COMPUTER - An electronic machine for making calculations, storing
and analyzing information fed into it, and controlling machinery
automatically. (Oxford American Dictionary)
That, simply stated, is what a computer is.
A computer is capable of feats just so long as one does not make
the mistake that it is thinking. It isn't thinking. But it can
sure be made to look like something that thinks. In actual fact,
the ones doing the thinking are the computer system designer,
the programmer and the user.
I should mention that what I mean by "user" is not a
typist or someone who simply feeds in data. The user is somebody
who knows how to get data into the computer and out of it. He
knows that the computer can be made to do work, and he
is running that computer for blood.
Operating a computer is not operating a calculator. A computer
is not something which "eases the work" or "saves
time" or "permits staff to do other things." That
comes under the heading of wasting a computer. Used right, they
can dig up and generate income by the steam shovel-full, and boost
efficiency and production to the sky. They are a tool with mammoth
capabilities. The state of mind to assume in using a computer
is "Now how can I use this thing to enormously increase the
production and income of an area?"
What's happened on this planet, obviously, is that they think
the computer will think - when it can't - and so they don't do
enough thinking for the computer in terms of developing uses for
it and putting these into action.
One point should be mentioned which is very valuable: and that
is the speed of operation which can be attained using a computer.
The computer can contribute enormously to operational speed in
its ability to rapidly relay information over long distances,
its ability to keep constant and accurate track of thousands of
individual data and actions, and its capacity for rapid data collection
and evaluation for action.
The datum here is that power is proportional to the speed of particle
flow.
This is the real secret behind the prosperity which can arise
in connection with a computer operation.
Given good ideas, a good heart, a worthwhile project and the addition
of near instantaneous computer particle flow, the power of an
organization becomes almost unlimited.
L. RON HUBBARD