Even if all the technical and intellectual problems can be solved, there are major socialproblems inherent in the computer revolution. The most obvious is unemployment, since the basic purpose of commercial computerization is to get more work done by fewer people. One British study predicts that "automation induced unemployment" in Western Europe could reach 16~,6 in the next decade, but most analyses are more optimistic. The general rule seems to be that new technology eventually creates as many jobs as it destroys, and often more. "People who put in computers usually increase their staffs as well" says CPT's Scheff. "Of course," he adds,"one industry may kill another industry. That' s tough on some people."
即使所有的技术和智力问题都能解决，计算机革命也存在着固有的重大社会问题。最明显的是失业，因为商业电脑化的基本目的是让更少的人完成更多的工作。英国的一项研究预测，在未来十年，西欧的“自动化引发的失业率”可能达到16~6，但大多数分析都更乐观。一般的规则似乎是，新技术最终创造的就业机会与其破坏的就业机会一样多，而且往往更多。CPT的谢夫说：“安装电脑的人通常也会增加。当然，”他补充道，“一个行业可能会扼杀另一个行业。这对一些人来说很艰难。”
Theoretically, all unemployed workers can be retrained, but retraining programs are not high on the nation's agenda. Many new jobs, moreover, will require an ability in using computers, and the retraining needed to use them will have to be repeated as the technology keeps improving. Says a chilling report by the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment:
从理论上讲，所有失业工人都可以接受再培训，但再培训项目并不是国家议事日程上的重点。此外，许多新工作将需要使用计算机的能力，随着技术的不断进步，使用计算机所需的再培训将不得不重复进行。国会技术评估办公室的一份令人不寒而栗的报告说：
"Lifelong retraining is expected to become the standard for many people. "There is a already considerable evidence that the school children now being educated in the use of computers are generally the children of the white middle class. Young blacks, whose unemployment rate stands today at 50 96, will find another barrier in front of them.
“终身再培训有望成为许多人的标准。”已经有相当多的证据表明，现在接受计算机使用教育的学生通常是白人中产阶级的孩子。今天失业率为5096的年轻黑人将会发现面前的另一个障碍。
Such social problems are not the fault of the computer, of course, but a consequence of the way the American society might use the computer. "Even in the days of the Big, main- frame computers, when they were a machine for the few." says Katherine Davis Fishman, author of The Computer Establishment, "it was a tool to help the rich get richer. It still is to a large extent. One of the great values of the personal computer is that smaller firms, smaller organizations can now have some of the advantages of the bigger organizations."
当然，这样的社会问题不是计算机的错，而是美国社会使用计算机方式的结果。《The Computer Establishment》一书的作者Katherine Davis Fishman说：“即使在大型主机的时代，当它们还是少数人的机器时，它也是帮助富人变得更富有的工具。在很大程度上，它仍然如此。个人计算机的一大价值在于，小公司、小组织现在可以拥有大组织的一些优势。”
网友评论