Since the 1970s a diverse body of commentary has emerged to chronicle the social impact of the computer. Although few dispute that this innovative machine is a pivotal twentieth-century artefact situated at the core of wide-ranging social and technical change, little agreement has emerged over whether this change has been positive or negative in nature; or whether we should be contemplating our future association with the computer with enthusiasm or trepidation. Specifically with regard to the relationship between women and computers, such commentary has included views from both those who have found grounds for expressing optimism about this association and those who have favoured a more cautious, even pessimistic, assessment of the current situation and its probable future development.

On the optimistic side, three discrete waves have emerged in the literature, each underpinned by a distinct rationale. This book begins by examining the first wave of optimism. It goes on to present quantitative and qualitative evidence which largely came to light in the US and UK during the 1980s and which rendered the rationale behind that optimism unsustainable to all but its most die-hard advocates. Chapter two discusses the rationales underpinning two subsequent waves which have become prominent as the first has receded. The rest of the book presents a body of qualitative data and analysis which provide a framework within which the legitimacy of these still extant waves can be assessed.