a sensational industry shakeout thousands were given a job and hundreds of brilliant sunrise companies began to flourish.

2.It was Christopher Hird who made certain that Apple survived.

3.Steve Jobs founded Apple in 1977.

4.Apple’s aim was to shift the focus of computers away from individuals and onto institutions.

5.To accomplish his great vision Steve Jobs just had to have a good product.

6.Steve Jobs hired John Sculley because he was one of America’s top marketing men.

7.In 1983 the number of Apple’s distribution outlets was increased in spite if Sculley’s objections.

8.Near the beginning of 1984 the new Apple Macintosh computer was launched.

9.The IBM stand was the centre of attention at the 1984 West Coast Computer Fair in San Francisco.

10.Sculley’s campaign to cut cost and increase efficiency resulted in closing 2 out of the company’s 7 factories.

11.Apple gave too little attention to its gross margin, because of company’s enormous advertising budget.

12.Sculley’s radically different marketing strategy enabled Apple to reduce advertising and distribution costs and together with higher prices, significantly improved the company’s gross margin.

solve their problems.

X. Answer the questions.

1. Why was Silicon Valley in the early 1980s compared to Florence at the height of the Renaissance?

2.What made Valley full of life?

3.Who is the founder of Apple?

4.How many years did Apple need to become the computer industry’s main challenger to IBM?

5.What ends did Apple want to achieve?

6.What great idea did Steve Jobs have?

7.What did Steve Jobs need for the realisation of his revolutionary idea?

8.What was John Sculley at Apple?

9.Why was it J. Sculley who was hired by Steve Jobs?

10. Why were Jobs and Sculley thought to be an odd couple?

11. How can you describe the market situation for the home computer business at the end of 1983?

12. What became the highlight of the 1984 West Coast Computer Fair in San Francisco?

13. Why did the home computer boom come to an unexpected end at Christmas 1984?

14. Why did Sculley fire Steve Jobs?

15. What did restructuring launched by Sculley result in? 16. Why didn’t Apple like the idea of repositioning?

17. What choice did Apple have to make in order to impress business users?

XI. Find the sentences in the reading.

1. Сначала Джобс и его коллеги получали хороший результат, обладая лишь гаражом в пригороде.

2. Она была все еще далеко не традиционной американской корпорацией.

4.Скалли, с другой стороны, был типичным представителем серого костюма и консервативных обычаев корпоративной Америки Восточного побережья.

5.Apple переняла способы рекламы среди клиентов, которыми Скалли пользовался с таким мастерством во время своей работы в

Pepsi.

6.Дж. Скалли, казалось , прибыл как раз в нужное время.

7.Бэрри Норман из BBC передал это сообщение с места события, с компьютерной ярмарки Западного побережья 1984г. в СанФранциско.

8.При сравнении с вниманием, которое уделяется стенду Macintosh, бедный старый IBM по-соседству выглядит практически изгнанным.

9.Macintosh, казалось, имеет твердое намерение обрести неудержимое процветание.

10.Так как их склады были переполнены непроданными компьютерами, компания была ввергнута в кризис.

11.... и сотни рабочих были оставлены в слезах на территории компании.

12.... но она (валовая прибыль) не была достаточно большой, чтобы заплатить за рекламную кампанию и производить капиталовложения в научное исследование и разработку.

13.... следует помнить, что она (Apple), действительно, сделала себе имя, сказав, что существует другой компьютер, - он может быть предназначен не только для деловых людей, но и для домашнего применения.

14.Самым известным примером этого была система настольных издательских средств Apple Mac.

15. Положительные результаты спорного решения Дж.Скалли быстро стали известны общественности.

XII. Read these texts quickly and think of titles to them. What do their contents have in common?

1. Steve Jobs was chairman, founder and figurehead of Apple, but he was also the source of greatest conflict within the company. Sculley asked Jobs to give up his operational duties and Jobs later resigned.

2. Apple’s management was organised on divisional lines; each division had its own sales, marketing, product development, staff etc. Sculley

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replaced it with a functional management structure - one sales department, one marketing department, one product development department etc. for the whole company. It meant laying off more than 1000 employees.

XIII. Read the following article quickly and answer the following question: Why are the question marks used after R&D and

ADVERTISING ?

Sculley had increased Apple’s advertising budget from $15m to $100m but hadn’t invested enough in the company’s R & D programme. To do so, he needed to increase Apple’s gross margin.

Sculley decided to re-position the company and target the business market. This would mean bigger profit margins and lower advertising costs.

XIV. This article deals with the trends of Apple Computers’ gross margin. Look at the graph and describe how trends in Apple Computers’ gross margin have changed.

Below you will find some of the language for you to use.

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NB 1) we use “by” and “of” to focus on the difference 2) we use “to” to focus on the level

Other expressions

to reach a peak of / to remain constant at / to fluctuate

7.

to stand at

(We use this phrase to focus on a particular point, before we mention the trends)