In their attempts to reach peak performance, both sets of organizations have invested in a tool born of maps and circuits and dualistic logic. The computer has appeared on the scene like a new savior in the light of a frightening dawn. The dawn of an age that might drown us all. Many folks in the information processing and communications industry have commented that computers are transforming the world from a shattered, chaotic jumble into a global village. Clearly they span distances with mythic power.
Computers let people from all over the world share music, words, pictures, and software.
Science fiction daydreams of the 1950s and 1960s seem like nearly prophetic images of the changes affecting our workplaces and homes. Some feel this opening of new avenues of communication has greater implications for cultural evolution than the printing press. With the likes of the Internet, World Wide Web, and multimedia, we have a replacement for snail mail and paper-filled trash cans, immediate contact between politicians and their constituents, entertainers and their audiences, teachers and students, buyers and sellers. No one knows them yet. You will even be able to order a virtual dog and beer, and check the option to have an actual dog and beer delivered to you ASAP in the real world.