The social impact of computers

During two recent years at MIT, I had a teletypewriter assigned to my use. The teletype gave me instant access to a large computer complex in which I had various sets of data stored. The teletype was located in a basement room which was generally dark except for the light focused over my teletype and small desk. It was always silent in that room except for the noise of the teletype. In this setting, I would conduct analysis of my data by the hour. I would sort along particular variables, intersect those which seemed promising and in this way be led from one avenue of investigation to another. I was in effect carrying on a dialogue with the computer. I asked a question and I got an answer. The answer led me to other questions. Sometimes the computer would complain that I had not made my inquiry in the correct form and it would suggest that I try again. It kept me informed of the time I had used and how much I had remaining; what data sets I had placed on file and what analysis I had completed. I could cuss it (and often did), thank it, wait impatiently the few seconds it sometimes required to respond, and get excited about what it was telling me. Given all of this, it should not seem strange that this machine came to be human to me for long periods of time. It had personality, value, integrity---and it carried on conversations with me alone. I understand Kronenberg when he says "computers are good guys."