Too Soon to Tell – Essays for the End of the Computer Revolution: Perspectives

Too Soon to Tell is a revised and expanded collection of David Alan Grier's popular monthly column "In Our Time" for Computer magazine. In forty-three personal essays--twenty of which are entirely new for this publication--the author draws upon the experiences of everyday people, their companies, and their interactions to reveal how computers moved from the drawing table and into our offices and living rooms. The result is a book that offers a singular portrait of the computer revolution that has yet to be told.

Written in a simple, easy-to-follow style that is free of industry jargon, each essay begins with a short introduction that recounts the author's experiences with his students or those of the author's father and his generation of computer scientists--which seamlessly connect the themes that are explored throughout the book. Set against a backdrop that spans more than half a century, this poignant book allows readers to gain an intimate and meaningful understanding of the relationship between humans and machines, the connections between fathers and sons, the impact of rapid technological change on the family, and the revolutionary nature of a technology that has rebuilt human institutions in its own image.

Too Soon to Tell is an original and starkly human portrait of the computer era that will entice readers from all walks of life.