COMPUTERS IN YOUR LIFE

by Melvin Berger ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 15, 1981

Not how computers work but the work computers do and presumably will do in a vacuum-packed electronics future. As in his 1972 introduction to Computers, Berger first takes readers on a gadget-level tour of a computer's input, storage, control, processing, and output units. The rest surveys some of its more dramatic or close-to-home functions--in hospitals, schools, homes, business, and government. We learn that libraries are switching to ""zebra stripe"" circulation control, that pilots are confronted with simulated collisions during training sessions, that a machine might soon beat the world champion chess player, that a combination telephone-printout system can facilitate long-distance communication, and that Japan's horrendous auto traffic is computer-controlled. Characteristically, Berger doesn't deal with the implications of these systems for workers, consumers, and society in general, or with the science of computers. What we do have is a slide show on the wonders of computers--some of which may elicit the called-for wonderment.

Pub Date: April 15, 1981

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: T. Y. Crowell

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1981

Categories: NONFICTION