Introduction

Librarian of Congress Boorstin, in warning against the temptation to accept uncritically the notion that the burgeoning presence of computer printouts represents an actual increase in the world’s body of knowledge, nevertheless musters an almost lyrical enthusiasm for the computer itself:

The last two decades have seen the spectacular growth of the information industry—the frontier spirit in the late twentieth century. A magic computer technology accomplishes the dreariest tasks in seconds, surpasses the accuracy of the human brain, controls production lines and refineries, arranges inventories, and retrieves records. All this makes us proud of the human imagination. ¹