International Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Business Law - Essay Example ase between Gupta and ACG, Gupta after receiving an invitation from ACG to purchase 10 MR5 computers is claiming a breach of contract on the part of ACG because of the latter’s action of selling the computers to a different buyer. In this regard, the following legal issues arise: first, was a contract concluded between the two involved parties? Second, was Gupta’s acceptance valid and has it been communicated to ACG. Third, was ACG’s revocation valid? Fourth, considering the aforementioned legal issues, is Gupta correct in claiming that ACG was in breach of contract? Hence, given that the aforementioned legal issues are concerned with the formation of contracts regarding the international sale of goods, the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods (Vienna Convention) or Common Law can apply. In order to determine whether a breach of contract took place, one must determine whether a contract exists. For a contract to exist, however, it must be concluded through the valid acceptance of an offer (Art 14). In this regard, it is questionable whether the acceptance sent by Gupta was valid. Article 19  § 1 of the Vienna Convention states that â€Å"A reply to an offer which purports to be an acceptance but contains additions, limitations or other modifications is a rejection of the offer and constitutes a counter-offer.† In this respect, the words â€Å"on the assumption that† in the letter sent by Gupta questions the validity of the acceptance because it can be considered as a modification of the contract since there was no indication regarding the date or manner of delivery in the initial offer sent by ACG. Thus, since there was no contract formed because there was no valid acceptance; Gupta cannot hold ACG in breach of contract. In this regard, ACG’s revocation of the offer will hold. This rule is also similar to the rules under Common Law which states that acceptance of an offer must be communicated â€Å"according to the terms in which the

High School Diferences Essay Example for Free

High School Diferences Essay There are four different grades in high school; freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior. From when you are a freshman you always want to meet new friends, and get good grades. No matter what your grade is, you are still a student. So in a way, all the students are the same, but they do have tons of differences. Freshmen, first of all are still learning where L-Hall is, but they are trying to make new friends too. Freshmen are not bad people, they don’t hurt anyone, and that’s one of the good sides. The main problem about them is that they are stuck too much in middle school. Their body is in high school, but their brain was left over at Mountain View. To be honest, some freshman are great, they are nice, and respectful. The other three-fourths are immature and laugh at any â€Å"Your mom† joke still. Seniors are the â€Å"All Powerful†. Everyone (besides teachers) look up to them. Freshman try and talk to them, and juniors try to act like them. I believe that seniors are the role models of the school, and are treated much better than other underclassmen. Seniors are usually skipping class, and procrastinating. The other seniors are trying to keep their grades up while frantically looking for Financial Aid and planning on what they will do next. Seniors are much better than freshmen, and everyone knows it. Seniors are the laid-back, I-don’t-want-to-be-at-school kind of people. They usually show up late to class while the freshmen get there ten minutes early. Seniors are usually driving over to Taco Bell for lunch, while freshmen stare at the nasty school food waiting for it to move. Yes, they do have all these differences, but seniors were once freshmen. In conclusion, seniors are much more mature, but lazy people. While the freshmen are trying to fit in, and find L-Hall, They all have their differences, but they are all students. They are all just kids, going to school day to day, thinking about their future.

Sonnys Blues Plot Analysis

Sonnys Blues Plot Analysis The contrasting lives of two brothers contribute to the theme of being safe while being risk takers. In this story, Baldwin writes about two brothers who grew up together. As each of the boys grew older, their friendship diminished and they ended up having two completely different lives. The narrator, who is the older brother seemed to be more cautious and had a more determined manner to develop a good future. Sonny, the younger brother, was more free and adventurous as he lived in the moment. Sonny did not even know what his plans were for the next hour, let alone the rest of his life. The narrators greatest source of dissatisfaction was his selfish desire to learn and live a respectable life safely as a teacher of high school algebra. When Sonny learns the consequences about drugs and the law, he feels threatened. Sonnys brother lives in a safe environment while Sonnys environment is very unsafe and that is why Baldwin carefully set the brothers as opposites. The narrator is a cons ervative, respectable family man who is a professor of mathematics and is proud of its professional status. In the story, Sonny interprets of the narrator, who worked for Sonny as guardian, father figure, and a brother-peer. The narrator describes Sonny as a savage, but not crazy. He says Sonny had always been a good boy, he never healed or evil or disrespectful, and how children can so quickly (Baldwin 85). He compared students Sonny: a dreamy, disillusioned and obedient, but is grappling with the desperation of his live in a poor promise. The author used the name of the story Sonnys Blues, to give readers a clue to the theme of history. Noun the blues is defined in the mood unhappiness and depression. This theme is present throughout the story. Blues is a style of music that reflects a sad mood. Blues as well as being in the music, the basic structure of the story, and as the narrator and his brother, Sonny has played a role in depression. Sonnys brother is a shared perspective on this story, because he feels responsible for keeping his brother safe. His Brother learns to listen to all this history to understand the life of Sonny. The narrator as he fought for his life and how he is now watching his younger brother, Sonny fought through the same situation. He worried about the life of Sonny that might not be able to escape the turmoil that life brings, above all, a musician who has no family ties and job security. Sonny tries to become a jazz musician, the narrator watches and listens as Sonny goes through many adversities in life. He does not want Sonny to be a jazz musician, because there is no future there. At the end of the story, Sonnys brother was invited into a nightclub to watch and listen to his brother. During his visit, he learns and listens to understand Sonny and how he uses his music to survive, and how the music gives meaning to their lives. In the central scene of Sonnys Blues, is when the narrator agrees to go with Sonny to the night jazz club. The narrators realization that he must accept Sonny for who he is happened at the night club. This is the first time that Sonnys brother feels content with Sonny as he plays the piano and listens to his blues music. There he meets Sonnys musician friends who appreciate the way in which the narrator accepted his brother. The next scene, the narrator begins to understand the language of jazz and how it has changed the lives of Sonny for the best. Director, Creole, who was the bassist of the band, did the brother of mighty deed teaching Sonny how to play the piano. The benefit of the blues helped Sonny to end his drug addiction. During this scene, the brother of Sonny reflected in Creole and Sonny saw him with respect, to let him run the band that made his brother see that Sonny had talent and pursued his talent. Living in a housing project in Harlem, Sonnys brother determined to protect themselves from the risks that surrounded them. You will notice that the narrator and Sonnys neighborhood were mostly blacks and poor people in Harlem. Their working class embittered father, whose pride and optimism is diminished fought to support the family to openly racism. Sonny, however, is a romantic artist, who is not afraid to take risks to pursue what he wants. His passion for music makes him impatient. He stayed away from school, but not away from danger. Sonny wants to live a respectful life but it is very hard for him. He did different things to try to escape this corruption, he tries to escape by joining the army, but fails. And he tries to escape by use of illegal drugs. When life feels like a toll on Sonny, he takes for his music. He realizes that his problems are real and that he can really escape them. Music is played in his life which changes his pain and suffering. Maybe not so that you can definitely stay away from danger, as the father of Sonny said, there is no safe place at all (Baldwin 95). Sonny music provides a channel to express the darkness within him, while his sense of life slowly recovers. The story of Sonnys Blues illustrated how life was growing up in an African American family during 1930 -1960s. Black Americans struggled to make their imprint on society. The life of the amazing blind musician Ray Charles comes to my mind as I struggle to understand how the African American culture learned to survive during this time. Sonny and Ray Charles had many of the same life experiences, in particular relying on drugs to forget their past and living in a society where the black man struggled to make a living. Both men used their music of rhythm and blues to gain respect from family and friends.

A Quantitative and Qualitative Look at Southwest Airlines and British Airways :: Airlines Marketplace Aviation Benchmarking

A Quantitative and Qualitative Look at Southwest Airlines and British Airways In today's competitive marketplace, all firms are seeking ways to improve their overall performance. One such method of improvement, recently adopted by many firms, is benchmarking. Benchmarking is a technique used to evaluate internal business processes. "In this analysis, managers determine the firm's critical processes and outputs, baseline those processes, then compare the performance of each process against a standard outside the industry" (Bounds, Yorks, Adams, & Ranney 1994). To effectively improve a business process to world-class quality, managers must find a firm that is recognized as a global leader, not just the industry standard. Successful benchmarking requires tailor-made solutions, not just blind copying of another organization. Measurement and interpretation of data collected is the key to creating business process solutions. "Benchmarking's real role has to be seen in the context of the organization that is continuously implementing improvement" (Bendell, Boulter, & Goodstadt 1998). Organizations implementing the benchmarking process are continuously looking to improve, and planning improvement. Improvements can be made by looking at the firm both internally and externally. Internal improvements are implemented by analyzing processes and setting targets for performance. However, output performance measures are not able to help management understand why a practice is effective. This understanding is a result of personal interpretation of the process. Organizations must look to other firms for ideas to borrow from global leaders, regardless of the scope of the necessary improvement. Equally important as data collection is the actual implementation of the newly acquired business practice. The most important aspect of benchmarking is to enable companies to employ the best business practices. This fundamental theory cannot be overstated. Global competition is growing due to the technological boom. The expansion of the Internet and digital communication has forced once domestic firms to consider foreign competitors. To remain ahead, companies are realizing they must match or exceed the business practices of the best in the world. "The only way that we can drive our organizations to excellence is to ensure that we keep our eyes on our competitors and world best practice in all aspects of business" (Bendell, Boulter, & Goodstadt 1998). Benchmarking should not be considered simply a tool of management, but rather an integral part of the business strategy of a firm. When implementing benchmarking, management must consider the overall issues of performance and process re-engineering. A Quantitative and Qualitative Look at Southwest Airlines and British Airways :: Airlines Marketplace Aviation Benchmarking A Quantitative and Qualitative Look at Southwest Airlines and British Airways In today's competitive marketplace, all firms are seeking ways to improve their overall performance. One such method of improvement, recently adopted by many firms, is benchmarking. Benchmarking is a technique used to evaluate internal business processes. "In this analysis, managers determine the firm's critical processes and outputs, baseline those processes, then compare the performance of each process against a standard outside the industry" (Bounds, Yorks, Adams, & Ranney 1994). To effectively improve a business process to world-class quality, managers must find a firm that is recognized as a global leader, not just the industry standard. Successful benchmarking requires tailor-made solutions, not just blind copying of another organization. Measurement and interpretation of data collected is the key to creating business process solutions. "Benchmarking's real role has to be seen in the context of the organization that is continuously implementing improvement" (Bendell, Boulter, & Goodstadt 1998). Organizations implementing the benchmarking process are continuously looking to improve, and planning improvement. Improvements can be made by looking at the firm both internally and externally. Internal improvements are implemented by analyzing processes and setting targets for performance. However, output performance measures are not able to help management understand why a practice is effective. This understanding is a result of personal interpretation of the process. Organizations must look to other firms for ideas to borrow from global leaders, regardless of the scope of the necessary improvement. Equally important as data collection is the actual implementation of the newly acquired business practice. The most important aspect of benchmarking is to enable companies to employ the best business practices. This fundamental theory cannot be overstated. Global competition is growing due to the technological boom. The expansion of the Internet and digital communication has forced once domestic firms to consider foreign competitors. To remain ahead, companies are realizing they must match or exceed the business practices of the best in the world. "The only way that we can drive our organizations to excellence is to ensure that we keep our eyes on our competitors and world best practice in all aspects of business" (Bendell, Boulter, & Goodstadt 1998). Benchmarking should not be considered simply a tool of management, but rather an integral part of the business strategy of a firm. When implementing benchmarking, management must consider the overall issues of performance and process re-engineering.

Aging Aircraft and Structural Failures

Aloha Airlines Flight 243: Structural Failure of an Aging Aircraft Safety 335 aloha Airlines Flight 243: Structural Failure of an Aging Aircraft The age of the United States' commercial aircraft fleet is a serious problem. The average age of commercial airline fleets is continuing to increase. As of year 2000, more than 2,500 commercial aircraft in the United States were flying beyond their original design lives. In 1988, a major incident in which the top peeled off an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 in flight, sweeping a flight attendant to her death, was blamed on weak maintenance of the old aircraft's structure.The flight attendant was swept overboard at 24,000 feet after a spontaneous failure of one of the aircraft's longitudinal joints. The aircraft involved, a Boeing 737, had been subjected to the severe operating environment particular to inter-island service during its 19-year lifespan. The Aloha Airlines 737 was the second oldest aircraft still in service. The aircraft, which had been designed for 75,000 flight cycles, had actually accumulated 89,680 cycles with stage lengths of 20 to 40 minutes. This intensive use also inflicts the loads associated with repeated pressurization and de-pressurization of the aircraft's cabin.Fuselage fatigue damage is primarily caused by the application of the pressurization cycle that occurs on each flight. Typically, the inter-island carriers fly at 23,000 ft while the cabin is pressurized to 8,000 creating a 5 psi differential. The fuselage of this aircraft suffered from extensive Multiple Site Damage (MSD). MSD occurs when stress factors are fairly uniform, so that small cracks appear and grow at roughly the same rate. Each individual crack is difficult to see and by itself poses little problem; however, the small cracks can join together to form a large crack (Oster, Clinton, Strong, Zorn, 1992).The Aloha 737's MSD's were cracks extending on both sides of rivet holes along the upper row of the lap joints along the fuselag e. Two other major fuselage failures existed on the upper row of rivets on the S10L lap joint. Near the forward entry door, the MSD cracks had joined to form a single crack about 6-8 inches long. Two passengers noticed this crack as they boarded the aircraft in Hilo, HI. The crack was long enough and wide enough that the internal fiberglass insulation was being extruded from it. The passengers did not report the crack, feeling that if the aircraft was not safe, the airline would obviously not fly it (NTSB, 1988).The focus of the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) hearings were the failure of the Boeing 737's design to Safely Decompress. Contrary to the NTSB findings, the fuselage did tear open a Safe Decompression Flap as designed. If the Flight Attendant had not been standing directly underneath the Flap when it occurred, the plane would probably not have suffered an explosive decompression (Hinder, 2000). The forces exerted on the fuselage by leveling of the aircraft wa s the final blow that caused a link up of MSD cracks at BS500 (Approximately Row 5) which were arrested by the Safe Decompression design causing the Flap to open.At the instant in time represented by Figure 1, the aircraft is in the process of rotating from climb to level flight, there is a tear in the S10L lap joint at approximately in front of row 1 and a Safe Decompression Flap at approximately Row 5. [pic] Figure 1 The cabin was pressurized. With the approximately 10†³ x10†³ opening, the internal cabin air began to escape at over 700 mph. The Flight Attendant who was reaching to pick up a cup from Passenger 5B was immediately sucked into but not through the Safe Decompression Flap. Only the Flight Attendant's right arm and head were forced through the opening.This effectively slammed the door shut on a 700 mph jet stream. The resultant reaction to corking a high velocity fluid flow is called a Fluid Hammer. The attempt to stop the high velocity airflow causes a pressur e spike of high value (hundreds of pounds per square inch) and short duration (only tens of thousandths of a second). The fuselage integrity was severely degraded due to the MSD and its 0. 036†³ (36 thousandths of an inch) pressure boundary wall thickness is only designed for about 8. 5 psi normal operating pressure differential. The fuselage could barely contain the normal operating pressure.The Fluid Hammer caused the fuselage skin to crack (Hinder, 2000). Fluid flow always follows the path of least resistance. With the Flap at row 5 plugged and the fuselage skin between in front of row 1 and row 5 completely severed, the internal cabin pressure begins to push outward on the fuselage skin, sensing the weakest point as halfway between in front of row 1 and row 5. This is the location identified by the NTSB as the probable location of the initial failure. For the next 0. 6 seconds (6 tenths of a second) the aircraft is propelled nose down and to the right by the internal air es caping from the disintegrating fuselage.The Flight Attendant begins to slide toward the rear of the aircraft as the lap joint separates. See Figure 2. [pic] Figure 2 For the next 1. 2 seconds the aircraft the moves up and to the left as sections of the fuselage continue to peel away. The section between row 1 and row 5 blows out and downward. The roof section blows up, tearing from the row 1 seam. At row 5, the roof crack angles diagonally back toward the top centerline of the aircraft. Aft of row 5, along the lap joint, above the joint, a diagonal piece folds back over on itself.Below the joint, the window belt section tears in a backward direction. The Flight Attendant continues to slide rearward. See Figure 3. [pic] Figure 3 The window belt section aft of row 5 and below the lap-joint folds back over rearward. This pops out the window just forward of the row 6 seam and tears the fuselage from the window to the lap joint. This allows the Flight Attendant's head and body to drop ap proximately 1 foot just as the section slams against the exterior fuselage. See Figure 4. [pic] Figure 4 The pilots told of a sudden whooshing sound at 24,000 ft. flying debris in the cockpit and a bouncing 25-mile descent with one engine out. The flight was diverted to Maui and a successful landing was accomplished with a significant portion of the fuselage missing. Sixty-nine of the 95 passengers sustained injuries from flailing wires, metal strips and wind burn (Hinder, 2000). According to the NTSB's report on the investigation, contributing factors were improper inspection by company maintenance personnel, inadequate supervision of maintenance personnel, inadequate supervision by the FAA and inadequate aircraft equipment from the manufacturer.Numerous other structural failure incidents of note in the same time period also brought to light significant problems to be addressed. In October 1988, a foot long crack was noted in a B-737 while stripping paint. In December 1988, a B-727 was noted with a 14†³ crack in the fuselage. In February 1989, a B-747 cargo door failed, the fuselage was torn off and nine passengers were sucked to their deaths. In July 1989, a pre-flight inspection revealed a 20†³ long fatigue crack in the wing of a B-727 (Oster, et al, 1992).Though durability and damage tolerance were issues prior to this, the Aloha incident is generally considered to be the start of the Federal Aviation Authorities (FAA) Focused Aging Aircraft Program. The first response to the accident was an industry-wide review of the adequacy of aircraft design and efficacy of maintenance programs. In general, the aviation community found that with proper maintenance and structural modifications and with attention to service related damage such as fatigue and corrosion, the service lives of airplanes could be safely extended (Seher, Smith, 2001).To identify and rectify issues related to operation of aircraft beyond their designed service objectives, the Air Wor thiness Assurance Working Group (AAWG), the National Aging Aircraft Program, and the National Aging Aircraft Research Programs were established. The National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) and the United States Air Force joined in and concentrated on research in fatigue and fracture issues associated with crack initiation, crack growth and residual strength of multi-site damaged fuselage skins (Seher, Smith, 2001).Though progress has been made in the area of aging aircraft, the continued desire to maintain aircraft in revenue service beyond their design service objectives and the poor financial performance of carriers, there will almost certainly be new structural integrity problems. It is the mission of the FAA's Aging Aircraft and Continued Airworthiness Programs to ensure that age-related problems are predicted and eliminated or mitigated prior to their having a major impact on safety. References Hinder, Prof. , (2000, January 17).Flight 243 Separation Sequence, Pos ted to Disaster city, archived at www. disastercity. com. National Transportation Safety Board Report Identification: DCA88MA054-AAR-89/03. Air Carrier Aloha Airlines Inc. , April 28, 1988, Maui, HI. Oster, C. , Strong, J. , Zorn, K. , (1992), Why Airplanes Crash, Aviation Safety in a Changing World, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Seher, C. , Smith, C. , (2001), Managing the Aging Aircraft Problem, Symposium on Aging Mechanisms and Control, Manchester, England.

Revolution in Communication

As a technology, it is called multimedia. As a revolution, it is the sum of many revolutions wrapped into one: A revolution in communication that combines the audio visual power of television, the publishing power of the printing press, and the interactive power of the computer. Multimedia is the convergence of these different professions, once thought independent of one another, coming together to form a new technological approach to the way information and ideas are shared. What will society look like under the evolving institutions of interactive multimedia technologies? Well, if the 1980†³s were a time for media tycoons, the 1990†³s will be for the self-styled visionaries. These gurus see a dawning digital age in which the humble television will mutate into a two-way medium for a vast amount of information and entertainment. We can expect to see: movies-on-demand, video games, databases, educational programming, home shopping, telephone services, telebanking, teleconferencing, even the complex simulations of virtual reality. This souped-up television will itself be a powerful computer. This, many believe, will be the world†s biggest media group, letting consumers tune into anything, anywhere, anytime. The most extraordinary thing about the multimedia boom, is that so many moguls are spending such vast sums to develop digital technologies, for the delivering of programs and services which are still largely hypothetical. So what is behind such grand prophecies? Primarily, two technological advances known as digitization (including digital compression), and fibre optics. Both are indispensable to the high-speed networks that will deliver dynamic new services to homes and offices. Digitization means translating information, either video, audio, or text, into ones and zeros, which make it easier to send, store, and manipulate. Compression squeezes this information so that more of it can be sent using a given amount of transmission capacity or bandwidth. Fibre-optic cables are producing a vast increase in the amount of bandwidth available. Made of glass so pure that a sheet of it 70 miles thick would be as clear as a window-pane, and the solitary strand of optical fibre the width of a human hair can carry 1,000 times as much information as all radio frequencies put together. This expansion of bandwidth is what is making two-way communication, or interactivity, possible. Neither digitization nor fibre optics is new. But it was only this year that America†s two biggest cable-TV owners, TCI and Time Warner , said they would spend $2 billion and $5 billion respectively to deploy both technologies in their systems, which together serve a third of America†s 60m cable homes. Soon, some TCI subscriptions will be wired to receive 500 channels rather than the customary 50; Time Warner will launch a trail full-service network in Florida with a range of interactive services. These two announcements signaled the start of a mad multimedia scramble in America, home market to many of the world†s biggest media, publishing, telecoms and computer companies, almost all of which have entered the fray. The reasons are simple: greed and fear: greed for new sources of revenue; fear that profits from current businesses may fall as a result of reregulation or cut-throat competition. Multimedia has already had a profound affect on how these businesses interact with one another. Mergers such as Time Warner, Turner Broadcasting, and Paramount have set the stage. These companies continue the race to be the first to lay solid infrastructure, and set new industry standards. Following in the shadows will be mergers between: software, film, television, publishing, and telephone industries, each trying to gain market share in the emerging market. So far, most firms have rejected the hostile takeovers that marked the media business in the 1980s. Instead, they have favored an array of alliances and joint ventures akin to Japan†s loose-knit Keiretsu business groupings. TCI†s boss, John Malone, evokes â€Å"octopuses with their hands in each other†s pockets-where one starts and the other stops will be hard to decide.† These alliances represent a model of corporate structure which many see as mere marriages of convenience, in which none wants to miss out on any futuristic markets. One may wonder how this race for market share and the merging of these corporations will affect them personally. Well, at this point and time, it is hard to say. However, there is some thought in the direction we are headed. The home market, which was stated earlier, has its origins based around early pioneers such as Atari, Nintindo, and Sega. These companies started with simple games, but as technology increased, it began to open up new doors. The games themselves are becoming more sophisticated and intelligent and are now offering some of the first genres capable of attracting and holding an adult audience. Just around the corner looms the promise of interactive television, which threatens to turn the standard American couch potato into the newly rejuvenated couch commando. Through interactive television, which will actually be a combination of the telephone, computer, and television, you will have access to shopping, movies, and other types of information on demand. As this technology increases, it will give way to a form that is known as virtual reality. Imagine, with the use of headgear, goggles, and sensory gloves, being able to actually feel and think you are in another place. For instance, going shopping at a mall could be done in the privacy of your own living room, by just strapping on your headgear. Another break through in the home market is video telephony. These are telephone systems that also broadcast video images. Imagine being able to communicate instantly with voice, picture, and text with a business colleague or a loved one thousands of miles away. Interactive multimedia systems promise to revolutionize education. In a complex world of constant change, where knowledge becomes obsolete every few years, education can no longer be something that one aquires during youth to serve for an entire lifetime. Rather, education must focus on instilling the ability to continue learning throughout life. Fortunately, the information-technology revolution is creating a new form of electronic, interactive education that should blossom into a lifelong learning system that allows almost anyone to learn almost anything from anywhere, at anytime. The key technology in future education is interactive multimedia. The purpose of multimedia in education as in so many other multimedia applications, is to: enhance the transfer of information, encourage participation, stimulate the senses and enhance information retention. Multimedia uses a powerful combination of earlier technologies that constitutes an extraordinary advance in the capability of machines to assist the educational process. Interactive multimedia combines computer hardware, software, and peripheral equipment to provide a rich mixture of text, graphics, sound, animation, full-motion video, data, and other information. Although multimedia has been technically feasible for many years, only recently has it become a major focus for commercial development. Interactive multimedia systems can serve a variety of purposes but their great power resides in highly sophisticated software that employs scientifically based educational methods to guide the student through a path of instruction individually tailored to suit the special needs of each person. As instruction progresses and intelligent systems are used, the system learns about the student†s strengths and weaknesses and then uses this knowledge to make the learning experience fit the need of that particular student. Interactive multimedia has several key advantages. First, students receive training when and where they need it. An instructor does not have to be present, so students can select the time best suited to their personal schedules. Second, students can adjourn training at any point in the lesson and return to it later. Third, the training is highly effective because it is based on the most powerful principles of individualized learning. Students find the program interesting, so they stick with it. Retention of the material learned is excellent. Fourth, the same videodisk equipment can be used to support a variety of training paths. Last, both the training and the testing are objectively and efficiently measured and tracked. Educational systems of this type, offered by IBM under the product labeled Ultimedia, engage students in an interactive learning experience that mixes color movie, bold graphics, music, voice narration, and text; for instance, the program Columbus allows students to relive the great navigator†s voyages and explore the New World as it looked when Columbus first saw it. The ability to control the learning experience makes the student an active rather than a passive learner. Other common systems include Sim City, Carmen San Diego, and a variety of popular multimedia games created by Broderbound Softwarek, one of the biggest companies in this new field. Rather than old drill and kill forms of computerized instruction that bore students, this new entertaining form of education is far more effective precisely because kids get totally immersed in an exciting experience. Classroom computers with multimedia capabilities seem to have sky-rocketed in every faucet of the education arena. From pre-schoolers to college students, learning adapting to this multimedia craze was not hard to do. Teachers and Professors alike share in this technology to plan out their curricular schedules and school calendar. Most will agree that classroom computers seem to have a positive effect on students of the 90†³s. As schools and universities become more technology driven, there will be an even bigger plea for more multimedia enhancements. The 1980†³s witnessed the introduction and widespread use of personal computers at all levels of schooling. During the decade the number of computers used in U.S. elementary and secondary schools increased from under 100,000 to over 2.5 million. A majority of students now use computers and computer software sometime during the school-year, either to learn about computers or as a tool for learning other subjects. By the end of the decade, the typical school had 1 computer per 20 students, a ration that computer educators feel is still not high enough to affect classroom learning as much as books and classroom conversion do.