Chapter 4: Electric Computers In High School

In our present-day society, the life of almost every person is affected at least indirectly by what is known as electronic data processing—business, government and scientific operations handled by computers according to pre-set patterns. Examples of our everyday involvement with computer operations surround us: periodic accounts sent to customers by the power company; government cheques; and the numbers by which we find ourselves referred to by all levels of government and business. More and more commonplace every day is the rectangular IBM card with its curious array of perforations, and the corresponding machine print-out, which seem to find their way into all walks of life.