Man of the Year

To the Editors:

I was shocked that TIME chose the computer as its Man of the Year [Jan. 3]. But I failed to come up with someone or something better. Nothing else has so permanently affected the world in 1982. A wise choice.

John M. Scott Edna, Texas

Your analysis of the relationship between man and his electronic creation was enthusiastic, broad and sensitive.

David N. Thor Elma, N.Y.

For the first time, I agree with your choice for Man of the Year. Computers are here to stay for the betterment of life.

Al Riederer Bensalem, Pa.

It is appropriate that a machine should replace the Man of the Year in 1982, especially when one considers the colossal absurdity of the times in which we live.

Ned Gross Jr. Sarasota, Fla.

The clarity of your article should help those who are new to the world of computers and are fascinated by their mystique to better understand how these machines function and affect our lives.

Dewey R. Bennett Charlotte, N.C.

I am dismayed that the computer alone is Man of the Year. The title should be shared equally with unemployed Americans. The computer is the big reason why so many Americans are jobless.

Janice Moglen-Dietrich Reston, Va.

The computer is a marvelous machine, but it will never replace man. Did the computer shuttle between London and Buenos Aires during the Falklands crisis? Did the computer sacrifice its life that others might be rescued from the icy water in Washington, D.C.?

Susan T. Vermillion Lauderhill, Fla.

According to your reasoning, you might as easily have chosen the sun.

John P. McCarthy Washington, D.C.

Machine of the Year! A preposterous but, I guess, an inevitable notion.

Scott Samuel Hart New Orleans

Computers! Bah! But you have made me see the printout on the wall. I will have to learn to use the contraptions.

Brad Wilson New York City

When machines receive awards, do other machines clap?

Steve Mason Ithaca, N.Y.

Couldn't you have waited until 1984?

David C. Jung Atherton, Calif.

If TIME had to pick a Machine of the Year, the choice should have been the Jarvik artificial heart. For the first time, man and machine have been fused at the most critical juncture, literally at the heart of human existence.

John H. Taylor New York City

Congratulations on your choice of the computer. You have selected my livelihood, my friend and, according to my wife, my constant companion.

Raymond DeMers Pittsford, N.Y.

I never dreamed that TIME's Man of the Year would be living in my house, my TRS-80. You made a great choice.

Irving Kullback West Long Branch, N.J.

Well, well, well, at last it happened. The Man of the Year becomes the Machine of the Year. At least the computer is not full of hatred and revenge like the Ayatullah Khomeini. I would be in great difficulty without its help.

Noubar Babikian North Bergen, N.J.

I have just traded five years as a social worker for a computer-science degree. I never imagined this field would be so challenging, exciting and people oriented. If society is just beginning to discover what the computer can accomplish in the future, then we are riding on the crest of a revolution. Therein lies the thrill of belonging to this generation.

Janice R. Garlick Vista, Calif.

I fear computers will start World War III by mistake. They now make errors on income tax, bank statements and utility bills. These machines have no conscience.

Derek Williams Yarmouth Port, Mass.

The human mind is more creative than any computer. Machines can be bought and sold, the human mind cannot.

Christian C. DeBaun Allston, Mass.

Your selection of a computer is a copout. It takes a person to run a computer.

Earnest Hoberecht Watonga, Okla.

Computers don't make mistakes, people do. You did when you made a computer the Man of the Year.

Larry Johnston Timonium, Md.

You missed the mark. It should have been Barney Clark with his mechanical heart. He is breaking new ground for all of us.

Jerry Tomanelli Jamaica, N.Y.

You blew it.

Joseph A. Lacey Redding, Calif.

An abomination.

Andrew Rubin Los Angeles

Your choice was well thought out and stimulating. It will make people think.

Jym R. Ganahl Columbus

Since computers seem to accomplish anything, they should be installed in every home. We could then be plugged into Washington and vote on all issues, thus eliminating Congress.

Susan Furness Canton, Ohio

As a wife who sits alone each night while her husband spends his evenings with his computer, I say it would be more appropriate to nominate the machine as the Other Woman of the Year.

Charlotte Lanzit Cincinnati

Your choice does a great injustice to the wheel, which took man out of the cave. The computer may put him back in.

Tony Destito Jr. Grand Coulee, Wash.

TIME pictured computers in a shopping center, office, farm, classroom and home. However, you failed to show the room where new orders, renewals, payments and cancellations are fouled up.

Joseph R. Duffy Jersey City

You have only encouraged 'em--the juvenile administrators who attempt to solve management problems with technological toys rather than study, analysis and wisdom.

Sol D. Pickard Huntington Woods, Mich.

Your cover relegates man to a papier-mache dummy and glorifies a machine. No wonder E.T. wanted to go home.

Joseph P. Hoelscher Elyria, Ohio

The Man of the Year is now the Machine of the Year! Why not? Man has not done so well. It is time for a change.

Barbara C. Kuehm Houston

The Man of the Year has no soul.

Shakti Saran Allston, Mass.

It is great to have the Man of the Year in residence! Minnie, my TRS-80 Model III, is busting her bytes with pride. But Winnie, my IBM Selectric, and Maxie, my Daisy Wheel Printer, are jealous.

Mary Ann Marger St. Petersburg, Fla.

First we have machines taking over jobs. Now one of them is taking over Man of the Year. Was this your idea, or did the computer tell you to do this?

Judy Pohlman Milwaukee

Your cover picture shows a man who resembles one of those people glued to the TV playing video games. In the future, folks will come to look like that: plastic-covered, dull and witless.

Helen K. Ruth Lansdale, Pa.

Medical studies have shown that people who work with these processors suffer physical and emotional distress, causing ulcers, colitis, asthma, broken marriages and nervous breakdowns. The computer may be the greatest invention of modern times. Yet I wonder if it is not the devil in disguise.

James A. Koehler Computer Technical Services Technician Buffalo

I am intrigued by your choice. However, the computer is only a useful tool, not a panacea. It will not eliminate pollution, poverty or disease. Only man can accomplish these tasks. We must turn out literate, caring people to run these artificially intelligent machines.

Michael Samuel Aurelius Munster, Ind.

TIME called the IBM Personal Computer "the computer of the year," yet it missed the boat in making only a casual mention of Philip D. Estridge, general manager of IBM's special business unit for personal computers. He and his team are among the leading entrepreneurs in our industry. Your readers would have been better served if you had covered Estridge rather than me.

John R. Opel Chief Executive Officer, IBM Armonk, N.Y.

You have been closed up in your offices too long. Go to a ball game. No computer ever hit a home run. Go to a hospital and see life start. Take a walk in the park. No machine can compare to the smile of a pretty girl or the laugh of a child.

John P. Cooney Western Springs, Ill.

I applaud your choice of the personal computer. But should it not be Machine of the Century?

Scott E. Kildahl Jr. Boise, Idaho

TIME has made a profound and accurate statement on the condition of our information revolution. We are rapidly approaching a crossroads, where man will have to choose between humanistic and technical values, thus becoming either the lord or the prisoner of his own creation. If man opts for the latter, TIME's choice for Machine of the Year in 1990 may well be man.

Joan M. Torkildson Golden Valley, Minn.

One for the Road

If people are old enough to work, marry, raise children, pay taxes and be drafted, they are old enough to buy a drink [Jan. 3]. The basic problem is drunken driving, not drinking. Those who are encouraged by our lax laws to drive while intoxicated will do so regardless of the legal drinking age. Why restrict the freedom of an entire group because a few irresponsible young people abuse alcohol?

Carl O. Olson Fredonia, N.Y.

Legislators say that raising the drinking age will save lives. Using that logic, they should not stop at 19 or 21 years. Why not raise it to 30 and save more lives, or outlaw drinking altogether?

Mia Sohn Baton Rouge, La.

It is naive to expect that a prohibition on teen-age drinking can be enforced. It would be much more practical to enforce a higher driving age.

Andrew Roosa Wayne, Pa. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.