Introduction: Computer Revolutionaries - The Computer Boys Take Over - page 1

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Introduction: Computer Revolutionaries
To be a good programmer today is as much a privilege as it was to be a literate
man in the sixteenth century. This privilege leads the programmer to expect rec-
ognition and respect on the part of society. Unfortunately, such recognition is
not always realized.
—Andrei Ershov, Aesthetics and the Human Factor in Programming , 1972
The Computer People
Chances are that you or someone close to you makes their living “working
with computers.” In the decades since the 1950s, the technical spe-
cialists most directly associated with the electronic digital computer—
computer programmers, systems analysts, and network and database
administrators—have assumed an increasingly active and visible role in
the shaping of our modern information society. All but the smallest
organizations now have their own information technology departments
fi lled with such specialists, and in many cases they represent some of the
organization's most valued—or at least most highly paid—employees. In
the United States alone there are more than three million professional
computer experts; the total worldwide estimate is nearly thirty-fi ve
million. 1 There are now more people working in computing than in all
of the other fi elds of engineering and architecture combined. In recent
years, “computer people” have become some of our wealthiest citizens,
most important business leaders and philanthropists, and most recog-
nized celebrities.
It is likely, however, that unless you yourself are one of these com-
puter people, you have at best a vague notion of what it actually means
to work with computers. Even compared to other esoteric scientifi c or
technical disciplines, the work of computer specialists is opaque to out-
siders. Their activities are often regarded by nonpractitioners as being at