Characteristics of a small business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Characteristics of a small business - Essay Example The first thing that is necessary for a small business is with respect to its ownership. A small business should be a sole proprietorship rather than a subsidiary or a branch. Within USA, the number of employees within a small business should range 500 to 1500 within a manufacturing firm; contrastingly within Europe, this range is limited to 50 employees to consider a business as small. Considering the revenue characteristic, the amount of revenue being generated annually should range from $5 million to $21 million (considering the business is within US and persists to retailing). If the nature of the business relates to a service industry, the annual receipts should range between $2.5 million to $21.5 million. General and Heavy construction businesses should generate annual revenue between $13.5 million to $17 million in order to be attributed as a small business. With respect to the industry and the businesses’ dominance, a business should not be operating within such an ind ustry where it is the only buyer or the lone seller. This would lead to the business being classified as a monopoly and hence the business may not be considered as a small business. Besides that, the legal environment within a country usually restrains a company from operating as a monopoly. This is a certain legal restriction imposed by the government of a country to serve the greater good of the public in order to ensure that businesses do not charge a high price. There is a strong belief within the US that small businesses help in generating the highest level of jobs. As small businesses are usually sole-proprietorship, its work life balance helps in reducing racial differences and it also helps in empowering the women of the country via increased self-employment. Small businesses help in stimulating the country economy. This stimulation is made possible by the creation of employment, hence eradicating

Short answers about Introduction to Political Economy Essay - 3

Short answers about Introduction to Political Economy - Essay Example In a bid to take over the market, firms enhance internal efficiency, adopt new technologies, invest in innovations, and reduce inefficiency on managerial level (Office of Fair Trading 6). In the economic systems that are based on free markets, the latter are major determinants of market outcomes. In the situation when the market failure occurs because of the fact that this market’s quality, price, or quantity do not meet established social welfare norms, economic regulation is used. Its major aim is to prevent market failure. It is desirable since it prevents the market failure (Jacobs & Rapoport 353). The major difference between capture theory and public interest theory is that the latter believes that regulation is inherently effective: it leads to the society getting better off. By contrast, capture theories assert that regulation works in the interest of a particular group which has succeeded in making its case to some regulatory agency or some legislative body (Hovenkamp 133) In his Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx lists 10 steps needed to destroy the system of free enterprise and replace it with system of all-powerful governmental rule. This will bring in the communist state. These steps of 10 Planks of The Communist Manifesto are 1) abolition of private property and giving all land rents for public use; 2) a heavy progressive (or graduated) income tax; 3) abolition of rights of inheritance; 4) property confiscation from all rebels and emigrants; 5) centralization of credit in the state’s hands through national bank; 6) centralization all transportation and communications in the state’s hands; 7) factories’ extension; waste lands’ cultivation; 8) equal liability of all people to labor; 9) agriculture and manufacture combination, as well as equitable population distribution around the country; 10) free education in all public schools (Sims 194). The earliest position in the timeline of

Interests of Third Parties in Properties

Interests of Third Parties in Properties The main issue arising from this problem is the question of establishing various interests of third parties in the two properties, and the differing procedures for doing so, given that Rust Plot is a registered fee simple title, while Umber Plot is an unregistered fee simple title. This brief will attempt to answer the questions regarding the proposed ‘agricultural use only’ deed, whether Steve has any legal interests in the properties as he claims to have, and also whether Traci has an equitable interest in both properties arising from the common law and the doctrine of constructive notice. The first issue to be addressed is whether or not the deed produced by Quentin, which outlines Vernon’s promise to use the land for agricultural purposes only, still has a binding effect upon Peter after his purchase of the land. There is, therefore, a claim made by Quentin that there is an existing covenant on the properties which should bind successive owners of the property. There is no evidence in the facts to suggest that the deed is procedurally invalid (i.e. that it does not comply with the formality requirements of section 52(1) of Law of Property Act 1925, and section 1 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989), so it will be assumed that the deed is valid in nature. This brief will, therefore, consider whether this deed is binding upon Peter, given that it was created between Quentin and Vernon (the previous owner of the property). Under statutory law, the promises made in leases made by deed will normally become covenants.[1] The courts would norma lly construe the terms of the lease as covenants unless the language used in the lease clearly makes that term a condition[2] (i.e. the landlord would have a right to automatically bring the term of the lease to an end for breach of a condition, but not for a covenant). So there is no disputing that the deed was binding upon Vernon, the previous owner, and Quentin at some point, so it is therefore incumbent upon me to advise as to whether the deed is now binding on Peter. Section 3 of the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 provides that the â€Å"benefit and burden†[3] of all landlord and tenant covenants in the tenancy shall form part of the premises, and shall pass upon transfer of ownership. This transfer of covenants is pursuant to other provisions, which specifies that if the covenant is personal to another person then it cannot be transferred.[4] Therefore, under the ‘new law’ (provided that the tenancy was granted after the introduction of this Act ( 1 January 1996)), the covenant will be enforceable against Peter, and thus he will have to use the grounds for agricultural purposes only. If the lease was created before this time, it would fall under the jurisdiction of the old (common) law. The main source of authority for this issue is Spencer’s Case (1583) 5 Co Rep 16a, which states that a third party (i.e. the new owner) can only be bound by previous covenants if: There is privity of estate between the new owner and the tenant; and The covenant â€Å"touches and concerns† the premises in question. Considering these two principles, it would be clear that Peter would also be bound by the covenant under the old law, given that Peter has a privity of estate with Quentin as his new landlord, and the proposed covenant directly relates to the property.[5] Therefore, under either law, Peter would not be able to use the land for his intended building proposals, and must therefore use the land for agricultural purposes only. The question of Steve’s rights to both properties is dependant upon the legality of the document with which he claims his rights. This document is an old brown envelope, and does not claim to be a deed. Peter claims a legal interest in the land, and thus there is a requirement that this interest must be made by deed.[6] However, the formal requirements for a deed differ depending upon when the deed was executed. Given it is unclear in the facts as to what the date of execution of the deed was, both scenarios will be considered. If the deed was executed prior to 31 July 1990, then there is a requirement that the deed must be signed, sealed and delivered. The facts do not make clear whether the envelope was signed, however it would be reasonable to conclude that the document was not sealed by, at least, a red printed circle containing the letters ‘LS’. Therefore, under the old law, the document would most likely be invalid and Peter would not be bound by it. Under t he new statutory law, there are now requirements that the deed must proclaim that it is, in fact, a deed.[7] It must also be signed by both parties, and also witnessed and delivered.[8] The document does not claim to be anything more than an old brown envelope, and therefore cannot be deemed to be a deed, regardless of whether or not the other criteria are satisfied. Therefore, the proposed contract to create a legal interest for Steve in the properties is invalid, and thus he does not have a recognisable legal interest that Peter must honour. In regards to Traci’s equitable interest in the land, it is enforceable under statute provided it complies with the characteristics of an equitable interest.[9] Under common law regarding unregistered land, it was deemed that the occupation of the land by the wife of the owner of the legal interest will be regarded as separate from that of the husband.[10] Therefore, under this common law provision, it could be argued that Vernon has had constructive notice as to Traci’s equitable interests in the unregistered Umber Plot due to her crops growing in there, while also the fact that her tractor (clearly marked) is garaged in the barn on Rust Plot could also be argued to be constructive notice to both Peter and Vernon.[11] Therefore, the common law recognises that Traci has an equitable interest in both plots of land, and thus she must be considered in any negotiations. In summary, the law has appropriately addressed the concerns the Peter has raised. There is no way under law that Peter can use the land for anything else but agricultural purposes, and thus cannot build his proposed housing development. Steve does not have any legal interest in either property to either garage his collection of cars, or claim a 10% stake in the crops grown on Umber Plot. Finally, the common law recognises that Traci has an interest in both plots that is not recognised as a legal interest; however relief can be appropriately sourced through turning to the principles of equity. Bibliography Books Clarke, A, and Kohler, P, Property Law: Commentary and Materials (2005), London: Cambridge University Press Gray, K, and Gray, SF, Land Law (2006, 4th ed), London: Oxford University Press MacKensie, J, and Phillips, M, Textbook on Land Law (2004, 10th ed), London: Oxford University Press Legislation Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 Law of Property Act 1925 Cases Doe d Henniker v Watt (1828) 8 B C 308 Kingsnorth Finance Co Ltd v Tizard [1986] 1 WLR 783 Spencer’s Case (1583) 5 Co Rep 16a Williams Glyn’s Bank Ltd v Boland [1981] AC 487 1 Footnotes [1] Law of Property Act 1925, s 52. [2] Doe d Henniker v Watt (1828) 8 B C 308. [3] Judith-Anne MacKensie and Mary Phillips, Textbook on Land Law (2004, 10th ed), 213. [4] Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995, s 3(6)(a). [5] See also P A Swift Investments v Combined English Stores Group plc [1989] AC 632, 642 for further explanation regarding ‘touching and concerning’. [6] Law of Property Act 1925, s 52(1). [7] Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, s 1(a). [8] Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, s 1(b). [9] Law of Property Act 1925, s 1(3). [10] Kingsnorth Finance Co Ltd v Tizard [1986] 1 WLR 783. [11] See Williams Glyn’s Bank Ltd v Boland [1981] AC 487, 508 in regards to registered land and equitable interests therein.

Wordsworth: Tintern Abbey And Lyrical Ballads :: essays research papers

Born in 1770 at Cockermouth in the heart of the Lakes District in England. William Wordsworth grew up in a rustic society and his beautiful and ageless poetry often reflect this. Wordsworth’s mother died in 1778 and in 1779 he was sent to grammar school in Hawkshead. Wordsworth’s father died in 1783, leaving his uncles as guardians. They tried to guide him towards a career in law or in the church and he was accepted into Cambridge in 1787. Wordsworth was uninspired to work towards a career he had little interest in and subsequently his grades, which bordered on the average, reflected this. Before completing his final term of college Wordsworth went for a walking tour of Europe and finally received his degree in 1791 but had no direct plans for his future. He returned to France in 1791 and stayed a full year, during this time became an enthusiastic advocate of the French Revolution. Money concerns forced him to return to England and he was unable to return to France unt il 1802 due to war breaking out between the two countries. In 1795 two things happened that ultimately changed the course of Wordsworth’s life. In August of 1795 a young friend whom Wordsworth had been nursing died of tuberculosis and left him a grant of 900 pounds. His friend had hoped that with this money Wordsworth would be able to devote his life to poetry, and in August of 1795 Wordsworth met Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Over the next two years their friendship would grow and in 1797 William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy moved to Alfoxden House, which was only a few miles from Coleridge’s home. The creative partnership between these two young poets would eventuate in the first publishing of Lyrical Ballads. The publication of Lyrical Ballads represented a turning point for English poetry. It was released anonymously on October 4th, 1798 and the learned old guard of literary England was mostly unaware that a form of â€Å"literary revolution† had taken place. Previous ages had considered the aim of poetry to be used as a tool to change people’s behaviour or as a learning mechanism. Wordsworth launched the Romantic Era of poetry and paved the way for many of the romantic poets that came after him. John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley to name but two. Coleridge encouraged Wordsworth to write a preface to Lyrical Ballads. A preface that would explain the work contained within the collection.

Why Did the Japanese Take over Manchuria?

There are a few reasons why the Japanese chose to take over Manchuria. One reason is that the Japanese had owed a rail line and had claimed that the Chinese had sabotaged the railway; this was called the Mukden incident. The Japanese then sent in their own troops to Manchuria and claimed that they had acted in self defence and were just resolving that issue.Another reason is that the Japanese had suffered from the great depression and was seeking a way to overcome the depression by expanding its empire, the Japanese was at the time being run by the military and therefore was building up its army and therefore the Japanese invaded Manchuria to show how powerful their military was.Finally, Japan felt they needed to take over Manchuria was because Manchuria had much raw materials and by making Manchuria part of Japan they would have an unlimited supply of resources that there country was in need of and they will be able to expand their economy and therefore Japan wouldn’t be in s uch an economical crisis. The League of Nations had responded by sending over some officers to asses which country was the aggressor although it was thought from beginning that Japan was the aggressive country.The league took a long time to respond and we see that the league wasn’t as powerful as before, as when they did impose economical sanctions Japan had not listened. Japan carried on with their invasion and the League was powerless to stop them as they had no army to stop them with. Another reason the League didn’t stop them was as they were a powerful country and we see that the league only sorted out successful disputes when dealing with countries that didn’t have much power.As well as that, Britain and France were also suffering from the great depression and focused on restoring their countries problems rather than sorting out disputes. Japan was also far away from Europe so the league didn’t feel as responsible to deal with the affairs that were not in Europe. One main reason the league was unsuccessful was because the Japanese had left the League of Nations when the League instructed them to leave and the League was then left powerless against them.The Leagues response indicated that they were weak in forcing a strong country to listen to them and as well the League was falling apart as all the major countries involved in the League were more interested to restore their country after the great depression than actually invest in the League and force its sanctions. The League was also powerless as when they had imposed economical sanctions it didn’t really destroy the country’s economy as Russia and the USA were not part of the league and as they were powerful countries their not being part of the League reflected on the Leagues ability to enforce these sanctions.

Real Estate Bubble in China: the Present and the Future

The concern over whether China is experiencing a real estate bubble has increased, especially after Dubai crisis happened. The construction area of both residential and commercial properties has increased by almost 6 times since year of 2000. China has enjoyed a sharp increase in property price since 2006. Especially, after 2009, due to the large stimulus package, majority of the money went to construction and real estate industry. It further pushed up the property price, leading to a lot families became the â€Å"slave of the property† who were struggled to pay the mortgage. Not only the high price has affected most people‘s lives in China, it could also greatly affect Chinese economy and even the global economy. Domestically, the prosperity of real estate industry is fuelled by local investment and easy band loan. According to MSN Money, there is an increase of 38. 2% from 2010 in property market , mainly from developers and speculators. The scale of loans goes to property market is even more scary, up to $1. 3 trillion. People have compared the real estate bubble of China to the United States. The question is will Chinese property bubble has the similar effect? Fortunately, the difference between China and the United States are quite striking. The factors lead to the collapse of property market in United States will unlikely to happen. In China, a country with high saving rate, people used to buy property in cash 4 or 5 years ago. Even in the heyday of residential mortgages, the loan is not as easy as in the U. S. Down payment amount is much higher than in the U. S. A decline of 20 to 30 % in prices will not let the bubble burst in China. In conclusion, the burst of real estate bubble is not easy in China and, if happened, will have limited effect to the world economy. In this paper, I will try to present the whole picture of Chinese real estate market from the current situation to how it evolves, and will touch on the future as well. This will be achieved with the help of some data and the explanations of ratios. Section II: A Real Estate Bubble in China? The first question needs to be answered is that is there a real estate bubble in China? Since government tries to avoid this sensitive word â€Å"bubble†, and data are not reliable. People have to figure them out and estimate how large the bubble is. Bubble is believed to exist in many major cities of China. For example, in Beijing, real estate prices rose by 350% to 900 % only in 7 years from 2003 to 2010(Figure 1). Other indicators of real estate bubble have reached an alarming status in China in many major cities, including Beijing, Shanghai , Nanjing , Hangzhou and so on. The even striking fact in China is that you can hear stories about â€Å"empty cities† very often. China has the second largest mall empty in southeast China, and modern empty city in Ordos. These are only the cases that you know and easy to identify. However, more empty streets or blocks are in the cities, waiting for people to move in. Ghost City Ordos: the famous empty city in China is Ordos, which is located in the north part of China. Ordos is the second richest city in China, followed by Shanghai, even richer in term s of per capita than Beijing. The city is rich because of abundant natural resources. One –sixth of China‘s coal reserve, one –third of it is natural gap reserves. The GDP has increased at 25% per year, much higher than the national level. With such a huge amount of money, local government wants to attract more people to stay in Ordos. This is how the empty city comes from. The new city was designed to accommodate 300, 000 people, with a capacity of holding 1 million people. Currently, you can hardly see any people on the street, even though most of the properties have been sold out. Surprisingly, the city is still under construction. The local government still believes that they can fill in the new city soon. Unfortunately, the stories about empty cities have been repeated on and on in China. This has been interpreted as a sign of over investment and real estate bubble. In the case, the apartments have all been sold out, even though nobody moves in. ecause most people believe that property will grow definitely. For investment purpose, most of them prefer to buy one. This kind of behavior has contributed to the high vacancy rate in China, High Vacancy Rate: since official data are not reliable, the concrete number of vacancy rate is not available from official sources. The reason for this has been that government officials said that, they don't know what vacancy rate means. Obviously, government is trying to avoid knowing the fact. Somehow, people have provided a rough estimate on the vacancy rate. They are using how many electric meters that have no readings for 6 months as an indicator of vacancy rate. Overall, we got a number of 65. 4 million apartments. It is estimated that the vacancy rate is as high as 36%. With such a high vacancy rate, people are wondering how large the real estate bubble in China will be. James S. Chanos, one of the first foresee the collapse of Enron and earn large profit from hedge fund, gave the answer, it will be Dubai times 1000. A growing number of economists and hedge funds managers have been believed that Chinese economy is a big bubble. Others argue that China is definitely not a bubble, the development is real. There is overheating in some area, but infrastructure construction is still necessary to a country like China with such a huge population. Still, a lot people live in area without roads. The demand of properties is still more than the supply of apartments, due to the urbanization and economic growth. The pent up demand from city dwellers for better living condition, in the future, will convert to real development in economy. Even in 2009, when residential property prices enjoy a high fluctuation, the construction area has increased by 40. 7%, largely due to the central government‘s stimulus financial package. Figure 4 Section III , What are the forces that push up the price? In China, it is more than market demand and supply that determine the price . Local government, individual investors, and central banks are also involved, which make the issue more complicated. Recent years’ increase in property price has created an impression that real estate market will keep growing in the future. Unfortunately, this is also the belief in the U.  S. real estate market which, ultimately, results in economic recession. Thus, almost everybody bet on the future of real estate market. In this section, I will analyze both the market reasons and social factors that contribute to present situation in China. In terms of market demand, the demand for property comes from two kinds of groups. One is from the new migrants from rural places in China. Another is from local residences who want better living condition. Due to the urbanization process and economic growth in recent years, the demand will increase in the long term. This has been part of the reason why investors bet on the market growth. At the same time, governments and real estate developers have made an effort to supply enough apartments to meet the increasing demand. According to Macroeconomic principle , it seems that these have been enough to explain the fact. In an emerging country, political issues are unavoidable in any sense. Land sales have become an essential resource of local government’s revenue which means high property price shares the burden of high land-use right. In China, people don't buy land instead they are renting land for a certain amount of time. Normally, it is 70 years. In this sense, you are renting the land or buy the right to use the land for 70 years. Because of the conflict of interest, local governments are not enthusiastic in applying the central government’s price control policies. In order to facilitate the transaction, local governments even requires very low upfront. Question concerning this will be further mentioned in the next part. It has shown that in Beijing and Hangzhou, land sales have accounted for more than 30% of tax revenue. Thus , local authority has less incentive to tackle the problem. Only average home buyers bear the cost of high property price. Individual investors and state-owned companies made things worse as well. Since state-owned companies normally have much solid financial foundations than private companies, they are more likely to win the land sales bid. It was shown in Beijing that 82 % of land auctions are won by SOEs. These large firms are owned by central government, so in turn, if SOEs didn't win the auction or real estate market suffer a big crisis , both the SOEs and central authority will be affected. This has encourage local government to cooperate with SOEs. For individuals, they store apartments, waiting for a moment when real estate price goes even higher. Earning quick money is all their purpose. High vacancy rate can explain the situation. Section IV, How Real Estate bubble will affect China’s economy? Unlike other industries, real estate industry affects not only the industry itself but also social safety, political stability and financial stability in China. There are mainly two types of risk that will threaten the development of China’s economy, namely, loose mortgage policy for individuals and corporate. Mortgage loans are relatively new to Chinese residence. Most people pay cash to buy property instead of real estate loans. However, it grows almost 50% per year. The proportion of mortgage loans in nominal GDP has increased by 5 % in just one year. When big fluctuation of property price happens, it is likely that majority of property owners’ benefit will be affected from two perspectives. First of all, it will mean the shrink of the value of lifetime saving. As property is the largest investment of most families, the decline of price is also the shrink of their wealth. Secondly, households will become more conservative in investing in the future. People will spend less money on consumption and put more money into banks instead. On the other hand, individual and corporate mortgage loans will also pose a threat to the banking system. For individuals, mortgage loans are relatively new. Chinese used to pay cash for their properties. Nowadays, mortgage loans have enjoyed a 50% increase in just one year. When property price declines, the majority of loan owners will have difficulty in paying the mortgage. When it comes in a large scale, private banks can go bankrupt. Due to some negotiation between different groups, real estate developers don't need to pay the full amount of bidding price, instead they only need to pay a small portion to get the right to use the land. To be specific, if a firm wins a bid which worth 5 billion RMB, only one-tenth of the full amount need to be paid initially. What‘s more, firm can get a loan from banks by using the land as a collateral at the amount of 2. 5 billion. It is clear that firms don't take as much risk as we thought and they can use the extra money to invest in biding for more land. Whenever there is market fluctuation or crisis, these firms and banks will definitely have a difficult time. Conclusion: Opinion diverts in interpreting overheating in construction industry. Some believe that China has a real estate bubble and it will burst soon. Others disagree, thinking this is an exaggeration of the problem of overheating investment in real estate industry in some areas. Personally, with the evidence mentioned above, real estate bubble does exist in China. However, the real demand is there as well. Most of the problems come from over investment in some areas. Resource misallocation leads to the unreasonable increase in property value. More market liberalization and less state-owned companies compete in the industry will help solve the problem. The importance of property even relates to marriage. There is an article in New York Times, titled† In China, Money can buy Love†. Owning a property has become the condition for marrying to somebody. If property price jumps dramatically, not only the economy will be affected, but also social well-being.

The First Historical Hobby and Home Computers

The First Historical Hobby and Home Computers The first Apple was just a culmination of my whole life. Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computers In 1975, Steve Wozniak was working for Hewlett Packard, the calculator manufacturers, by day and playing computer hobbyist by night, tinkering with the early computer kits like the Altair. All the little computer kits that were being touted to hobbyists in 1975 were square or rectangular boxes with non-understandable switches on them,† Wozniak said. He realized that the prices of some computer parts like microprocessors  and memory chips  had dropped so low that he could buy them with maybe a months salary. Wozniak decided that he and fellow hobbyist Steve Jobs could afford to  build their own home computer. The Apple I Computer Wozniak and Jobs released the Apple I computer on April Fools’ Day 1976. The Apple I was the first single circuit board home computer. It came with a video interface, 8k of RAM and a keyboard. The system incorporated some economical components like dynamic RAM and the  6502 processor, which was designed by Rockwell, produced by MOS Technologies and cost only about $25 dollars at the time.   The pair showed the prototype Apple I at a meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club,  a local computer hobbyist group based in Palo Alto, California. It was mounted on plywood with all the components visible. A local computer dealer, the Byte Shop, ordered 100 units if Wozniak and Jobs would agree to assemble the kits for their customers. About 200 Apple Is were built and sold over a 10-month period for the superstitious price of $666.66. The Apple II Computer Apple Computers was incorporated in 1977 and the Apple II computer model was released that year. When the  first West Coast Computer Faire was held in San Francisco, attendees saw the public debut of the Apple II, available for $1,298. The Apple II was also based on the 6502 processor, but it had color graphicsa first for a personal computer. It used an audio cassette drive for storage. Its original configuration came with 4 kb of RAM, but this was increased to 48 kb a year later and the cassette drive was replaced with a floppy disk drive. The Commodore PET The Commodore PET–a personal electronic transactor or, as rumor has it, named after the pet rock fad–was designed by Chuck Peddle. It was first presented at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in January 1977, and later at the West Coast Computer Faire. The Pet Computer also ran on the 6502 chip, but it cost only $795half the price of the Apple II. It included 4 kb of RAM, monochrome graphics and an audio cassette drive for data storage. Included was a version of BASIC in 14k of ROM. Microsoft developed its first 6502-based BASIC for the PET and sold the source code to Apple for Apple BASIC. The keyboard, cassette drive and small monochrome display all fit within the same self-contained unit. Jobs and Wozniak showed the Apple I prototype to Commodore and Commodore agreed to buy Apple at one point in time, but  Steve Jobs ultimately decided not to sell. Commodore bought MOS Technology instead and designed the PET. The Commodore PET was Apple’s chief rival at the time.   The TRS-80 Microcomputer Radio Shack introduced its TRS-80 microcomputer, also nicknamed the Trash-80,† in 1977. It was based on the Zilog Z80 processor, an 8-bit microprocessor whose instruction set is a superset of the Intel 8080. It came with 4 kb of RAM and 4 kb of ROM with BASIC. An optional expansion box enabled memory expansion and audio cassettes were used for data storage, similar to the PET and the first Apples. Over 10,000 TRS-80s were sold during the first month of production. The later TRS-80 Model II came complete with a disk drive for program and data storage. Only Apple and Radio Shack had machines with disk drives  at that time. With the introduction of the disk drive, applications for the personal home computer proliferated as the distribution of software became easier.