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DON'T TAKE COMPUTERS FOR GRANTED Palo Alto, California - Not an hour goes by, it seems, without some mention of computers. Ever wonder what it would be like living through a revolution? Now you know. There's nary a nitch in which to hide that would get you away from computer talk, computer news, rumors or sales pitches -- not to mention the hard and/or soft wares which, increasingly, stare you in the face during some portion of almost every day. Most people withstand this inundation pretty well. You can ignore most of it, selectively listen to some of it and even assiduously pay attention to whatever kind of computer flak you desire. Whenever it was that whoever it was declared the "Computer Revolution," he or she sure knew what he or she was declaring. You just can't take computers for granted. Which, by the way, is exactly what I hope to be able to do at some point in my lifetime -- take computers for granted. Consider some of the things we already take for granted if you want to have a taste of what life will be like for our descendants... * Political Freedom. Do you hear much talk about this during odd-numbered years? Nooooooo. Why? We take it for granted, of course! Political freedom in the U.S. is like getting a letter from your college alumni association. You ignore it unless you have some extra cash. * Family life. Who doesn't have a family to take for granted? Okay, even an extended family. There's always some aspect of family life you can grant, accept and ignore, whether it's your mother-in-law or that pesky second cousin from Areola, New York. * Television. The only time you don't take TV for granted is when you realize the set you have is over ten years old and it goes dead on you in the middle of "The Cosby Show." Won't it be a fine day when, in the far distant future, computers can be added to the list of things accepted without mention? (I could have written "taken for granted" here, but I've already used the phrase 39 times. See? I'm looking out for you!) By the time you-know-what happens, computers will be so much a part of everything, so user-friendly and cooperative there'll be no choice about ignoring them. They'll be like refrigerators or toasters except in quantity. Like TV, except in quality. Like political freedom, except in Central America or the U.S.S.R. And, by that time, we will be ho-humming them from little urns in marble buildings or deep space.