Microcomputers in Media Centers—Selecting Software Available to Purchase

There is no computer topic today more widely discussed, that occupies more pages in the popular and academic journals than computer software. It is said to be sparse, nonexistent, ineffective, “junk,” inaccurate, incomprehensible, unsuitable, etc. Software is essential to the efficacy of any school computer operation, yet rarely purchased concomitant with the equipment itself. Originally, vendors gave away software with every hardware purchase. Today, school practitioners recommend that schools should budget twice the cost of the hardware for appropriate materials. The New York Times, in an article entitled “Computers: The Action's in Software,” reveals much about the economics of a field that is just beginning its rapid growth phase (November 8, 1981). Indeed, schools may come to the realization with this technology that equipment without software is a projector without a film, a phonograph without a record.