Computers and computer networks have changed the way in which people work, play, do business, run organizations and countries, and interact with one another on a personal level. The workplace of the early twentieth century was full of paper, pens, and typewriters. The office of the early twenty-first century is a place of glowing monitor screens, keyboards, mice, scanners, digital cameras, printers, and speech recognition equipment. The office is no longer isolated; it is linked by computer networks to others like it around the world. Computers have had such an effect that some say an information revolution is occurring. This revolution may be as important as the printing revolution of the fifteenth century, the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century, or the agricultural revolutions of the ancient and medieval worlds.

The computer was invented to perform mathematical calculations. It has become a tool for communication, for artistic expression...