Letters: Jan. 24, 1983

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.