ABSTRACT
Histories have been written before about the gradual penetration of computers into our homes. Researchers have documented the introduction of the personal computer (PC) into the domestic context, mapping the shift from the early 'hobbyist' assemble-yourself micros of the 1970s, to the multi-media, networked PCs of the 1990s. The workplace, however, provided a diverse range of introductions to the world of digital technology. Five of the mothers in the study, for example, first came across computers as an 'office tool', a next generation up from the electronic typewriters they trained on in secretarial college or at school. Two of the fathers, in managerial positions, attempted to avoid computers for as long as possible by delegating responsibility for computer-based tasks to their secretaries. The computer was seen as part of the world of 'white collar' jobs and well paid work. The electromagnetic pulse would knock everything out, the screens and everything.
