"FWLS57" - читать интересную книгу автора (A Future We'd Like to See)

"No thank you, Suzy-san, I do not have a computer."

"You don't? That's not good. Less sales for us," she said,
keeping her grin rock-steady. "Well, one of the things this
little tour will show you is the joy a personal computer can
bring into your life. Did you know that you can do your taxes,
exercise economy and banking, send personal mail and even play
enjoyable games all while connected to a computer running
Macroware's VOS operating system?"

"Why can you not simply use a pencil?" I asked, remembering
the last time I had written a letter.

"Well, I suppose you could, but it's a lot slower and uses
up trees to make the pencils. You know how rare wood is today;
but bits and bytes are forever, and much more user friendly. No
sharpening or erasing needed!"

I nodded, not quite understanding, but not caring. "Listen,
once this tour is completed, I would like to visit my friend in
the hardware department--"

"Ah, you know a proud worker in the Macroware family?" she
asked. "Don't worry, hardware is the second stop on our tour.
You can say a big 'ol hello then. Walk this way, please."

Suzy waltzed off, a happy little step which I attempted to
match.

*

"This is our software production department, where we're
constantly creating new and more powerful versions of the VOS
operating system," Suzy said, talking as she walked backwards
down an ordinary hallway. "Our programmers are very dedicated to
their task, staying jacked in as long as possible to maximize
production."

"Jacked in?" I asked, trying to peek into the doorways we
passed. It was hard to make out any details, since I needed to
keep my walking pace up to match Suzy's, and Suzy seemed to enjoy
walking very quickly.

"Connected to our computer networks via neural input/output
devices," she grinned.

"It sounds painful."

"Not really. It's a great way to use computers, much better