Traditionally,coursesthatdealwithcomputersandsocietyissuesfocusprimarilyonenumeratingthevariouswaysinwhichcomputersimpactsociety.Thisisdonebylistingcategoriesoftopicssuchasprivacy,computersinmedicine,militaryusesofcomputers,etc.Classiccasesofcomputerabuseorerrantsystemsaretypicallydescribedindetail,asawayofsimplymakingstudentsmoreawareofhowcomputersaffectsociety.Theseexamplesaremeanttoserveaswarningstofutureprofessionals,inthehopesthattheywillpracticetheirprofessionwithgreatercare. 　　Whatismissingfromthesediscussions,however,iswhycomputershavetheimpacttheydoonsociety.Whatarethecharacteristicsthataretherootofthisimpact?Aretherefundamentaldifferencesbetweenthistechnologyandothersthathavetransformedourworldinthepast? 　　Theintentofdevelopingalistofthesecharacteristicsisthatitcouldleadtoabetterunderstandingofthenatureofthesocialimpactofcomputers.Inthisway,itmightbepossibletoexamineanewcomputerprojectatthetimeofitsdesign(not,asistheusualcase,alongtimeaftertheprojecthasbeenimplementedanddisseminated)todetermineitspotentialimpactsasasocialchangeagent. 　　Thecharacteristicsgivenbelowarenotnecessarilyuniquetocomputertechnology.However,inmanyinstancescomputershavecreatedsituationsthatwerepreviouslyimpossibletoaccomplish(suchasspaceflight),wereessentiallyinconceivableuntilthetechnologywasapplied,oratleastwereverydifficulttoachievewithouttheaidofcomputertechnology.Furthermore,eventhoughothertechnologiesmayhavehadimpactssimilartocomputersinmanyways,computertechnologyhasgreatlyamplifiedtheireffectstothepointofentirelyovershadowinganyprevioustechnology'simpact. 　　Finally,thetermcomputertechnologyismeanttobeinclusiveofanydevicethatisessentiallycontrolledbyabasiccomputer(CPU,program,etc.).Thiswouldinclude,therefore,moderntelephones,VCRs,microwaveovens,CATscanners,supermarketscanners,andthelike. 　　Thefollowingareinnoparticularorder.Also,somedevicesorexamplesarelikelytofitintomorethanoneofthecategoriesbelow: 　　(1)Ubiquity- 　　Itisperhapsstatingtheobviousthatcomputersappeartobeeverywheretoday.Evenwhenwedon'tencounterthemdirectlyintheirvariousformsofmodernconveniencedevices,suchasdigitalwatches,microwaveovens,VCRs,andthelike,wegeneratetransactionsthatareprocessedviacomputerswithoutactivelydoinganything:theutilitycompaniesarerecordingourusage,thephonecompanyrecordsincomingcalls,ouransweringmachinemightberecordingamessagewhilewearedoingsomethingelse,someoneisperformingacreditcheckonus,etc. 　　(2)Magnification- 　　Computerstendtowardmagnificationinseveraldifferentways.First,theexplosionoftheavailabilityofinformationisdueinlargeparttothecomputer'sabilitytogenerate,collect,andstoreaneverincreasingamountofrawdata.Sincetheabilitytocreateandcollectdataisgrowingexponentially,sotooisthegenerationofinformationthatcanbesynthesizedfromthisdata.Second,thetypesofnegativeimpactsasingleerrorcanhavehasgrownenormouslywithcomputertechnology.Finally,thenumberofpeopledirectlyaffectedbyasystemerrorhasalsogrownenormously,towhere