ABSTRACT
The computer industry — or more accurately the data processing industry — has become mature. Its effects are felt throughout society, and its terminology has entered into the language. The growth has been meteoric, perhaps as great as any since the Industrial Revolution. To service this new industry, a whole range of new skills has been created. Forty years ago there were no programmers, data processing systems analysts, or other computer staff in commercial employment. Even fifteen years ago, the PC was only just beginning to make itself felt, and nobody but the most optimistic would have forecast its impact on all areas of life. Now computing staff represent a sizeable and growing proportion of the workforce. The growth of the Internet and the use of e-mail represent another revolution — introducing a completely new set of media.
