Changes in computer technology during the past several decades have been extraordinary in both their magnitude and rapidity. Ten years ago Lepper pointed out that portable personal computers costing less than $1,000.00 were available that had more computational power than could have been delivered 30 years before that by a $10 million machine the size of an average living room (Lepper, 1985), and the cost per unit of computational power has continued to decline dramatically. An even more striking way of illustrating the pace of change is to compare the computer and automobile industries. As Lepper notes, if the automobile industry had obtained increases in efficiency and reductions in cost comparable to those occurring in the computer industry, a Rolls-Royce would cost less than $2.75. Furthermore, it would get almost 3,000,000 miles per gallon and be capable of towing an aircraft carrier.

These remarkable increases in computational power have been accompanied by rapid proliferation in the uses to which computers can be put. Computers now play an important roll in manufacturing, sales, transportation, entertainment, and finance and are found in consumer products ranging from automobiles to toys for preschool children. Developments in computer networking now allow individuals to communicate with others around the globe with extraordinary speed and ease. Advances in both computer and laser optical storage technologies have led to the development of videodiscs, which enable the user to interact freely with complex multimedia programs in ways virtually undreamed of only a few decades ago.