It is about living. This quote basically sums up the entire article, in that computers are not just an item or a fad that will come and go. But they are the future. It talks of the Web being a great thing and how the chemist has never had such an ability to manipulate and manage information. The article talks of the difference between information and data.
Information is the process of converting data to knowledge.
Data is seen as the accumulation of unrefined facts or results. The author writes of how never before has there been such a vast amount of information and ability to generate that information than today. All the information is on the desktop.