A pioneering volume that explores the new phenomenon of the personal computer and its impact on the family. Family theorists express queries and concerns about the significance of the personal computer upon the organization, values, ideologies, and behavioral practices of family systems. The rich selection of ideas discussed in this groundbreaking book include the impact of computers on family dynamics and development; the family's response to this new technology; the potential benefits or harm to marital, parent-child relationships, and quality of family life; the use of microcomputers in family therapeutic processes; and the role of personal computers in the delivery of services to families.

In this revolutionary book, a renowned computer scientist explains the importance of teaching children the basics of computing and how it can prepare them to succeed in the ever-evolving tech world. Computers have completely changed the way we teach children. We have Mindstorms to thank for that. In this book, pioneering computer scientist Seymour Papert uses the invention of LOGO, the first child-friendly programming language, to make the case for the value of teaching children with computers. Papert argues that children are more than capable of mastering computers, and that teaching computational processes like de-bugging in the classroom can change the way we learn everything else. He also shows that schools saturated with technology can actually improve socialization and interaction among students and between students and teachers. Technology changes every day, but the basic ways that computers can help us learn remain. For thousands of teachers and parents who have sought creative ways to help children learn with computers, Mindstorms is their bible.

A feminist perspective on the early history of personal computing, revealing how computers were integrated into the most intimate aspects of family life The Intimate Life of Computers shows how the widespread introduction of home computers in the 1980s was purposefully geared toward helping sustain heteronormative middle-class families by shaping relationships between users. Moving beyond the story of male-dominated computer culture, this book emphasizes the neglected history of the influence of women’s culture and feminist critique on the development of personal computing despite women’s underrepresentation in the industry. Proposing the notion of “companionate computing,” Reem Hilu reimagines the spread of computers into American homes as the history of an interpersonal, romantic, and familial medium. She details the integration of computing into family relationships—from helping couples have better sex and offering thoughtful simulations of masculine seduction to animating cute robot companions and giving voice to dolls that could talk to lonely children—underscoring how these computer applications directly responded to the companionate needs of their users as a way to ease growing pressures on home life. The Intimate Life of Computers is a vital contribution to feminist media history, highlighting how the emergence of personal computing dovetailed with changing gender roles and other social and cultural shifts. Eschewing the emphasis on technologies and institutions typically foregrounded in personal-computer histories, Hilu uncovers the surprising ways that domesticity and family life guided the earlier stages of our all-pervasive digital culture.

Servicing Personal Computers, Second Edition focuses on the techniques and processes involved in the repair of personal computers. The book first discusses microcomputer systems. Microprocessors, Z80 support devices, random access memory, parallel input and output, and memory mapped input and output are then explained. The text looks at test equipment, printers and monitors, and tapes and disk drives. The publication also discusses fault diagnosis and considers initial check procedures, testing the CPU board, and miscellaneous faults. The book then underscores the servicing of IBM PC and compatibles. The 8086 and 8088 microprocessors, 8086 registers, 80286 microprocessor, support devices, and useful memory locations are described. The text also presents commonly used symbols, TTL families and device numbering, common TTL pin-outs, RAM data, and equivalent logic functions. The selection is a vital source of information for those interested in personal computer repair.