ABSTRACT
The introduction of the desktop computer, or video display terminal (VDT), during the 1970s and 1980s was the key technological development that made the computerized “office of the future” a reality. Corporate users, computer manufacturers, and the media proclaimed that the VDT would solve the crisis of office productivity; liberate workers from boring, repetitive work; and create new career opportunities. “New gadgetry, better jobs, less monotony—all are part of the office of the future,” proclaimed U.S. News & World Report in 1978. 1 According to IBM’s 1987 annual report, “Centralizing and automating [VDT] network operations help eliminate routine operator tasks and errors, freeing skilled operators and programmers for more productive tasks.” 2 A report on office automation by Adia Personnel Services, the world’s second-largest provider of contingent (part-time and temporary) office workers, even suggested that the VDT could become a tool for worker empowerment:
Today’s machines require much more human input and are capable of much more than merely performing a repetitive task. The person at the keyboard can input data, control, interpret and create patterns. If knowledge is power, then today’s office workers have the ability to shape a very powerful system. And, the acquired ability to use these machines can lead to changes in the balance of power within an organization. 3
