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