From: utzoo!watmath!pcmcgeer
Newsgroups: net.followup
Title: Computers \& Society
Article-I.D.: watmath.3517
Posted: Tue Sep 21 00:51:49 1982
Received: Tue Sep 21 04:54:23 1982
References: utcsrgv.568

	"The harmful effects of new technology" is a catch-phrase of the
seventies and one that I, personally, hope will die in the near future.
Frankly, I'd have a hard time thinking of any general-purpose technology
that hasn't been of overwhelming net benefit to society as a whole; I'd also
have a hard time thinking of one whose apparent social costs didn't
outweigh its apparent social benefits *at the time of its introduction*.
	In sum, we can pretty reliably state that the downstream benefits of
rapid computerization will outweigh any apparent costs now; if we start
thinking about the apparent harm entailed in such a move, we'll never get
around to making it.
				Rick McGeer.
				watmath!pcmcgeer