The computer is today a dominant force in our society. Its use continues to

grow year by year. These machines keep getting faster, more reliable, less

expensive, smaller, and easier to usc the newer pocket calculators provide a

perfect illustration of these trends. The promise of better performance at

lower cost leads to an inescapable expectation of even more growth in the

future; computers will be an integral part of our daily lives. A basic under-

standing of these machines and their effect on us is essential to the modern

educated man or woman.

Most existing introductory-level textbooks present computer concepts

from a late-1960s perspective. Most of the material remains valid---computers

still work pretty much as they did back in the 1950s. But the emphasis is

shifting. In the late 1960s, efficient use of a very expensive piece of office

equipment, the computer, was the key to data processing economics, putting

a premium on "good," tight programming, and making such topics as com-

puter arithmetic and the internal functioning of the machine very important.

Today, efficient use of the entire information processing system has become

the objective.

This book presents basic information processing and computer concepts