O'REILLY RELEASES "THE FUTURE DOES NOT COMPUTE"
New Book Explores the Dark Side of Computers and the Internet

June 2, 1995 -- SEBASTOPOL, CA--Computer book publisher and Internet
pioneer O'Reilly & Associates announces the June 23 publication of "The
Future Does Not Compute: Transcending the Machines in Our Midst." Author
Stephen L. Talbott takes readers on a wide-ranging tour of the dark side
of the Internet and computer technology. He challenges the assertions made
by technology enthusiasts that computers expand creativity and community.
In a thoughtful investigation of computers effect on the users who are
their supposed masters, he concludes that these machines subtly shape and
inevitably limit human consciousness.

Talbott contends that the computers are an outward expression of "the
hidden and increasingly powerful machine within us." As computers become
further enmeshed in our daily lives, we are pulled toward the habits of
mind they support. How do we maintain that which is uniquely human in the
face of computer technology that is taking over more and more human
functions?

In wrestling with a central question: "Can human ideals survive the
Internet?" the author explores both the gift and the danger computer
technology offers us. He asserts that the Internet is the most powerful
invitation to remain asleep we have ever faced. Contrary to the usual
view, it dwarfs television in its power to induce passivity, to scatter
our minds, to destroy our imaginations, and to make us forget our
humanity. It does so, that is, as long as we gaze into our screens and tap
on our keyboards while less than fully conscious of the subtle influences
passing through the interface.

O'Reilly may seem an unlikely publisher for a book that explores the
negative aspects of computer technology. Publisher Tim O'Reilly explains,
"We think the questions Steve Talbott raises are important ones. We hope
his book makes people think about our relationship to the 'intelligent
machines' that are so much a part of our lives. And we suspect that
readers may more readily accept a book questioning the role of computers
if it is published by a leading computer book company."

After finishing "The Future Does Not Compute," readers will never again be
able to sit in front of their computers with quite the same glazed
stares.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen L. Talbott went from Presidential Scholar to farmer, and from
editing an interdisciplinary, scholarly journal about the catastrophist
theories of Immanual Velikovsky, to fourteen years working in the computer
industry. For the past few years he has been a senior editor at O'Reilly &
Associates. Mr. Talbott recently moved with his family from the Boston
technology belt to rural New York, where his efforts to reach an
accommodation with his computer continue.

ABOUT O'REILLY & ASSOCIATES

O'Reilly & Associates is recognized worldwide for its definitive books on
the Internet and UNIX. Working closely with developers of new
technologies, O'Reilly's editors are computer people who use the software
they write about. The company's planning and review cycles link together
authors, computer vendors, and technical experts throughout the industry
in a creative collaboration that mirrors the strengths of the open systems
philosophy itself.

The Future Does Not Compute: Transcending the Machines in Our Midst
By Stephen L. Talbott
Publication Date: June 1995
502 pages, ISBN: 1-56592-085-6, $22.95 US

O'Reilly & Associates
103A Morris St., Sebastopol, CA 95472
707/829-0515, Fax 707/829-0104, http://www.ora.com/

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