One key benefit of the increasing power and pervasiveness of computers is seldom mentioned in polite conversation: the virtually unlimited opportunity they provide for scapegoating.
Disenfranchised classes make decent scapegoats, but as sentient beings they can fight back. No such annoyances befall the person who blames failure on an inanimate object.
A manager knows she needs to hire another worker, but that the powers that be will reject this proposal. The solution? Upgrade from run-of-the mill 486s to Pentiums: it was all the computer's fault.
Undoubtedly, the few seconds saved each day, which would otherwise be wasted waiting for WordPerfect to open, will turn the company around.
- Sean W. Fleming (sfleming@oce.orst.edu) is a geophysics graduate student at Oregon State University.
