The influence of the high-speed digital computer upon society cannot be underestimated. If we wish to preserve even modified democratic values in a multi-billion-person society, then the computer, mass data processing, and communications are absolute necessities. [...] The computer and modern data processing provide the refinement – the means to treat individuals as individuals rather than as parts of a large aggregate.¹

Jag arbetar en del med datorkommunikationens roll i framtidsvisioner under 1960- och 1970-talen. Det har uppenbarligen funnits olika värderingar av hur datorkommunikationen kommer påverka demokratifrågorna …

1. Martin Shubik, ”Information, Rationality, and Free Choice in a Future Democratic Society”, i Daniel Bell & Stephen R. Graubard eds., Toward the Year 2000: Work in Progress, (Cambridge Mass., 1967; 1997), 145.