Question 1
“To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer.” This anonymous quote, from a 1982 BBC radio broadcast, reflects the way many people once felt about computers. In 1982, few people owned a personal computer, and only a few more had much confidence in them. Since that time, however, over a billion personal computers have been purchased. Today, most people in the world own a computer or mobile device. Even people who do not own their own computers often can access them through work, schools, libraries, and community centers.
Has the increasingly widespread availability and use of computers changed people’s feelings about them? If so, how?
Are people today more optimistic about the impact of computers than people were a generation ago? Why?