Overview

In today's information rich society, we sometimes take for granted the technologies that provide us with that information. Equally, it is sometimes difficult to appreciate the infrastructure that must be in place when we send an electronic mail message around the world. Truly we live in an information age that few people comprehend and, even fewer understand in its entirety.

Today our world is one where we need not touch the telephone nor use the postal system. Instead, if we wish to converse with aunt Mary in Australia we need only send her a message by some form of electronic mail. True this is less personal than sending a letter, but the service is quicker than any postal service could ever hope to be (measured in minutes rather than days). No exotic stamps are used, leaving Uncle Bill sad that he will never get his first day cover-but this is the price that we must pay for technological advancement.

Certainly for the man-on-the-street this rates as just another impersonalization of an already faceless society. But who is the man-on-the-street? Today, computers invade every facet of life and everybody can name at least one time when they have encountered or used them. This then leaves us with business. That small thing driving our world from day to day. We have had 24-hr services for some time, but today 24-hr banking, shopping, and insurance are commonplace. Although we may disagree with the inhuman aspect of it, we surely have...