Computers can process ______ at great speed.

There are at present over one quarter of a million computers in the world. Basically, a computer is a device for storing and processing information, or data as it is called. People have found ways of doing these things for thousands of years, of course. But computers can process highly complex information at great speed. Because of this they are transforming many aspects of lives. The development of microprocessors—you heard about their manufacture earlier—has speeded up this change even more. Microprocessors make it possible for computers to work much faster and to be made much smaller. So any particular computer can also be made more complex without taking up too much room. Computers are now being used in an enormous number of areas. We will look at a few of these. Computers are widely used in banking for processing cheques. The code numbers on cheques are printed in magnetic ink which can be read by a computer. When you pay in a cheque, it is sent to a central clearing particular bank, where they are processed by another computer and the two accounts involved are debited and credited according to the amount of the cheque. Computers are also being used to process withdrawals and the payment of standing orders. Another development is known as the Electronic Funds Transfer. This system makes it possible to transfer money directly from one account to another via a computer. It is controlled by a computer in Belgium. If it is accepted by banks generally, this computer will become the center of a highly efficient world-wide network.
    Computers are being used more and more in medicine too. The commonest use is for keeping hospital patient records. There may be access to these at several points-wards, offices, laboratories and even operating theatres. Computers are also used in the delicate task of looking after patients in intensive care units and in monitoring those undergoing surgery. One of the latest developments is to use computers to assist diagnosis. A computer is programmed with information about a disease, using the accumulated knowledge of many specialists and textbooks. A doctor examining a patient may then be guided by the information given by the computer in what to look for and which questions to ask the patient. The information he gathers is fed into the computer. It may suggest further questions before finally providing a diagnosis. This kind of procedure causes some people anxiety. They feel it increases the gap in the personal relationship between doctor and patient. On the other hand, it makes widely available knowledge and expertise which before belonged to only a small number of specialists, or which had to be found with difficulty in published materials.
    Computers are revolutionizing the work of those who work with words. Up to now, in the production of newspapers, a reporter has typed his story, known as copy. This has then been passed on to the editor. After being edited, the story would often have to be retyped and then sent to the typesetter. Prints would then be made of individual articles and these, together with advertisements, would be assembled manually to form a complete page. This would then be the basis for the making of the printing plate. In computerized production, the reporter types his copy directly into the computer, which shows it on a visual display unit, or VDU. This is like a television screen. The editor accesses this story on his own VDU and changes it by typing instructions into the computer. Various articles are then arranged into columns according to a program run by the computer. The page layout is done on another VDU and the complete page passed automatically to the printing stage. For the office typist, things are changing too. They can now use word processors-small computers similar to those used by the reporters. If you make a mistake, you don’t have to paint out the error before retyping. You just backspace and type the correct letter. The change is made on the VDU automatically. It is also possible to insert material-single words, lines or complete paragraphs. The computer itself reorganizes the layout of the whole text to accommodate the changes. It can also store complete texts and organize the paragraphs as needed. This is especially helpful in legal work, where many standard paragraphs are used. When the text is completed, the typing of the page is again handled by the computer. You will realize from hearing about these uses of computers that there are big changes in the kind of work done by many people and, more important, in the number of people needed to do the work.