Twenty years ago, my first experience with computers occurred while I was a student of William Howells at Harvard. Because Howells treated these machines with good sense and good humor, I did, too. Howells regarded computers as a useful, sometimes exasperating tool, but he felt that to indulge fears about them was a waste of time. I can trace nearly all the attitudes expressed in this book to his own remarkably prescient views.
More recently, with the advent of small machines, many others have assisted me. Paul Bass, David Shire, Jim Leitzke, Stacy Keach, Andrew Grove, Ron Frankel, Clay Serbin, and Stephen Warady all helped me in innumerable ways.
I’d never have written a book had not Jack Roberts invited me to attend the International Design Conference in Aspen in June 1982. Jerry Lettvin was there; he proposed I write on this subject. Informal talks with other conference participants greatly influenced the shape of the text.
While preparing manuscript drafts, I received valuable suggestions from Caroline Ray, Lisa Faversham, Mike Rachmil, Kurt Villadsen, and Suzanne Crichton. Several of the people already mentioned read various drafts as well. Joseph Esherick translated the “I Ching” hexagram names. Bob Gottleib pulled the manuscript together with his usual apparent effortlessness.
