This book covers the way computing was handled before the arrival of electronic computers. It discusses manual information processing and early technologies. The book describes the development of software technology, the professionalization of programming, and the emergence of a software industry.

Nathan Ensmenger

Preface to the Third Edition -- Introduction -- Before the Computer -- When Computers were People -- The Mechanical Office -- Babbage'S Dream Comes True -- Creating the Computer -- Inventing the Computer -- The Computer Becomes a Business Machine -- The Maturing of the Mainframe: The Rise of IBM -- Innovation and Expansion -- Real Time: Reaping The Whirlwind -- Software -- New Modes of Computing -- Getting Personal -- The Shaping of The Personal Computer -- Broadening the Appeal -- The Internet