inquiries of people served by the
businesses, and 3) more efficient customer service. And the service benefits people receive
from companies in health care include (1) faster and more thorough testing to detect and
identify disease, (2) more accurate methods of physiological monitoring, and (3) better
control of lab test results and the dispensing of drugs.
Entertainment and educational benefits. Some businesses are using computers
only to amuse and entertain us. Personal computer game programmes are being prepared
by hundreds of producers. Computer animation firms are writing programmes that give the
illusion of movement to inanimate objects. The results of this animation are now seen
regularly in movies and on TV. And the potential for computers in education has barely
been tapped.
Improved safety. Computer usage contributes to improving quality as well as
personal safety in many ways. For example, microcomputers installed in motor cars now
provide a more efficient means of controlling the engines fuel mixture, ignition timing,
and exhaust emissions. Computer-controlled antilock braking systems in aircraft and cars
help prevent dangerous skids and produce optimum stopping distance in all weather
conditions. Wheel-speed sensors detect if a wheel is stopping too quickly. A
microcomputer then automatically reduces hydraulic brake pressure at the wheel until the
danger has passed. And computers permit gas utility companies to do a better job of
managing and controlling the pipeline leaks that can seriously damage the environment.
Better information retrieval. A New York surgeon contacted a medical library
when a sick woman lapsed into a hepatic coma. He needed immediate information
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