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Univers'tSt HamburgI j r I n l o r m a t i k

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( ! ? n f u t ^ L A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d .

Additional c o p l > . . r . S ? postpaid f r o . H u g o ' s B o o k S e r v i c e , B o x 2 6 2 2 , C h i c a g o , I l l i n o i s 6 0 6 9 0 .

P a e k a R e o f t e n c o p i e s , $ 5 0 p o s t p a i d .

Any nitwit can understand computers, and many do. Unfortunately, due to ridiculous historical circumstances, computers have been made a mystery to most of the w orld .And this situation does not seem to be Improving. You hear more and more about computers, but to most people it's just one big b lu r . The people who know sbout computers often seem unwilling to explain things or answer your questions . Stereotyped notions develop about computers operating In fixed w ays-- and so confusion increases. The chasm between lsymen and computer people widens fast and dangerously .

This book Is a measure of desperation, so serious and abysms! Is the public sense of confusion and ignorance. Anything with buttons or lights can be palmed off on the layman as a computer. There are so many different things, and their differences are so important; yet to the lay public they are lumped together as "computer stuff." indistinct and beyond understanding or criticism. Its as If people couldn't tell apart camera from exposure meter or tripod, or car from truck or tollbooth. This book is therefore devoted to the premise that

EVERYBODY SHOULD UNDERSTAND COMPUTERS .

It is intended to fill a crying need. Lots of everyday people have aeked me where they can learn about computers, and 1 have had to say nowhere. Most of what is written about computers for the layman is either unreadable or silly .(Some exceptions are listed nearby: you can go to them Instead of this if you w ant.) B ut virtually nowhere is the big picture simply enough explained. Nowhere can one get a sim ple, soup-to-nut6 overview of what computers are really about, without technical or mathematical mumbo- jumbo, complicated examples, or talking down. This book is an attempt.

(And nowhere have I seen a simple book explaining to the layman the fabulous wonderlsnd of computer graphics which awaits us a l l . a matter which means a great deal to me personally . as well as a lot to all of us in g en e ra l.That's discussed on the flip side.)

Computers are simply a necessary and enjoyable part of life, like food and books. Computers are not everything, they are just an aspect of everything, and not to know this is computer Illiteracy, a silly and dangerous ignorance.

Computers are as easy to understand as cameras.I have tried to make this book like a photography magazine-- breery , forceful and as vivid ss possible. This book will explain how to tell apples from oranges and which way la u p . If you want to make c id e r, or help get things right aide u p , you will have to go on from h ere .

I am not a skillful programmer, hands-on person or eminent professional; I am just a computer fa n . computer fanatic if you will. But if Dr. David Reuben can write about sex I can certainly write about computers. I have written this like a letter to a nephew , chatty and personal. This is perhaps less boring for the re sd e r . and certainly less boring for the w r ite r . who is doing this in a h u rr y . Like a photography magazine, it throws at you some rudiments In a merry setting. Other things are thrown in so you'll get the sound of them, even if the details are e lusive.(We learn most everyday things by beginning with vague impressions, but somehow encouraging these is not usually felt to be respectable.) What I have chosen for inclusion here has been a rb itr a ry . based on what might amuse and give quick Insight. Any bright highschool k id , or anyone else who can stumble through the details of s photography magazine, should be able to understand this book, o r get the main ideas. This will not make you a programmer or a computer person , though it may help you talk that ta lk . and perhaps make you feel more comfortable (or at least able to cope) when new machines encroach on your life.If you can get a chance to learn programming-- see the suggestions on p . - - i t 's an awfully good experience for anybody above fourth g ra d e . But the main idea of this book is to help you tell apples from o ranges. and which wsy is up. I hope you do go on from here, and have made a few suggestions.

1 am "publiahing" this book myself. In this first draft form, to test its viability, to see how mad the computer people g e t . and to see If there is as much hunger to understand computers, among all you Polks Out T h e re , as I th ink .I will be interested to receive corrections and suggestions for subsequent editions. if any . (The computer field is Its own exploding u n iv erse , so I'll worry about up-to-dateness at that time.)

0 * T HU * * * ;Man has created the myth of "the computer" in his own image,

or one of them: cold, immaculate, s terile , "scientific." oppressive.

Some people flee this image. O thers, drawn toward it, have joined the cold-sterile-oppressive cu lt, and propagate it like a faith. Many are still sbout this mischief, making people do things rigidly and saying it is the computer's fault.

Still others see computer* for what they really are: versatile gizmos which may be turned to any pu rpose , in any style. And so a wealth of new stylea and human purposes are being proposed and tried , each proponent propounding his own dream in his own very personal way.

This book presents s panoply of things and dreams. Perhaps some will appeal to the re a d e r . ..

THE COMPUTER PRIESTHOOD

Knowledge is power and so it tends to be hoarded. Experts in any field rarely want people to understand what they do .and generally enjoy putting people down.

Thus if we say that the use of computers Is dominated by a priesthood. people who spatter you with unlntelligable answ ers and seem unwilling to give you straight ones. it is not that they are different in this respect from any o ther profession. Doctors, lawyers and construction engineers are the same way.

But computers are very spec ial. and we have to deal with them everywhere, and this effectively gives the computer priesthood a stranglehold on the operation of all large organizations. of government bureaux, and anything else that they r u n . Members of Congress are now complaining about control of information by the computer people. that they cannot get the information even though it 's on computers.Next to this it seems a small matter that in ordinary companies "untrained" personnel can't gel straight questions answered by computer people; but it 's the same phenomenon.

It is imperative for many reasons that the appalling gap between public and computer insider be closed. As the saying goes . war is too important to be left to the genera ls. Guardianship of the computer can no longer be left to a p riesthood. 1 see this as just one example of the creeping evil of Professionalism .* the control of aspects of society by cliques of in siders. There may be some chance, though, that Professionalism can be turned around. Doctors, for example, are being told that they no longer own people's b o d ies . "* And this book may suggest to some computer professionals that their position should not be as sacrosanct a s they have thought, cither.

This in not to say that computer people are trying to louse everybody up on pu rpose . Like anyone trying to do a complex job as he sees f i t . they don't want to be bothered with idle questions and complaints. Indeed, probably any group of insiders would have hoarded computers just as much. If the computer had evolved from the telegraph (which it just might h av e ) . perhaps the librarians would have hoarded it conceptually as much as the math and engineering people have. But things have gone too far.People have legitimate complaints about the way computers a re u s e d . and legitimate ideas for ways they should be used , which should no longer be shunted aside.

In no way do I mean to condemn computer people in general. (Only the ones who don't want you to know what's going on .) The field is full of fine, imaginative people. Indeed, the number of creative and brilliant people known within the field for their clever and creative contributions is considerable. They deserve to be known as widely a s . s a y , good photographers or w r ite rs .

"Computers are catching h^ll from growing multitudes who see them uniformly as the tools of the regulation and suffocation of all things w arm . moist, and human. The charges, of course, ' are not totally unfounded, but in their most sweeping form they are ineffective and therefore actually an acquiescence to the dehumanization which they d e c ry . We clearly need a much more discerning evaluation in order to clarify the ethics of various roles of machines in human affairs."

Ken Knowltonin "Collaborations with A rtists--

a Programmer's Reflections" in Nake a Rosenfeld, e d s . ,

Graphic Languages (North-Holland Pub. C o .), p. 399.

* This is a side point. I see Professionalism aa a spreading disease of the present-day world, a sort of poly-oligarchy by which various groups (subway conductors, social w orkers, bricklayers) can b ring things to a halt if their particular new increased demands are not met. (Meanwhile, the Irrele vance of each profession increases , in proportion to its increasing rig id ity .) Such lucky groups demand more In each go-round-- but meantime, the number who are permanently unemployed grows and grow s.

Hamburg** Ellen Frankfort, Vaginal Politics, Quadrangle Books.Boston Women'a Health Collective, Our Bodies, O urse lves.' Simon a Schuster.

T hisf s i d e o f t h e b o o k . C o m p u te r L ib p r o p e r ( w h o s e t i t l e i s n e v e r t h e l e s s t h e s i m p l e r ! w a y lo r e f e r lo b o t h h a l v e s ) , i s a n a t t e m p t to e x p l a i n s im p ly a n d c o n c i s e ly w h y c o m p u te r s a r e m a r v e l o u s a n d w o n d e r f u l , a n d w h a t som e m a in t h i n g s a r e i . i t h e f i e l d .

T h e s e c o n d h a l f o f the b o o k . D re am M a c h in e s , i s s p e c i a l l y a b o u t f a n t a s y a n d i m a g i n a t i o n , a n d n e w t e c h n i q u e s fo r i t . T h a r h a l f i s r e l a t e d lo t h i s h a l f , b u t c a n be r e a d firsL ; I w a n t e d lo s e p a r a t e the m a s d i s t i n c t l y a s p o s s i b l e .

T h e r e m a r k s b e lo w a l l r e f e r to t h i s f i r s t h a l f , t h e C o m p u te r L ib h a l f o f Lhe b o o k .

FANDOM

W ith t h i s b o o k I am no l o n g e r c a l l i n g m y s e l f a c o m p u te r p r o f e s s i o n a l . I 'm a c o m p u te r f a n , a n d I 'm o u t l o m a k e y o u o n e . (All c o m p u te r p r o f e s s i o n a l s w e r e f a n s o n c e , b u t p e o p le g e t c r a b b i e r a e t h e y g e t o ld e r , a n d m o re p r o f e s s io n a l - )A g e n e r a t i o n o f c o m p u te r fane a n d h o b b y i s t s i s w e l l on I t s w a y , b u t f o r t h e m o s t p a r t th e s e a r e p e o p le w ho h a v e h a d so m e s o r t of a n I n . T h i s i s m e a n t to b e a n In f o r t h o s e w h o d i d n ' t g e t o n e e a r l i e r .

T h e c o m p u te r f a n i s so m e o n e w h o a p p r e c i a t e s th e o p t i o n s , f u n , e x c i t e m e n t , a n d f i e n d i s h f a s c i n a t i o n of c o m p u t e r s . N o t o n ly le th e c o m p u te r fun in i t s e l f , l ik e e l e c t r i c t r a i n s ; b u t I t a l s o e x t e n d s to y o u a w id e v a r i e t y o f p o s s i b l e p e r s o n a l u s e s . O n c a s e y o u d o n ' t k n o w i t , th e p r i c e o f c o m p u t e r s a n d o f u s i n g th e m i s g o in g d o w n a s f a s t a s e v e r y o th e r p r i c e 1b g o in g u p . S o in th e n e x t few d e c a d e s w e m ay b e r e d u c e d to e a t i n g s o y b e a n s a n d c a r r o t s , b u t w e ' l l c e r t a i n l y h a v e c o m p u t e r s . )

S o m ehow the Id ea i s a b r o a d th a t c o m p u te r a c t i v i t i e s a r e u n c r e a t i v e , a s c o m p a r e d . s a y , w i th r o t a t i n g c l a y a g a i n s t y o u r f i n g e r s u n t i l I t b e c o m e s a p o t . T h i s i s c a t e g o r i c a l l y f a l s e . C o m p u te r s i n v o l v e im a g in a t io n a n d c r e a t i o n a t th e h i g h e s t l e v e l . C o m p u te r s a r e a n i n v o lv e m e n t y o u c a n r e a l l y g e t i n t o , r e g a r d l e s s of y o u r t r i p o r y o u r k a r m a . T h e y a r e t o y s , t h e y a r e t o o l s , th e y a r e g l o r i o u s a b s t r a c t i o n s .So I t y o u l i k e m e n ta l c r e a t i o n , to y t r a i n s , o r a b s t r a c t i o n s , c o m p u t e r s a r e fo r y o u . I f y o u a r e i n t e r e s t e d in d e m o c r a c y a n d i t s f u t u r e , y o u 'd b e t t e r u n d e r s t a n d c o m p u te r s . A n d It y o u a r e c o n c e r n e d a b o u t p o w e r a n d th e w a y i t i s b e i n g u s e d , a n d a r e n ' t we a l l r i g h t n o w , t h e sa m e th in g g o e s .

THE SO C IETY

W hich b r i n g s u s to o u r n e x t t o p i c .

T h e r e I s no q u e s t i o n of w h e t h e r t h e c o m p u te r w i l l r e m a k e s o c i e t y ; it h a s . You d e a l w i th c o m p u t e r s p e r h a p s m a n y t im e s a d a y - - o r w o r s e , c o m p u te r s d e a l w i th y o u , t h o u g h y o u m a y n o t k n o w i t . C o m p u te r s a r e g o in g in to e v e r y t h i n g , a r e i n t e r t w i n e d w i th e v e r y t h i n g , a n d i t ' s g o in g to g e t m o r e a n d m o r e s o . T h e r e a d e r s h o u ld h a v e a s e n s e o f t h e d a n c e o f o p t i o n s , th e r e m a r k a b l y d i f f e r e n t w a y s t h a t c o m p u t e r s m ay b e u s e d : b y e x t e n s i o n , h e s h o u ld c o m e to s e e t h e e x t r a o r d i n a r y r a n g e o f o p t i o n s w h i c h c o n f r o n t u s a s a s o c i e t y in o u r f u t u r e u s e o f th e m . I n d e e d , c o m p u t e r s h a v e w i th a sw o o p e x p a n d e d th e o p t io n s o f e v e r y t h i n g -

B u t a v a r i e t y o f i n c o n v e n i e n t s y s t e m s a l r e a d y to u c h o n o u r l i v e s , n u i s a n c e s w e m u s t d e a l w i th a l l th e tim e ; a n d I f e a r t h a t w o r s e i s t o c o m e , I w o u ld l i k e lo a l e r t th e r e a d e r , in n o u n c e r t a i n t e r m s , t h a t th e tim e h a s c o m e to b e o p e n ly a t t e n t i v e a n d c r i t i c a l i n o b s e r v i n g a n d d e a l i n g w i th c o m p u t e r s y s t e m s ; a n d to t r a n s f o r m c r i t i c i s m i n to a c t i o n . I f s y s t e m s a r e b a d , a n n o y i n g a n d d e m e a n in g , th e s e m a t t e r s s h o u ld b e b r o u g h t to t h e a t t e n t i o n o f t h e p e r p e t r a t o r s . P o l i te ly a t f i r s t . B u t j u s t a s t h e a tm o s p h e r i c p o l lu t i o n f o s t e r e d b y GM h a s b e c o m e a m a t t e r f o r c i t i z e n c o n c e r n a n d a t t a c k th r o u g h l e g i t im a te c h a n n e l s o f p r o t e s t , s o too s h o u l d t h e p r o c e d u r a l p o l lu t io n o f i n c o n s i d e r a t e c o m p u te r s y s t e m s b e co m e a m a t t e r fo r th e s a m e k i n d s o f c o n c e r n . T h e r e a d e r s h o u l d r e a l i z e h e c a n c r i t i c i z e a n d d e m a n d ;

T H E PU B LIC DO ES N OT HAVE T O T A K E W HAT'S BE IN G DISHED O U T .

T h e r e i s a l r e a d y a b a c k l a s h a g a in s t c o m p u t e r s , a n d th e s p i r i t o f t h i s a n l i - c o m p u t e r b a c k l a s h i s c o r r e c t , b u t s h o u l d b e d i r e c t e d a g a i n s t v e r y s p e c i f i c k i n d s o r t h i n g s .T h e p u b l i c s h o u l d s t o p b e i n g m a d at " c o m p u t e r s " i n t h e a b s t r a c t , a n d s t a r t b e i n g m a d a t t h e p e o p l e w h o m a k e i n c o n v e n i e n t s y s t e m s . I t i s n o t " t h e c o m p u t e r , " w h i c h h a s n o I n t r i n s i c s t y l e o r c h a r a c t e r , w h i c h i s a t f a u l t ; i l i s p e o p le w h o u s e " l h e c o m p u t e r " a s a n e x c u s e t o i n c o n v e n i e n c e y o u , w h o a r e a t f a u l t . T h e m e c h a n i s m s of l e g i t im a te p u b l i c p r o t e s t - - . s i t - i n s a n d so o n - - s h o u l d p e r h a p s s o o n b e t u r n e d to c o m p la in t o v e r b a d a n d in h u m a n c o m p u t e r s y s t e m s .

T h e q u e s t i o n i s , w il l t h e c r u m m i e r t r e n d s c o n t i n u e ? O r c a n th e p u b l i c l e a r n , i n t i m e , w h a t g o o d a n d b e a u t i f u l t h i n g s a r e p o s s i b l e , a n d t r a n s l a t e t h i s r e a l i z a t i o n in t o d n e f f e c t iv e d e m a n d ? I d o n o t b e l i e v e t h i s i s a n o b s c u r e o r s p e c i a l i z e d i s s u e . I t s sh a d o w f a l l s a c r o s s t h e f u t u r e o f m a n k i n d , i f a n y , l i k e a g i a n t s e q u o i a . E i t h e r c o m p u t e r s y s t e m s a r e g o i n g lo g o o n in c o n v e n i e n c i n g o u r l i v e s , o r t h e y a r e g o in g t o b e t u r n e d a r o u n d to m a k e l i f e b e t t e r .T h i s i s o n e o f l h e d i r e c t i o n s t h a t c o n s u m e r i s m s h o u l d t u r n .

1 h a v e a n a x e t o g r i n d : I w a n t t o s e e c o m p u t e r s u s e f u l to i n d i v i d u a l s , a n d lh e s o o n e r t h e b e l t e r , w i th o u t n e c e s s a r y c o m p l i c a t io n o r h u m a n s e r v i l i t y b e in g r e q u i r e d . A n y o n e w h o a g r e e s w i th t h e s e p r i n c i p l e s i s o n m y s i d e , a n d a n y o n e w h o d o e s n o t , i s n o t .

T H IS BOOK IS FO R PER SO N AL F R E E D O M .A N D A G A IN ST RE S T R IC T IO N AND COERCION ,

T h a t ' s r e a l l y a l l i t ' s a b o u t . M a n y p e o p l e , f o r r e a s o n s o f t h e i r o w n , e n j o y a n d b e l i e v e i n r e s t r i c t i n g a n d c o e r c i n g p e o p l e ; t h e r e a d e r m a y d e c i d e w h e t h e r h e i s f o r o r a g a i n s t t h i s p r i n c i p l e .

A c h a n l y o u c a n t a k e to t h e s t r e e t s :

C O M P U T E R POWER T O T H E PEOPLE!DOWN WITH CYBER CRU D !

T H E F U T U R E , IF ANY

S i m p ly a s a m a t t e r o f c i t i z e n s h i p , i t i s e s s e n t i a l lo u n d e r s t a n d t h e i m p a c t a n d u s e s o f c o m p u te r s i n t h e w o r l d o f t h e f u t u r e , i f a n y : a n d to h a v e a s e n s e o f t h e i s s u e s a b o u t c o m p u t e r s l h a l c o n f r o n t u s a s a p e o p l e - - e s p e c i a l l y p r i v a c y a n d d a t a b a n k s , b u t a l s o s t r a n g e new a d d i t i o n s lo o u r e c o n o m ic s y s t e m ( " t h e c h e c k l e s s s o c i e t y " ) , o u r p o l i t i c a l s y s t e m ( h a l f - b a k e d v o t e - a t - h o m e p r o p o s a l s ) , a n d s o o n .I r e g r e t t h a t t h e r e i s n o t room t o c o v e r t h e s e h e r e .

V a r io u s c o m p a n i e s o r e s e e k i n g w id e p u b l i c s u p p o r t f o r th e s o r t s o f t h i n g s th e y a r e t r y i n g to b r i n g a b o u t . L e g i s l a t i o n w i l l b e p r o p o s e d o n w h i c h th e v i e w s o f t h e p u b l i c s h o u l d h a v e a b e a r i n g . II i s i m p o r t a n t th a t t h e s e b e u n d e r s t o o d s e n s i b l y b y s o m e p a r t o f t h e e l e c t o r a t e b e f o r e t h e y a r e m a d e too p e r m a n e n t , r a t h e r l h a n m a d e m a i le r s o f d u m b a s s e n t .

F i n a l l y , a n d m o a t s o l e m n l y , c o m p u t e r s a r e h e l p i n g u s u n d e r s t a n d lh e u n p r e c e d e n t e d d a n g e r of o u r f u t u r e ( s e e " T h e C l u b o f R o m e p . ^ f l ) . T h e h u m a n r a c e m a y h a v e o n ly a s h o r l t im e le f t o n e a r t h , e v e n i f t h e r e i s n o w a r . T h e s e s t u d i e s m u s t b e s e e n a n d u n d e r s t o o d b y a s m a n y i n t e l l i g e n t m e n o f goo d w i l l a s p o s s i b l e .

T H E R E FO R E

W elc om e t o t h e c o m p u te r w o r l d , t h e d a m n d e s t a n d c r a z i e s t t h i n g t h a t h a s e v e r h a p p e n e d . B u t w e , t h e c o m p u te r p e o p l e . a r e n o t c r a z y . I t i s y o u o t h e r s w h o a r e c r a z y to le t u s h a v e a l l t h i6 f u n a n d p o w e r t o o u r s e l v e s .

CO M PUTER S BELONG TO ALL MANKIND.

B . A . , p h i l o s o p h y . S w a r t h m o r e ; g r a d u a t e s t u d y U . o f C h i c a g o : M . A . , s o c i o l o g y , H a r v a r d . M o s t ly s e l f - t a u g h t in c o m p u t e r s ,M e m b e r o f e d i to r i a l b o a r d , C o m p u t e r D e c i s i o n s m a g a z in e ; l i s t e d i n N ew Y o rk T i m e s W h o 'a W ho i n C o m p u t e r s ; m e m b e r o f

A s s o c i a t i o n fo r C o m p u t in g M a c h in e r y s i n c c 1964 .

R e s e a r c h a s s i s t a n t . C o m m u n ic a t i o n R e s e a r c h I n s t i t u t e , 1 9 6 2 -3 . I n s t r u c t o r i n s o c io lo g y , V a s s a r C o l l e g e , 196 4 -6 .S e n i o r s t a f f r e s e a r c h e r , H a r c o u r t , B r a c e W o rld P u b l i s h e r s , 1 9 6 6 - 7 . C o n s u l t a n t lo B e ll T e l e p h o n e L a b o r a t o r i e s , W h i p p a n y , N . J . , 1 9 6 7 - 8 . C o n s u l t a n t to CBS L a b o r a t o r i e s , S t a m f o r d , C t . , 1 9 6 0 - 9 . P r o p r i e t o r o f T h e N e l so n O r g a n i z a t i o n , I n c . , N ew Y o r k C i t y , 1 9 6 9 -7 2 .L e c t u r e r i n a r t , U . o f I l l i n o i s a t C h i c a g o C i r c l e , s p r i n g 1973.L e c t u r e r i n c o m p u te r e d u c a t i o n , O ff ic e o f I n s t r u c t i o n a l R e s o u r c e s D e v e lo p m e n t , U . o f I l l i n o i s a t C h i c a g o C i r c l e , 1 9 7 3 - 4 . P h o t o b y R o g e r F i e l d .

*moe IT'S ATComputers are where It's at.

Recently a bank employee was accused of embezzling a million and a hall dollars by clever computer programming. Hie programs shifted funds from hundreds of people's accounts to his own. but apparently kept things looking Innocent by clever programming tricks. According to the papers, the program kept up appearances by redeposltlng lhe stolen amount in each account just as interest payments were about to be calculated, then withdrawing It again just after. ("Chief Teller la Accused of Theft of S i. 5 Million at a Bank Here." New York Times, 23 March 73, p. 1.)The alleged embezzlement was discovered, not by bank audit, but by records found on the premises of a raided bookmaker.

In a recent scandal that has rocked the insurance world, an Insurance company appears to have generated thousands of fictitious customers and accounts by computer, then bilked other inaurance companies-- those who re-insured the original fictitious policies-- by fictitious claims on the fictitious misfortunes of the fictitious policy-holders.

In April of 1673, according to the Chicsgo radio, a burglary ring had a "computerized" list of a thousand prospective victims.

There have been Instances where dishonest university students, nevertheless sble programmers, were able to change their course grades. stored on a central university computer.

It is not unheard of for ace programmers to create grand incomprehensible systems that run whole companies, systems they can personally play like a piano, and then blackmail their Arms.

A friend of a friend of the author Is an ace programmer at the Pentagon supposedly a private supervising colonels. On days he Is mad at his boss, he says , the army cannot find out Ha strength within 300,000 men. Or three million if he so chooses.

This awkward state of affairs, obviously spanning both the American continent and most realms of endeavor, has come about for various reasons.

First, the climate of uncomprehenalon leads men in management to treat computer matters as "mere technicalities" a myth as sinister as the public notion that computers are "scientific"-* and abandon the kind of scrutiny they sensibly apply to any other company activities.

Second most of today's computer systems are Inherently leaky and Insecure and likely lo stay that way awhile. Getting things to work on them Involves giving people extraordinary and Invisible powers. (Eventually this will change, but watch out for the meantime.)

The obvious consequence Is simply for the computer people to be allowed to take over altogether. It may Indeed be that computer people -- the more well-informed and visionary ones, anyway can see the farthest, and appreciate most deeply the better ways things can go , and the steps that have to be taken to get th e re . (And Boards of Managers can at least be partially assured that hanky-panky at the lower levels will be prevented, If men In charge know where the bodies are burled. )

That seems to be how It's going. Examples:

The president of Dartmouth College, John Kemeny, is a respected computerman and a developer of one of the important computing languages, BASIC (see p . \(, ) .

The new president of the Russell Sage Foundation, Hugh Cline, used to teach computing at Columbia.

It's probably the same in Industry. In other words, more and more, for better and for w orse, things are being run by people who know how to use computers, and this trend is probsbly ir re versible.

In some ways, of course, this la s sinister portent. In private industry It's not so bad, since the danger is more of embezzlement and botch-up than of public menace. But then there 's the problem of the government. The men who manage the Information tools s re more and more In charge of government, loo. And If we can have a Watergate without computers, just wait. (See "Burning Issues," p . 5g)

The way to defend ourselves sgalnst computer people la to become computer people ourse lves.Which of course Is the point. We must all become computer people, at least to the extent that we have already become Automobile People and Camera People that is , Informed enough to tell when one goes by o r when someone points one at y o u .

MANY MANSIONS

The future is going to be full of computers, for good o r ill. Many computer systems are being prepsred by a variety of lunatics, idealists and dreamers, as well as profit-hungry companies and unimaginative clods, all for the benefit of m snklnd. Which ones will work and which ones we will like is another matter. The grand and dreamy ones bid fair to reorganize drastically the lives of mankind.

For Instance, Doug Engelbart at Stanford Research Institute has a beautiful system, called NI, that will allow us to use computers aa a generalized postoffice and publication system. From your computer terminal you just sign onto Engelbart's System, and you're at once In touch with lots of writings by other subscribe rs . which you may call to your screen and w rite replies to.

(These grander and dreamier applications are discussed on the other side of this book.)

But the plain computer visions are grand enough.

But while computers and their combinations grow bigger and b igger, they also grow smaller and smaller. A complete computer the size of an OreoTwolde Is now available, guaranteed for twentyflve years (and very expensive). But its actual heart, the Intel microprocessor. Is only sixty bucks now, and just wait (see Microprocessors, p . */ ^ ) . By 19B0 there should be as many programmed and programmable objects In your house as you now have TVs, radios and typewriters; that's s conservative estimate. But just what these devices will all be doing ah there 's the question that has many people talking to themselvea.

OTHER COMING THINGS?

There are a lot of tall stories about what computers will do for the world. Among lhe most threatening, I think, are glowing reporta of "scientific" politics (don't you believe i t ) . We hear how computers will bring "science to government, helping, for example, to redraw the lines of election districts. (See Cybercrud, p . $ .)

Then you may also have heard that computers are going to be our new mentors and companions, tutoring u s , chatting with us and perhaps lulling us to sleep like Hal in 2001. Worried? Good.(See "The God-Builders," nip s id e .) (t. '^ )

6 )o tz ta h i m t n p i rA college student broke through the security of the

Pacific Telephone computer system from a terminal and , according to Computerworld (6 June 73), stole over s million dollars worth of equipment by ordering it delivered to him! (Penthouse, December 73, claims he was in hlghschool and it was only nine hundred thousand, but you gel the idea.)

After serving a few weeks In ja i l , he has formed his own computer-securlty consulting compsny.

More power to him.

The new breed has got to be watched.

This is the urgency of this book. Remember that the man who writes lhe payroll program can write himself some pretty amazing checks-- perhaps to be mailed out to Switzerland, next year.

From here on it's computer politics, computer dirty tricks , computer wonderlands, computer everything.

For anyone concerned to be where it 's a t , then, this book will provide a few suggestions.Now is the Ume you either know or you don't.

Enough power talk. Knowledge Is power. Here you go. Dig in.

The great world of time-sharing, for Instance. ("Time-sharing" means thst the computer's time is shared by a variety of users simultaneously. See p . i ? . ) If you have an account on a time-sharing computer, you can sign on from your terminal (see p. I'f) over any telephone, no matter where you are, and at once do anylhlng that particular computer allows calling up programs in a variety of computer languages, dipping into data on a variety of subjects as easily as one now consults a chart.

For instance, at Dartmouth College-- where time-sharing is perhaps farthest advanced as a way of life the user (any Dartmouth student, for instance) can just sit down at a terminal and write a simple program (In Dartmouth's BASIC language, for Instance) to analyze cenaus data. Since Dartmouth has a complete file on its time-shsrlng system of the detailed sample from the 1070 census, the program can buzz through that and report almost immediately the numbers of divorced Aleuts or boy millionaires in the sample, or (more significantly) the relative Incomes of different ethnic groups when categorized according to the quea- tioner's interests.

But simple time-sharing la only the beginning. Networks of computers are now coming into being. Most significant of these is the ARPANET (financed by AAPA, the Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency, it is nonetheless non- mtlitary In character). Dozens of large time-shsring computers around the country are being tied into the Arpanet. and a user of any of these can reach d irectly into the olher computers of the netw ork - using their program s, data or other facilities. Arpanet enthusiasts see this aa the wave of the future.

G E T T I N G - W S S T N I f i H tThe greatest hurdle for the beginner (or

"layman") is making an effort to grasp particulars of that which he hears about.

A. WHAT IS ITS NAME? Every system or proposal or project has a name of some sort. Make an effort to learn i t , or you're stuck try ing to refer to "that computerish thing."

(And don't be a snob about acronyms, those all-cap names snd terms sprung from the foreheads of other words, like ILLIAC and PLATO and CAI. There's a need for them. Short words are too general to use for names, and long phrases are too unwieldy.)

B. IN WHAT PARTICULAR WAY DOBS IT EMPLOY THE COMPUTER? For record-keeping?For looking stuff up quickly or fancily? For sesrchlng out combinations? For making up combinations and testing their properties? For enacting complex phenomena? As automatic typewriters?To play music, or just to store the written notes?

It is hoped thst you will become sensitive to these distinctions, and be able to understand and remember them after somebody explains them.

Otherwise you're stuck just referring to "that computer business," and you're In with the rest of the sheep.

sPeople ask me often w here they can learnabout " sc ien c e ." As In all fie lds , magazines are usually the b e s t sources of g enera l orien ta tion .

Science Digest Is k ind of helpful for a s ta r t .although unfortunately they p rin t summaries of every fool s tudy that genera lizes to the h ea rts of all humanity from two dozen Iowa State freshm en.

Scientific American is the favorite . Some stuff Is ha rd to re ad but some .isn 't; the p ic tu re s and diagram s a re te r r i f i c .

Science t Technology magazine seems to meone of the b e tte r o n es- - b re ez y , inform at iv e , not tr iv ia l .

Science magazine is read by most actual sc ien t is ts , and if you have a lively curiosity and can g u ess at the m eaningsof w ords, will te ll you an in cred ib le amount. (This is a main source for the science ar tic les in the New York T im es , which in t u r n . . . ) T h e ir a r tic le s on politics of science, and the fu tu re , a re very in te re s tin g , im portant, and d ep re s s in g . You have to Join Am. A ssn . for the Advancement of Science. W ashington, D .C .

Daniel S . G reen b e rg 's Science and Government Report ( s o r ry $35 a y ea r) is what really tells i t . G reenberg is the man who know s, both what is shaping up in science and the insane governm ental confusions and floundering responses and grandstand ing and p o rk -b a rre l in i t ia t iv e s . . .

G reenberg is , inciden ta lly , one of the finest w r ite rs of o u r time and a great h u m o ris t.

Science and Government Repor t , Kalorama Station (rea lly ? ) , Box 21123, W ashington, D .C . 20009.

T h is is the w all that the handw ritingis o n .

T he explanations not y e t fully debugged are intended for anybody. T he lis tings of expensive products and serv ices a re in tended not only as co rrobora tive d e ta il , for a genera l sen se of w h a t's av a ila b le , bu t also for business people who might find them h e lp fu l, for affluent individuals and Qlubs who w ant to try the ir h a n d , and finally as a b ox sco re of how the p rices are coming dow n. Because we are all going to b e able to afford these things p re tty soon.

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T his diagram shows the amazing and unique way p ric es drop in the com puter field . The prices shown a re for the f irs t m inicom puter, the PDP-5 (and its hugely popular o ffspring , the PDP-8); bu t the princ ip le has held throughout the field , and the downward tre n d w ill p robab ly accelerate due to the new big Integrated c ircu its .

Another example: an IBM 7090, a very decent m illion-dollar computer in 1960, was put up for sale at a modish P arke-B ernet "used com puter auction" in 1970. If I remember a r ig h t, they could not get a $1000 b id , because today 's machines a re so much sm aller, fa s te r and more dependable.

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IT'S AT IH T*|IJ

2 INTRO4 "Where Its At"fi Sources of Information5 CYBERCRUD9 Tills MYTH OF THE COMPUTER10 The Power and the Glory11 THE DEEP DARK SECRET

(Computer Basics Reduced to One Easy Page)

12 THE NEW ERA13 INTERACTIVE SYSTEMS14 TERMINALS15 COMPUTER LANGUAGES: Prelude16 1. BASICIB 2. TRAC Language 22 3. APL26 DATA STRUCTURES27 Binary Patterns30 COMPUTER LANGUAGES: Postscript 32 ROCK BOTTOM: Inner Languages

of Computers;Computer Architecture

34 BUCKY'S WRISTWATCII, a sample machine-language program

35 The Assembler36 Your Basic Computer Structure:

THE MINICOMPUTER38 BIG COMPUTERS 40 GREAT COMPUTERS: Sketches

of Some Specific Machines43 List of Mini Makers44 MICROPROCESSORS

(The New Third Kind of Computer)

4 5 ADVANCED PROGRAMS45 OPERATING SYSTEMS 45 TIME-SHARING4 6 COMPUTER PEOPLE 47 Program Negotiation 47 Suggestions for Writers 4B Fun and Games50 How Computer Stuff is

Bought and Sold51 How Computer Companies are

Financed, Sometimes52 IBM57 Digital Equipment Corporation57 Peripherals for Your Mini58 SIMULATION50 OPERATIONS RESEARCH 58 GREAT ISSUES58 MILITARY USES OF COMPUTERS59 The ABM System60 DNA62 DAMN THAT COMPUTER!64 STUFF YOU MAY RUN INTO 68 THE CLUB OF ROME

THE BUCK STOPS HERE

E veryw here in the w orld people can p re tend that y o u r ig n o ra n ce , o r position , o r c re d e n tia ls , or p o v er ty , o r genera l u n w o rth in e ss , are th e reasons you a re being pu sh ed around o r made to feel small. And because you ca n 't te l l , you have to tak e it.

And of course we can do the same th in g with com puters . Y es, we can do it in sp ad e s . (See " C y b e rc ru d ," p . 8 . ) But many of u s do not want to . T h e re has to be a b e tte r w ay. T here has to be a b e tte r w orld .

T h e r e a r e s e v e r a l m a jo r p l a c e s y o u g e t i n f o r m a tio n i n t h e c o m p u te r f ie ld : f r i e n d s , m a g a z i n e s , b in g o c a r d s , c o n f e r e n c e s a n d c o n f e r e n c e p r o c e e d i n g s .

FRIENDS.

F r i e n d s w e c a n ' t h e lp w i th . B u t y o u m ig h t m a k e so m e a t c o n f e r e n c e s . O r jo in a c o m p u t e r c lu b ?

MAGAZINES.

T h e p r i n c i p a l m a g a z in e s a r e ( f i r s t few l i s t e d r o u g h ly b y d e g T e e o f g e n e r a l i n t e r e s t ) :

D a t a m a t io n $15 a y e a r o r f r e e . T h e m a in c o m p u te r m a g a z in e , a b r e e z y . c l e v e r m o n t h l y . L o ts o f a d s . i n t e r e s t i n g a r t i c l e s th e la y m a n c a n r e a d w i th n o t m u c h e f f o r t . T w i ts IBM.

S u b s c r ip t io n s a r e $15 i f y o u ' r e n o t a c o m p u te r p e r s o n , f r e e i f y o u a r e . D a t a m a t io n . 35 M a so n S t . , G r e e n w ic h C T 06830 .

C o m p u te r D e c i s io n s . S om e $7 a y e a r o r f r e e . S o m e n i c e l ig h t a r t i c l e s . a s w e l l a s h e lp f u l r e v ie w a r t i c l e s on d i f f e r e n t s u b j e c t s . A v o id s t e c h n i c a l i t i e s . C o m p u te r D e c i s i o n s . 50 E s s e x S t . . R o s e l le P a r k N J 07662 .

C o m p u te r s a n d A u to m a t io n . A v o id s t e c h n i c a l i t i e s b u t q u i t e a b i t o f s o c i a l - i n t e r e s t s t u f f . N o bo dy g e ts i t f r e e ; s o m e th in g l i k e $ 7 .5 0 a y e a r . B e r k e le y E n t e r p r i s e s , I n c . , 0 1 5 W a sh in g to n S t . , N e w to n v i l le , M a s s . 02160 .

C o m p u te r w o r l d ( a c tu a l ly a w e e k ly t a b lo id p a p e r ) . N ot f re e : $9 a y e a r . M o re u p - t o - t h e - m i n u t e t h a n m o s t p e o p le h a v e lim e to b e . C o m p u t e r w o r l d ,C i r c . D e p t . , 797 W a sh in g to n S t . , N e w to n , M a s s . 02160 .

C o m p u t in g S u r v e y s . E x c e l l e n t , c l e a r l y w r i t t e n i n t r o d u c to r y a r t i c l e s o n a v a r i e t y o f s u b j e c t s . A n y s e r i o u s b e g i n n e r s h o u ld d e f in i te l y s u b s c r i b e to C o m p u t in g S u r v e y s . (S e e A C M . b e l o w . )

C o m m u n ic a t io n s o f th e A C M . H i g h - c l a s s M i r * *a 1' j o u r n a l a b o u t th e o r e t i c a l m a t t e r s a n d

* e v e n t s o n th e in t e l l e c tu a l s i d e o f th eH e ld . (S e e A CM , b e l o w . )

C o m p u te r D e s i g n . $ 1 0 / y r . o r f r e e . C o n c e n t r a t e s on p a r t s f o r c o m p u t e r s , b u t a l s o t e l l s t e c h n i c a l d e t a i l s o f n e w c o m p u te r s a n d p e r i p h e r a l s . C o m p u te r D e s i g n . C i r c u l a t i o n D e p t . . P . O . B ox A , W in c h e s t e r . M a s s . 01 890 .

D ata P r o c e s s i n g m a g a z in e . O r i e n t e d toc o n v e n t i o n a l b u s i n e s s a p p l i c a t i o n s o f c o m p u t e r s . $10 . N o rth A m e r ic a n P u b l i s h i n g C o . , 134 N . 13th S t . , P h i l a d e lp h ia , P a . 19107.

C o m p u t e r . ( F o r m e r ly IEEE C o m p u te r G ro u p N e w s . ) $ 1 2 / y r . T h o u g h t f u l , c l e a r l y w r i t t e n a r t i c l e s o n h i g h - l e v e l t o p i c s . Q u i te a b i t o n A r t i f i c i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e ( s e e f l ip s i d e ) . IEEE C o m p u te r S o c i e t y , 16400 V entU T a B l v d . , E n c i n o CA 9 1 31 6 .

H e r e a r e so m e o t h e r m a g a z in e s th a t m ay i n t e r e s t y o u . No p a r t i c u l a r o r d e r .

P C C . D e l ig h t f u l e d u c a t i o n a l / c o u n t e r c u l t u r e ta b lo id e m p h a s i z in g c o m p u te r g a m e s a n d f u n . O r i e n t e d to BA S IC l a n g u a g e . $ 4 / y r . f ro m P e o p le 's C o m p u te r C om p a n y , P . O . Box 3 1 0 , M e n lo P a r k ,CA 94025 .

C o m p u t in g R e v i e w s . P r i n t s r e v i e w s , b yi n d i v i d u a l s in t h e f i e l d , o f m o s t o f th e s e r i o u s c o m p u te r a r t i c l e s . U s e f u l , b u t s u b j e c t to i n d i v i d u a l b i a s e s a n d g a p s . (S e e A CM , b e lo w . )

T h e N ew E d u c a t io n a l T e c h n o l o g y . $ 5 / y r .P r e s u m a b ly c o n c e n t r a t e s o n a c t i v i t i e s o f i t s p u b l i s h e r : G e n e r a l T u r t l e , I n c . , 545 T e c h n o lo g y S q u a r e , C a m b r i d g e .MA 02139: w o n d e r f u l c o m p u te r to y s f o r s c h o o ls a n d th e w e l l - h e e l e d .

T h e H o n e y w e l l C o m p u te r J o u r n a l . S o m e th in g l i k e $10 a y e a r . H o n e y w e ll I n fo rm a tio n S y s t e m s , I n c . , P h o e n ix . A r i z o n a . S h o w c a s e m a g a z in e o t m is c e l l a n e o u s c o n te n t ; r e a d a b l e , n i c e l y e d i t e d . H as u n u s u a l p r a c t i c e o f i n c l u d i n g m ic r o f i c h e (m ic ro f i lm c a r d ) o f e n t i r e i s s u e in a p o c k e t .

IBM S y s t e m s J o u r n a l . S h o w c a s e t e c h n i c a l j o u r n a l o f m is c e l la n e o u s c o n t e n t , e s p e c i a l l y a r c a n a a b o u t IBM p r o d u c t s . $ 5 / y r . IBM . A r m o n k , NY 1 0504 .

IBM J o u r n a l o f R e s e a r c h a n d D e v e lo p m e n t . S h o w c a s e t e c h n i c a l j o u r n a l o f m i s c e l la n e o u s c o n te n t . $ 7 . 5 0 / y e a r . IBM , A r m o n k . NY 10S04.

J o u r n a l o f th e A C M . A h ig h ly t e c h n i c a l , m a lh - ( " j A C - K 'A o r i e n l e d j o u r n a l . H e a v y o n g r a p h th e o ryV / a n d p a t t e r n r e c o g n i t i o n . ( S e e A CM ,

b e l o w . )

D ig i ta l D e s i g n . $15 o r f r e e . A b o u t c o m p u te r p a r t s a n d d e s i g n s . D ig i ta l D e s i g n .C i r c . D e p t . , 167 C o r e y R o a d , B r o o k l in e , M a s s . 02146 .

I n f o s y s t e m s . A s p i r i n g m a g . $20 o r f r e e .H itc h c o c k P u b l i c s t o n s , P . O . B o x 3007, W h e a to n , 111. 60187.

T h i n k . T h i s i s t h e IBM h o u s e o r g a n .P r e s u m a b ly f r e e to IBM c u s to m e r s o r p r o s p e c t s . IBM . A r m o n k , NY 10504.

T h e r e a r e a l s o e x p e n s i v e ( s n o b ? ) m a g a z in e s , b o u g h t b y e x e c u t i v e s .

C o m p u te r A g e , $ 9 5 / y r . EDP N ew s S e r v i c e s I n c . , 514 10th S t . N .W . , W a s h in g to n D C 20004 .

C o m p u te r D i g e s t . $ 3 6 / y r . I n fo r m a t io n G r o u p , 1309 C h e r r y S t . , P h i l a d e lp h i a PA 19107.

D ata P r o c e s s i n g D ig e s t . $ 5 1 / y r . 6820la T i j e r a B l v d . . L o s A n g e l e s CA 90045 .

H e y n o w , h e r e ' s a m a g a z in e c a l l e d C o m p u to p ia . O n ly $15 a y e a r . U n fo r tu n a te ly i n J a p a n e s e . C o m p u te r A g e C o . L t d . , K a s u m ig a s e k l B l d g . , B o x 122 , C h i y o d a - K u , T o k y o , J a p a n .

T h e b e s t r e v i e w o f w h a t ' s h a p p e n i n g l a t e l y , b y n o n e o t h e r t h a n M r . W hole E a r th C a ta lo g h im s e l f : S t e w a r t B r a n d , " S p a c e w a r :F a n a t ic L ife a n d S y m b o l ic D e a th a m o n g th e C o m p u te r B u m s . " R o l l i n g S t o n e . 2 D e c e m b e r 7 2 , 5 0 - 5 6 . H e v i s i t e d th e m o s t h o ts h o t p l a c e s a n d r e p o r t s e s p e c i a l l y o n th e f u n - a n d - g a m e s s i d e o f t h i n g s .

G i l b e r t B u r c k a n d th e E d i to r s o f F o r t u n e , T h e C o m p u te r A g e . H a r p e r a n d R o w . I g n o r e th e r i d i c u l o u s f u l l t i t l e . T h e C o m p u te r A g e a n d I ts P o t e n t i a l f o r M a n a g e m e n t ; t h i s b o o k h a s n o th in g to do w i th m a n a g e m e n t , b u l i s a n i c e g e n e r a l o r i e n t a t i o n to t h e f i e l d .

T h o m a s H . C r o w le y , U n d e r s t a n d i n g C o m p u t e r s .M c G r a w - H i l l . T h i s i s t h e m o s t r e a d a b l e a n d s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d in t r o d u c t i o n to t h e t e c h n i c a l i t i e s a r o u n d .

J e r e m y B e r n s t e i n , T h e A n a l y t i c a l E n g i n e . R a n d o m H o u s e , 1964 . H i s to r y o f c o m p u t e r s , w e l l t o ld , a n d th e w ay t h i n g s l o o k e d in 19 6 4 , w h ic h w a s n ' t r e a l l y v e r y d i f f e r e n t .

D o n a ld E . K n u th . T h e A r t o f P r o g r a m m i n g , ( 7 v o l s . ) A m o n u m e n ta l s e r i e s , e x c e l l e n t l y w r i t t e n a n d w id e ly p r a i s e d , f o r a n y o n e w h o w a n t s to d ig i n a n d b e a s e r i o u s p r o g r a m m e r . T h r e e o f ( h e s e v e n v o lu m e s a r e o u t s o f a r . a t a b o u t t w e n ty b u c k s a p i e c e . V o l . 1: F u n d a m e n ta l A l g o r i t h m s . V o l . 2: S e m in u m e r i c a l A l g o r i t h m s . V o l . 3: S o r t i n g a n d S e a r c h i n g . A d d is o n - W e s le y .

BUMMERS

T h i s i s p e r h a p s a m in o r i t y v i e w , b u t I t h in k a n y in t r o d u c t i o n to c o m p u te r s w h ic h m a k e 6 th e m s e e m i n t r i n s i c a l l y m a th e m a t ic a l i s m i s l e a d i n g . H i s to r i c a l l y t h e y b e g a n a s m a th e m a t i c a l , b u t now t h i s i s s im p ly th e w r o n g w ay to t h i n k a b o u t t h e m . S a m e g o e s f o r e m p h a s i z in g b u s i n e s s u s e s a s i f t h a t w e r e a l l .

We w i l l n o t n a m e h e r e a n y o f t h e v a r i o u s d i s a g r e e a b l e p a m p h le t s a n d b o o k s w h ic h s t r e s s t h e s e a s p e c t s a n d d o n ' t m a k e t h i n g s v e r y c l e a r .

K > A B O U T FREE S U B S C R IP T IO N S . M an y o f th e m a g a z in e s a r e f r e e to " q u a l i f i e d r e a d e r s , u s u a l ly ( h o s e w i l l i n g to s l a t e o n a s i g n e d f o rm th a t th e y i n f lu e n c e th e p u r c h a s e o f c o m p u t e r s . c o m p u te r s e r v i c e s , p u n c h c a r d s , o r th e l i k e . ( T h e y a s k o t h e r q u e s t i o n s o n th e f o r m , b u t w h e t h e r y o u in f lu e n c e p u r c h a s e i s u s u a l l y w h a t d e c i d e s w h e t h e r th e y s e n d y o u th e m a g a z i n e . ) It i s a l s o h e lp f u l to h a v e a g o o d - s o u n d i n g t i d e o r c o m p a n y a f f i l i a t i o n .

BINGO C A R D S .

T h e s e a r e l i t t l e p o s t c a r d s y o u f in d in a l l t h e m a g a z in e s e x c e p t t h e ACM a n d c o m p a n y o n e s . F i l l i n y o u r n a m e a n d a n a t t r a c t i v e t i t l e ( " S y s t e m s C o n s u l t a n t " o r " c o n s u l t a n t " i s g o o d - - a f t e r a l l , s o m e d a y so m e o n e m ay a s k y o u r a d v i c e ) a n d c i r c l e t h e n u m b e r s c o r r e s p o n d i n g to t h e a d s th a t e n t i c e y o u . Y o u 'l l b e f lo o d e d w i th i n t e r e s t i n g , e x p e n s i v e l y p r i n t e d , c o lo r f u l , e d u c a t io n a l m a te r i a l o n d i f f e r e n t p e o p l e ' s c o m p u te r s a n d a c c e s s o r i e s . A n d n o te th a t s e n d e r s d o n ' t lo se : a n y c o m p a n y w a n t s i t s p r o d u c t s k n o w n .

H o w e v e r , a p o s to f f ic e b o x i s g o o d , a s i t h e l p s to a v o id c a l l s a t h o m e f ro m s a l e s m e n , w a s t i n g t h e i r t im e a s m u c h a s y o u r s . I f y o u a r e i n a r u r a l - t y p e a r e a w h e r e y o u c a n a s s u m e a c o m p a n y n a m e w i th n o l e g a l d i f f i c u l t i e s , so m u c h th e b e t t e r .

A n u m b e r o f i n e x p e n s i v e g a d g e t s p u r p o r t to le a c h y o u c o m p u te r p r i n c i p l e s . M an y p e o p le h a v e b e e n d i s a p p o i n t e d , o r w o r s e , m a d e lo f ee l s t u p i d , w h e n th e y l e a r n n o t h i n g f ro m t h e s e . A c tu a l ly th e b e s t t h e s e t h in g s r e a l l y c a n d o i s g iv e y o u a n id e a o f w h a t c a n b e d o n e w ith c o m b in a t io n s o f s w i t c h e s . F ro m th a t to l e a r n in g w h a t c o m p u te r p e o p le r e a l ly t h in k a b o u t i s a l o n g , l o n g w a y .

W O s f c C fc ^ fO ^ S 'T h a t th e f ie ld h a s n o t b e e n p o p u l a r i z e d b y i t s

b e t t e r w r i t e r s m a y s im p ly c o m e f ro m a n h o n e s t d o u b i t h a t o r d i n a r y p e o p le c a n u n d e r s t a n d c o m p u t e r s .

I d i s p u t e t h a t . T h r o u g h m a g a z i n e s , m i l l io n s o f A m e r i c a n s h a v e l e a r n e d a b o u t p h o t o g r a p h y . T h r o u g h t h e p o p u l a r s c i e n c e - a n d - m e c h a n i c s t y p e m a g a z in e s , a n d m o r e r e c e n t l y t h e e l e c t r o n i c s m a g a z i n e s , v a r i o u s o t h e r t e c h n i c a l s u b je c t s h a v e b e c o m e w id e ly u n d e r s t o o d .

S o f a r n o b o d y h a s o p e n e d u p c o m p u t e r s . T h i s i s a f i r s t a t t e m p t . If t h i s b o o k w o n ' t d o i t a n o t h e r o n e w i l l .

A n d y o u b e t t e r b e l i e v e th a t P o p u l a r C o m p u te r s m a g a z in e i s n o t v e r y f a r a w a y . So o n a f u l ly - lo a d e d m in i c o m p u t e r w il l c o s t l e s s t h a n th e b e s t h i - f i s e t s .I n a c o u p le o f y e a r s . t h o u s a n d s o f i n d i v i d u a l s w il l o w n c o m p u t e r s , a n d m il l io n s m o r e w i l l w a n t t o . L ook o u t , h e r e w e g o .

W o o p s , h e r e it i s . P o p u l a r C o m p u t i n g , $15 a y e a r($12 i f p r e p a i d ) , B o x 2 7 2 , C a J a b a s a s , CA 91302

ACM, the Association for Computing M achinery.Th is is the main com puter professional society; the title only has meaning h is to r ically , as many members a re concerned not w ith m achinery itself, but with softw are, languages, theories and so on .

If you have any p lans to s tick with the su b jec t, membership in the Association for Computing M achinery is highly recomm ended. ACM calls itse lf "The Society of the Computing Community." T hus it p roperly em braces both professionals and fans.

Dues for official studen ts a r e $0 a y ea r , $35 for o th e r s , which includes a subscrip tion to Communications of the ACM, the official mag. T he ir ad d ress for m em berships and m agazines is ACM, P .O . Box 12105,C hurch St. S tation, New York, NY 10249. (The actual ACM HQ is at 1133 Ave. of the A m ericas, New York. N .Y. 10036.)

They have stacked the deck so that if you want to su b sc r ib e to any ACM magazines y ou 'd b e tte r join anyw ay. Here are the y ea r prices:

Member Non-Member Communications of the ACM free $35Computing Surveys $7 $25Computing Reviews $12.50 $35Journa l of the ACM $7 $30

T he one draw back lo join ing th e ACM is a ll the doggoned mailing lists it gets you on . It 's u nclear w hether th e re 's anyth ing you can do to p re v en t th is , bu t there oughta be.

SIGs and SIC s. For ACM members with special in tere sts (and we all have th em ), the ACM contains su b d iv isio n s-- c lubs within the c lu b , of people who keep in touch to s h a re th e ir in te re s ts . T hese a re called SICs (Special In terest Committees) and SIGs (Special In terest G roups) . T h e re a re such c lu b s-- SICs and SIGs in num erous a re a s , including Programm ing L anguages, Computer Usage in Education, e tc . Encouraging these su b in te re s ts lo stay within ACM saves a lot of trouble for everybody and keeps ACM the central society.

AFIPS.

AFIPS is the UN of com puting. They sponsored the Joints , and now sponsor the NCC. Just as ind iv iduals ca n 't jo in the UN, they can 't join AFIPS, which stands for American Federation of Information P rocess in g S ocieties. Depending on your special in te re s ts , though, you can join a member so c ie ty .

The constituent societies of AFIPS a re , a s of Ju n e 1973: (If any tu rn you o n , w rite AFIPS for addresses: AFIPS, 210 Summit Ave. Montvale NJ 07645.)

ft* ACM: the Association for Computing M achinery . IEEE, the Institute of E lectrical and Electronics

E ngineers . T h is is the professional society of e lectronics guys.

Simulation C ouncils. This is the professional society for those in terested in Simulation (see p . 5 3 ) .

Association for Computational L ingu is tic s . (Where language and computer types g a th e r .)

American Association of A eronautics and A stro n a u tic s .

American Statistical A ssociation.Instrum ent Society of America.Society for Information D isplay. (See flip s id e .) American Institu te of Certified Public A ccountants. American Society for Information S cience. (This

group is mainly for electronified l ib raria n s and information re triev al ty p es-- see flip s id e . )

Society for In dustria l and Applied Mathematics. Special L ibraries Association.Association for Educational Data System s.

IFIP. This is the international com puter society. Like AFIPS, its members a re so c ie tie s , so jo in ing ACM makes you an IFIP partic ipan t.

IFIP holds conferences around the w orld . Fun. Expense.

t i n o * * .

CONFERENCES.

Conferences in any field a re e x c itin g , at least till you reach a ce rta in degree of boredom with the f ie ld . Computer conferences have th e ir own heady a tm osphere, compounded of a sense of elitism , of b e ing in the w itches ' cau ld ron , and the su re sense of the impact every th ing you see will have as it all g row s and g row s. Plus you get to look at gadgets.

Usually to go for one day doesn 't cost m uch , and at the b ig g er ones you get lots of free l i te ra tu re , have salesmen explain the ir th ings to you , see m ovies, hear fascinaling (sometimes) speakers .

THE JOINTS! The princ ipa l computer conferences have always been the Spring Joint Computer Conference, held in an E astern city in May, and the Fall Joint Computer Conference, held in a Western city in November (the infamous Spring Jo in t and Fall J o in t , o r SJCC and F JC C ). In 1973, because of poor business the prev ious y e a r , the two were collapsed into one National Computer Conference (NCC) in Ju n e (U niversal Joint?) The Jo in ts have always been sponsored by AFIPS (see below ). The National Computer Conference will henceforth be annua l, at least for a while.

The cost of attending is h igh -- w hile i t 's ju s t a couple of do llars lo look at the ex h ib its , th is r is e s to perh ap s fifteen dollars to go to the d ay 's technical sess ions o r fifty for the week (not counting lodging and e a ts ) - - but i t 's v e ry much w orth it . The lower age limit for attendees is something like tw elve , unfortunately for those with in terested ch ild re n .

Other im portant conferences: the annual ACM conference in the summer; BEMA (B usiness Equipment Mfrs. A ssn .) in the fall and sp r in g (no theo ry , but lots of gadgets); and o ther conferencs on special s u b je c ts . held all the time all o v er . Lists of conferences and th e ir w hereabouts are in most of the m agazines; Communications of the ACM and Computer Design have the b iggest lis ts .

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS.

As you may k n o w , conferences largely consis t of sep a ra te " sess io n s" in which d ifferen t people talk on specific to p ics , usually re ad in g out loud from th e ir notes and show ing slides .

Conference p roceed ings a re books which re su lt from conferences . Supposedly they contain what each guy sa id ; in prac tice people say one thing and p u b lish an o th e r, more formal than the actual presen ta tion .

Th is leads to a cu rious phenom enon at the main com puter conferences (SJC C,FJCC , ACM and now NCC) . When you re g is te r they g ive you a book (youre actually p ay in g p erhaps $15 for i t ) , containin g all the papers tha t a re about lo be g iv en , nicely tr ick e d out by the ir a u th o rs . If you ru sh to a co rner and look at the book it may change yo u r notion of which sess ions to go to.

Anyway , the re su lt in g volumes of conference proceed ings a re a tr e a s u re trove of in te re s tin g papers on an immense v a r ie ty of com puterish and no t-so- com puterish sub jec ts . Great for b ro w sin g .E xpensive but w onderfu l. (H orrible when y o u 're m oving , th o u g h , as they are b ig and h e a v y .)

JOINT PROCEEDINGS. P roceedings for the Spring Jo in t and Fall Jo in t , from the fifties to 1972. a re availab le from AFIPS P re s s , a s a r e p roceedings of the 1973 NCC. (AFIPS P re s s , 210 Summit A venue, Montvale NJ 07645.) They cost $20-26 each af ter the conference is over; less in microfilm . (At the Jo in t C onferences, AFIPS P re s s often g ives d iscoun ts , at th e ir b o o th , on back Jo in t p ro c ee d in g s .)

t > > l f you want to spend money to learn about the f ie ld . P roceedings of the Jo in t C onferences a r e a fine bu y .

Back ACM P ro ce ed in g s . From the ACM.

O ther P roceedings Often sold a t coun te rs at con ferences . Or availab le from various p u b lish e rs . Join the ACM and youll find out soon enough.

TRY TO GET TO THE NATIONAL JOINT. Ju s t as every Muslim should go to Mecca, eve ry com puter fan should go to a National Jo in t (National Computer C onference, o r N C C ). T he next two a re (check the m agazines):

May 1974, ChicagoMay 1975,Son P ranoitao-. Pj MA

NO QUALIFICATIONS ARE NEEDED. Think of it a s a circus for sm art a le ck s , o r , if you p re fe r , a Deep Educational Experience .

V o H u r H ^ r p u f * I f y o u T i m e C P M P u r e n c e u n j e i ?T here is a lot of talk about "best" ways of teaching about com puters , bu t in most p laces

the actual a lternatives open to those who want to lea rn a r e fairly dism al.

U n iv ers ities . U niversities and colleges tend to teach com puting with a mathematical em phasis at the s ta r t . Indeed, most seem to re q u ire that to get into the introductory com puter c o u rs e , you must have had h igher math (at least c a lc u lu s , sometimes m atrix algeb ra as w e l l ) . T h is is p re p o s te ro u s , like re q u irin g an en g in e erin g deg ree to d riv e a c a r . (G radeschool k ids can lea rn lo program with no p re re q u is i te s .)

t lt seems lo be to cu t down enrollm ent, s in ce th e y 'r e not se t up to deal with a ll those people who want to lea rn aboul com puters. (And why not?) Also i t 's a status th ing; as if th is res tr ic lion somehow should keep enrollment to s tuden ts with "logical m inds," w ha lever those a r e , o r "mathematical sophistication ," as if that w e re re levan t.

"Computer sch o o ls ," community and commercial co lleges, on th e o ther h an d , tend to p re p are sluden ts only for the most humdrum b u sin ess app lica tions- - k eypunch ing (w hich is rap id ly becoming o b so le te ) , and program m ing in the COBOL language on IBM b u s in e ss system s. T h is gets you no close r to the more exciting applica tions of com puters than you w e re o rig inally .

Some experim ental trends a re more en c o urag ing . Some co lleg e s , for in s tan ce , offer "com puter apprecia tion co u rses ," with a w ider in troduction to w h a t's available and more va r ied program m ing in tended lo se rv e as an introduction to th is w ider horizon .

Highschool courses seem to b e cutting through the junk and offering s tuden ts access to minicom puters with quick ie languages, usually BASIC. Both Digital Equipment C orp . and H ew lett-Packard seem to be making inroads h e re .

Kiddie s e tu p s , rum ored to ex is t in Boston and San F ranc isco , a r e gea red lo letting g rade-school ch ild ren see and play with com puters. Also one com pany (G eneral T u r t le , see p . '5 7 ) is se lling com puter toys Intended to en courage ac tual program m ing by ch ild re n .

O T T O

A n u m b e r o f p e o p le h a v e go tten mad a t me for c o in in g th e te rm " c y b e r c r u d , " w h ich 1 de fine a s " p u t t in g th in g s o v e r o n pe o p le u s in g c o m p u te r s . B u t a s lo n g as it g oe s on w e ' l l need the w o r d . At e v e r y c o r n e r o f o u r s o c i e t y , p e op le a r e i s s u i n g p ro n o u n ce m en ts a n d m a k in g o th e r p e op le d o th in g s and s a y in g i t s b e c a u s e o f t h e c o m p u te r . T h e function o f c y b e r c r u d i s th u s lo c o n fu s e . in t im ida te o r p r e s s u r e . We h a v e all got to ge t w is e to t h is i f i t i s go ing to be c u r ta i le d .

C y b e r c r u d l a k e s n u m e ro u s fo rm s . A ll o f th e m , h o w e v e r , s h a r e th e p a d n a o f " s c i e n c e " th a t c o m p u te r s h a v e f o r th e la y m a n .

l a ) COMPUTER A S MAGIC WORD

T h e most d e l i c a t e , a n d s e em in g ly i n n o c e n t , t e c h n iq u e I s th e p r a c d c e or na m ing th in g s SO a s s p u r io u s ly to s u g g e s t th a t th e y invo lve c o m p u te rs . T h u s t h e r e Is a m a n u fa c tu re r of p o t - p ip e s w ith "Data " In I ts n a m e . e n d a p p a r e n t ly a p o r n o g ra p h y house w ith a " C y b e r - " .

l b ) COMPUTER AS MAGIC INGREDIENT

T h e ab o v e se am s s i l l y , bu t I t i s no le s s s i l ly th a n t a lk in g about " c o m p u te r p r e d ic t io n s " a n d " com pu ter s tu d i e s " o f t h i n g s . T h e m e re f ac t tha t a c om pu te r i s I n v o lv e d i n so m e th in g h a s n o b e a r in g on i ts c h a r a c t e r o r v a l i d i t y . T h e w ay th in g s a redone w ith c o m p u te rs a ffec ts t h e i r c h a r a c t e r a n d v a l id i ty . Juat l ik e th e w ay th in g s a re d o n e w ithou t c o m p u te r s . ( In d e ed , m e re ly u s in g a c om pu te r o f ten has no b e a r in g on the w ay th in g s a r e d o n e . )

T h is sam e t e c h n i q u e i s eas i ly m a gn if ied to s u g g e s t , not m e re ly th a t so m e th in g in v o lv e s c o m p u te rs , b u t is w h o lly d one by c o m p u te r s . T h e w ord "com p u te r iz e p e r f o rm s this fata l f u n c t io n . When u se d spe cif ic a l ly , as i n c o m p u te r iz e the b i l l i n g o p e r a t i o n , i t can be f a i r ly c le a r : b u t m ake i t v a g u e , as i n c o m p u te r iz e lh e o f f i c e , a n d it can mean a n y th in g ,

" F u lly c o m p u te r iz e " i s w o rs e . T h u s w e h e a r abou t a " fu l ly c o m p u te r iz e d " p r in t s h o p , w h ic h tu r n s ou t to be o n e w h o se c o m p u te r s d o th e ty p e se t t in g : bu t th e y c o u ld a lso r u n the p r e 6 6 e s . p a y the b i l l s and w ork th e c o ffee m ach ine- F o r p r a c tical p u r p o s e s , t h e r e i s no s u c h th in g a s " fu l ly " c o m p u te r iz e d - T h e r e i s a lw a y s o n e m ore th in g co m p u te rs cou ld do.

BY THE AID OF THE MIRROR SHE PUT ON THE HEAD

2) WHITE LIES: THE COMPUTER MADE ME DO IT

Next come a l l th e l e e t le w h i te l ie s a b o u t how su c h - a n d - s u c h is th e c o m p u te r s f au l t a n d not yo u r d e c is io n . T h u s the com pu te r i s m ade a G enera l S capegoa t at th e sa m e tim e i t ' s c o v e r in g up fo r w hat somebody w a n t s to d o any w a y .

"It h a s to be th is w a y ."" T h e r e s n o th in g we can do; t h i s i s all

ha nd led by c o m p u te r . "" T h e c o m p u te r will not a llow t h i s . ""T he c om pu te r w ont le t u s . "

T he t r a n s la t io n la . of c o u r s e . THE STINKY LOUSY PROGRAM DOES NOT PERMIT IT. Which m e ans In tu r n ; WE DO NOT CHOOSE T O PROVIDE, IN OUR PROGRAMS AND EQUIPMENT. ANY ALTERNATIVES.

Now . i t la o f ten th e c a s e tha t good and su ffic ien t r ea so n e x is t s fo r t h e w ay th in g s a r e do n e . But It i s a lso often th e c a s e th a t c om pan ies a n d the pu b lic a r e i n c o n v e n ie n c e d , o r w o rs e , by d e c ia io n s the c om pu te r pe o p le m ake a n d th e n h id e w ith t h e i r claim of te chn ica l n e c e s s i ty (See p . f t : D ea ling w ith c om pu te r p e o p le . )

More a g g r e s s i v e l y , c y b e r c r u d Is a t e c h n i q u e fo r m a k in g p e o p le do w h a t you w a n t . " T h e c o m p u te r r e q u i r e s i t , " y o u say , and s o p e o p le c a n be m ade to h a n d o v e r p e r s o n a l In fo rm a tio n , s e c r e t a r i e s c a n be in t im id a te d in to s c o u r i n g th e f i le s , p a y m e n t s c h e d u le s can b e a r t i f i c ia l ly e n f o r c e d .

THE GENERAL STA TU S TRICK

S ta tu e t r i c k s , c o m b in in g th e p u td o w n a n d th e s e l f - b o o s t , d a te ba ck to tim es Im m em oria l .B u t to d a y th e y take new fo rm s . T h e b ig g e s t t r i c k is to e le v a te y o u r s e l f and dem ean lhe l i s t e n e r a t th e sa m e t im e , o r , m ore g e n e r a l l y , the t e c h n i q u e is m ak in g p e o p le feel s tu p id w h ile a c t i n g l ik e a b i g c h e e s e . T h u s som eoneone m ig h t s a y ,

" P e o p le m ust b e g in to gel u se d to t h e o b je c t i v e sc ie n t i f ic w a y s o f d o in g th in g s th a t c o m p u te r s now m ake n e c e s s a r y .

But th e t r a n s l a t i o n s e em s lo be:" P e o p le m u s t ge t u se d to th e I n f l e x ib l e ,

b a d ly th ough t o u t , I n c o n v e n ie n t a n d u n k in d sy s te m s th a t 1 a n d o th e r s e l f - r i g h t e o u s i n d iv id u a ls a n d com p a n ie s a r e in f l ic t in g on th e w o r l d . "

YOU DONT ALWAYS GOTTA

T h e u n in fo rm e d a r e b u l ld o z e d . a n d e v e n th e in fo rm e d a r e p r e s s u r e d , b y th e foo lish m y th s of th e c l e v e r , im p lac ab le a n d sc ie n t i f ic c o m p u te r to w h ich th e y m u s t a d a p t . P eop le a r e told th e y h a v e to " r e l a t e to th e c o m p u te r . " But a c tu a l ly th e y a r e b e in g m ade to r e la te lo s y s t e m s h u m a n s h a v e d e s ig n e d a ro u n d I t, in much th e sa m e w ay a sw o rd d a n c e Is d e s ig n e d a ro u n d th e s w o r d .

When e s ta b l i s h m e n t c o m p u te r pe o p le s a y tha t the c o m p u te r r e q u i r e s you to be sy s te m a t ic , t h e y g e n e r a l l y mean you ha ve to l e a r n t h e i r s y s t e m . But a n y o n e w h o te l l s you a m ethod " h a s to b e c h a n g e d fo r th e c o m p u te r is u s u a l ly f ib b in g - He p r e f e r s to c h s n g e the method fo r th e c o m p u te r , T h e r e a s o n s m ay be b a d o r g o o d . O ften th e c o m p u te r s a le s m a n o r In d o c t r in a lo r w il l p r e s e n t a s " s c i e n t i f ic " te c h n i q u e s w h ic h w e r e d o p e d ou t o r w hom ped u p b y a c o u p le of g u y s i n th e ba ck room.

H e r e i s an e x a m p l e , a s told to m e. A f r i e n d o f mine w o rk e d in a d r e s s f a c to ry w h e r e ih e y had a p e r f e c t ly good sy s te m for b i l l in g a n d b o o k k e e p in g . C u a to m e rs w e r e lis ted by name a n d k e p t i n a l p h a b e t ic a l o r d e r . T h e fast pa ce of th e g a rm e n t in d u s t r y m ean t t h a t c om pan ies often c h a n g e d n a m e s , a n d SO v a r io u s c o m p a n ie s had a n u m b e r of d i f f e r e n t n a m es in the f i le . T h i s b o th e re d nobody b e c a u s e the peop le u n d e rs to o d the s y s te m .

T h e n m a nage m e n t b o u g h t a s m a ll c o m p u te r , n e v e r m ind w h a t b r a n d , and h i r e d a c o u p le o f g u y slo com e in a n d p u t th e b o o k k e e p in g sy s te m o n i t .

S t i l l o k a y . In d e e d , small p r o g ra m m in g f irm s c a n som e tim es d o th i s s o r t o f t h in g v e r y w e l l , b e c a u se th e y c a n w o rk f lex ib ly w i lh th e p e o p le a n d d o n 't n e c e s s a r i l y fee l committed lo m a k in g it w o rk a c e r t a i n w a y .

W ell. t h i s w as a n ic e i n s t a n c e w h e r e th e e x i s t i n g sy s te m could ha ve be en e x a c t ly t r a n s f e r r e d lo t h e c o m p u te r . T h e fac t th a t som e c u s to m e r s had s e v e r a l names w ould c e r t a i n ly h a v e be en n o p r o b lem : a p r o g r a m could h a v e be en w r i t te n lh a t a llow ed u s e r s lo ty p e a n y a c c e p ta b le c u s to m e r nam e, c a u s in g lh e c o m p u te r to look u p th e c o r r e c t a cc oun t (an d i f d e s i r e d , p r i n t i t s u su a l n am e a n d a sk fo r v e r i f i c a t i o n ) .

But n o , T h e g u y s d id no t a n s w e r e m p lo y e es ' q u e s t io n s c o m p r e h e n s ib ly , n o r d id Ih ey w a n t s u g g e s t io n s . T h e y Im m ediately d e c r e e d th a t s i n c e c o m p u te r s o n ly w o rk e d w ith n u m b e rs (a f ib , b u t a c o n v e n ie n c e to t h e m ) , e v e r y c u s to m e r w ou ld th e n c e fo r th h a v e to be r e f e r r e d to b y n u m b e r ,

A fter lh a t the f irm h a d n o th in g b u t t r o u b l e , th ro u g h c o n fu s io n o v e r the m u lt ip le n a m e s . a n d my f r i e n d p r e d ic te d tha i th i s w ou ld d e s t r o y th e c o m p a n y . I h a v e n ' t h e a r d lhe ou tcom e .

T h i s s t o r y i s not n e c e s s a r i l y v e r y i n t e r e s t in g ; i t m e re ly h a p p e n e d . I t ' s n o t a m a d e - u p exam ple .

Moral: u n t i l we o v e r th ro w lhe m yth lh a t p eop le a lw a y s h a v e to a dap t lo c o m p u te r s , r a t h e r th a n the o th e r w ay a r o u n d , th in g s w il l n e v e r go r i g h t . A dap ta t ions sh o u ld take p la c e on bo th s i d e s , d a m i t .

EVERYBODY DOES IT

C y b e r c r u d i s b y no m eans the p r o v in c e of c o m p u te r p e o p le a lo n e . B u s in e s s m a n ip u la to r s and b u r e a u c r a t s ha ve q u ic k ly le a r n e d th e t r i c k s . C om pan ie s do I t lo t h e p u b l ic . T h e p r e a s . I n d e e d . c o n t r ib u te s (see S u g g e s t io n s for W riters and S p o k e sm e n , p . ^ ) . But lhe c o m p u te r p e o p le a r e b eat al it b e c a u s e they h a v e m ore te c h n ic a l i t i e slo shu f fle a r o u n d m a g ic a l ly ; th e y c a n p u l a n y b o d y d ow n .

Now , c o m p u te r pe o p le do d e s e r v e r e s p e c t . So many ih in g s tha t pe o p le do w ith c o m p u te r s a r e h a r d . It can b e u n d e rs to o d th a t ihey w ant to be a p p re c ia te d , a n d If no t for the p a r t i c u l a r s . fo r t h e m a ch ism o ( m ac h ln is m o ?) o f c o p in g w ith i n t r i c ac y . But th a t i s no e x c u s e for k e e p in g o t h e r s In c o n tro l led ig n o r a n c e . No man h a s a r i g h t t o be p r o u d th a t he i s p r e s e r v i n g and m a n ip u la t in g the I g n o ra n c e o f o th e r s .

"If it c a n ' t b e done In COBOL,I j u s t te l l p eop le It c a n ' t b e d o n e b y c o m p u te r .

It s a v e s a lo t o f t r o u b le - "

A ttr ib u te d to som e body in R o c h e s te r (See COBOL, p ^ | . )

In the movie " F a i l - S a f e , " t h e y sh o w e d you lo ts o f f a k e ta p e d r iv e s w i lh l h e r e e l s c o n s ta n t ly t u r n i n g in o n e d i r e c t i o n . T h i s t h e y c a l l e d a " c o m p u t e r . " C a l l i n g a n y s i n i s t e r box "a com p u te r" i s a w id e s p re a d t r i c k . G iv e s p e o p le th e w illleB , K e e p s 'e m in l in e .

i v p , l t o r !

bonkno w u t i i ;

(to I i V V ' * th'-~'w yu f e p o . i ,

o f t h e s r 1 f l n

B M W B o o j ie sC y b e r c r u d I s n o t a im ed o n ly a t l a y m e n .

It c a n w o r k e v e n a m o n g I n s i d e r s .

T h e o p e ra t io n s m a n a g e r o f a n a t io n a l t im e - s h a r in g s e r v i c e , t o r e x a m p l e , w a s f an a t ic a l a b o u t c l e a n l in e s s . In o r d e r to a s s u r e a C lean C o m p u te r R oo m , h e s a i d , a n d h e n c e no d a n g e r o u s d u s t n e a r th e ta p e s o r d i s k s , h e m ad e a r u l e r e q u i r i n g th a t a n y o n e e n t e r in g th e c o m p u te r room h a d to w e a r c lo th b o o t ie s o v e r h is s h o e s .

B o o ties w e r e h u n g o u ts i d e fo r th o s e w h o h a d to e n t e r .

" A n d 1 h a d th e g r e a t e s t t im e m a k in g h i s . " s a y s h i s w i f e , l a u g h in g . "W ith th e c u t e s t li t t le b u n n y fa c e s on th e m . T h e b u t to n s w e r e th e h a r d e s t p a r t to g e t y o u k n o w , th e o n e s w ith e y e s t h a t r o l l ! " S h e la u g h s v e r y h a r d a s s h e te l l s t h i s .

" O f c o u r s e t h e r e w as no n e e d f o r I t . " h e now c h o r t l e s , " b u t I t s u r e k e p t p e o p le o u t o f t h e c o m p u te r r o o m ."

( T h a i ' s a p p l ie d lo g ic f o r y o u . )

' COMPUTERS AND THEIR PRIESTS

F i r s t g e t i t t h r o u g h y o u r h e a d th a t c o m p u te r s a re b i g , e x p e n s i v e , f a s t , d u m b a d d in g - m a c h ln e - ty p e w r i l e r s . T h e n r e a l i z e th a t m ost o f t h e c o m p u te r te c h n i c ia n s th a t y o u 'r e l ik e ly to m e e t o r h i r e a r e c o m p l i e a t o r s . n o t s im p l i f ie r s . T h e y ' r e t r y i n g to m ak e il loo k to u g h . Not e a s y . T h e y ' r e b u i ld i n g a m y s t iq u e , a p r i e s t h o o d . t h e i r ow n m u m bo- ju m b o r i t u a l to k e e p y o u f rom k n o w in g w h a t t h e y - - an d y o u - - a r e d o in g . "

- - R o b e r t T o w n s e n d ,Up T h e O rg a n iz a t io n ( K n o p f ) , p . 36.

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F o rg e t w h a t y o u 'v e e v e r h e a rd o r im ag in ed about c o m p u te r s . J u s t c o n s id e r th is:

The com puter is the most general machine man has ever d eve lo p ed . Indeed , it should be called the A ll-P u rp ose M achine, but is n t , for reasons of h istorica l accident (s e e n e a r b y ) . Computers can co n tro l, and rece iv e information from , v irtually any other m achine. The com puter is not like a bomb or a g u n , w h ich can on ly d e s troy , but more l ike a ty p e w r ite r , w holly non committal betw een good and bad in its n ature.The scop e of w hat computers can do i s b reath tak ing. Illustrated are some exam ples (although having all th is happen on one computer w ou ld be u n u su a l) . It can turn things on and o ff , r in g b e l l s , put out f i r e s , type out on printing m a c h in es .

Computers are incredib ly d ogged . Com pulers can do th ings repeatedly forever , or an e x a c t , immense num ber of times (like 4 ,9 0 1 ,2 2 3 ) , doing som ething o v er and o v e r , d ep ending on w hether it's fin ished or not. A com puter's activ it ies can b e combined in remarkable w a y s . One a c t iv ity , repeated over and o v e r , can b e part of another activity repeated o v er and o v e r , which can be a part of s t ill another a c t iv ity , w hich can be repeated ad infinitum . THERE ARE DEFINITE LIMITATIONS on what com puters can d o , but they are not ea sy to d escribe b r ie f ly . A lso , some of them are argu ed about among com puter p eo p le .

i .O 0 O O O C S O O o O O o o C 6 0

t i c k I W t w*i

. 1m . l . i k , * r u U le v w .

Ifle 4U -purpose MHnfcC o m p u te rs a re COMPLETELY GENERAL,

w ith no f ixed p u rp o s e o r s ty le of o p era tio n .In s p i te of th i s , the s t r a n g e m yth h a s evolved th a t c o m p u te r s a r e som ehow "m athem atica l."

A c tua lly v on N eum ann , w ho got the g en e ra l id e a ab o u t a s soon as anybody (1 9 4 0 s) , ca lled th e co m p u te r

THE ALL-PURPOSE MACHINE.

( I n d e e d , the f i r s t b a c k e r of co m p u ters af te r World W ar II w a s a m aker of m u l ti - lig h lb u lb s ig n s . It i s an in te re s tin g p o s s ib il i ty th a t if h e had not b e e n k i l le d in an a i rp la n e c r a s h , co m p u ters w ould h av e b ee n se e n f i r s t a s te x t-h a n d l in g and p ic tu re -m a k in g m a c h in e s , a n d o n ly la te r developed fo r m athem atics and b u s in e s s . )

We w ould ca ll i t the A ll-P u rp o se M achine h e r e , e x c e p t th a t for h is to r ic a l r e a s o n s i t has b e e n s la p p e d w ith the o th e r n am e .

B ut th a t d o e s n 't mean i t h a s a fix e d way of o p e ra tin g . On the c o n t r a ry .

COMPUTERS HAVE NO NATURE AND NO CHARACTER,

s a v e th a t w h ich h a s b ee n p u t in to them by w hoever is c r e a tin g th e p ro g ra m fo r a p a r t ic u la r p u rp o s e . C o m p u te rs a r e , u n lik e any o th e r p ie c e of eq u ip m en t, p e r fe c t ly BLANK. And th a t is how we h a v e p ro je c ted on i t so m any d iffe re n t faces .

doht'M ll

A HELPFUL COMPARISON

It h e lp s sometimes to compare com puters with typ ew riters . Both handle information accord ing to som ebody's own v iew point.

Nervous Question

"Can a ComputerWrite a Poem?"

"Can't Com puters OnlyBehave Mechanistically?'

"Aren't ComputersCom pletely Impersonal?'

Helpful Parallel

"Can a T ypew riter Write a Poem?"

(S u re . Your poem .)"Can't T ypew riters Only

B ehave M echanistically?(Y es , but carry in g

out your in ten t.)"Aren't T ypew riters

Com pletely Impersonal?"(W ell, i t 's not like h andw riting ,

but i t 's sti l l what you s a y .)

Many ord inary peop le find com pulers in tu itive ly obvious and understandable; on ly the com plications e lu d e them . Perhaps th e se intu itive ly helpfu l defin itions may help you r intuition as w e l l .

1. Think o f the com puter as aWIND-UP CROSSWORD PUZZLE.

2. A COMPUTER IS A DEVICE FOR TWIDDLING INFORMATION. (S o . whal kinds o f information are there? And what are the tw id d lin g options? T h e se m atters are what the com puter fie ld c o n s is ts o f . )

3. A com puter i s a com pletely general d e v ic e , w h ose method o f operation may be c h a n g e d , for h and ling sym b ols in any sp ec if ic w a y .

THE MAGIC OF THE COMPUTBR PROGRAM

The basic, central magical Interior device of the computer we shall call a program follower.A program follower ia an electronic device (usually) which reads symbols specifying operations, carries out the step each specifies and goes on to the n ex t.

The program follower reads down the list of instructions In the program, taking each Instruction In turn and carrying It out before It goes on to the next.

Now , there are program followers that Just do that and nothing more; they have to stop when they get to the end of the list of Instructions.

A true computer, however, can do several things more.

11 can Jump back to an earlier point In the program and go on from there. Repeating the program In this fashion Is called a loop.

It can perform tests on symbols In the memory for Instance. to see if a loop has been done enough times, or If some other part of the Job has been finished and Jump to some other program depending on these symbols. This la called a branch .

Finally, the computer can change the Information stored in memory. For Instance, It can place an answer In a specific part of memory.

WHAT, THEN. IS A (Digital) COMPUTER?

A device holding stored symbols In a changeable memory,

performing operations on some of those symbols in the memory.

In s sequence specified by other symbols In the memory.

able to change the sequencebased on tests of symbols In the memory,

and able to change symbols in the memory.(For example, do arithmetic and store the result In the memory.)

Rather than try to slip It to you o r prove it In some fancy way, let's Just state baldly: the power of such a machine to do almost anything surpasses all previous technical tricks in human history .

HOW CAN A COMPUTER CONTROLSO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS?

Answer. Different as they may seem, all devices are controlled In the same way. Every device has an Interface, that la , its own special connection setup, and In this Interface are the device reg iste rs .

These device reg isters look the same to the computer: the computer program simply moves Information patterns Into them o r moves information patterns from them to see what they contain.

Co M O T E

I V i T C t W *

--

particular symbolic signals the device needs

r heart patient oil refinery musical Instrument display screen disk memory

The computer, being a machine, doesn't know or care that device register 17 (say) controls a hog feeder, or device register 23 (aay) receives Information from smog detectors. But what you choose, in your program, to put Into device register 17, controls what the hogs eat, and what comes into device register 29 will tell your program, you hope, about smog conditions. Choosing how to handle these things in your program la your business.

The computer does things over and over by changing a stored count, then testing the stored count against another number which Is what the count should get to , and going to the beginning If the desired count has not been resched . This is called a loop. (If there 's no way 11 can ever get out, that's an endless loop.) (Actually, the program loop Is done the same way as a program branch: IF a certain count has not been reached ,It branches BACK to the start of the loop.)

Other things besides programs msy be stored In the memory. Anything besides programs are usually called d a ta .

* *

The Instructions of programs use the data in different ways. Some programs use a lot of data, some use a little, some don't use any. It is one of the fascinating and powerful things about the computer that both the instructions of a program. and the data they work on , are stored as patterns of bits in Ihe same memory, where they can be modified as needed. Indeed, the program can modify its own patterns of b its, a very Important feature.

WHAT DO PROGRAMS LOOK LIKE?

In what forms are these programs s tored , you ask? Well, they are written by people in computer languages, which are then stored in some form in the computer's fast core memory, where the program follower can act on them. But what does a computer language look like , you ask? A h a ...

G o T o P A G e \

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