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The Intel sales engineer who worked with IBM on the project recalled, At the
time, a great account was one that generated 10,000 units a year. Nobody
comprehended the scale of the PC business would grow to tens of millions of
units every year..(…/cn71898a.htm) In 1982, Intel introduced the 286 chip. With
134,000 transistors, it was three times as powerful as the current chips. This
286 chip was first used in IBM's very memorable machine, the PC-AT. In 1985, the
Intel386 processor came off the showroom floor. With 275,000 transistors, the
chip was a huge jump from the competition. The Deskpro by Compaq was the first
PC that used the 386 chip. The Intel 486 processor was released in 1989. This
new chip had all the fixins': 1.2 million transistors and was the
record-breaking first chip to have the first built-in math coprocessor. In 1993,
Intel introduced a processor with five times the speed of the 486, the Pentium
processor.
The Pentium chip uses 3.1 million transistors. In 1997 Intel started
introduced its MMX technology, a breed of chip build for high multimedia
performance. After MMX took hold, it is now standard on all Pentium processors.
In 1998 the Pentium II chip was released with incredible speed and mind-blowing
processing power. .(…/cn71898a.htm) The Intel Corporation is an amazing company
that will be around for a very long time. As of 1997 the company was worth
$26,273,000,000. The CEO of Intel is Craig R. Barrett. Intel, as of 1997, had
63,700 employees on its roster. In my personal opinion, I feel that Intel is a
very reliable chip manufacturer, I buy only Intel brand processors because of
their reliability, and I would proudly join their workforce if at all possible.
Stock Exchange: market for the sale and purchase of securities of corporations
and municipalities, and, in some cases, of certificates representing commodities
of trade.(Funk and Wagnalls p359) The first stock exchange to be built was in
Antwerp, Belgium in 1531.
In 1773 the brokers of London formed an exchange in
England. In New York City, brokers met to exchange stocks under a button tree
until they organized the New York Stock Exchange. (Sobel, p904) The NYSE only
let in stocks that it deemed good enough. Those that didn't pass the test where
traded outside on the curb of the NYSE building. This curb exchange later formed
the American Stock Exchange, or the ASEX. (Edustock …/3088/) In the 1920's the
American economy was booming, due in an increase in industrialization, and an
increase in technology. There was an increase in wages, an increase in spending,
and an increase in stock prices. People bought billions of dollars worth of
stock -on margin, mind you- and economists said that the uprise would continue.
Because of the large number of people buying in margin, left the stock market in
a vulnerable position. Many stockholders, ready to reap a fortune, invested all
they had, even mortgaged their homes and emptied their bank accounts. As the
prices spiraled higher and higher, economists began warring people of the
turmoil that could lie ahead, but everyone was interested in making money and
paid no heed.
Finally, in October of 1929, the purchasing frenzy calmed, but
then burst into a selling bonanza. On Thursday, October 24th, 1929 the strong
iron bars of the U.S. economy began to give way. Stock prices fell to the floor
as investors struggled desperately to sell. When the New York Stock Exchange
closed that day, it had lost over four billion dollars. By the next Monday, the
28th, a widespread panic took form. Thousands of investors, some normal, working
citizens, were ruined financially. By the end of 1929, stock values had dropped
by fifteen billion dollars. (www.thehistorychannel.co.uk) There have been many
market crashes since 1929 however this is the one that had the greatest impact.
It is still to early to say for sure whether the economic situation that is
effecting global stock markets will result in such a scenario. The only fact
that is certain is that we are in the middle of a large correction in the value
of global stock prices. With crises in Asia, Latin America and now Russia
rolling from one to another, the fear of a 1929 style crash is once again with
us.(www.thehistorychannel.co.uk)
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