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The article discusses the growth of the multinational electronic commerce company Amazon.com under the direction of its chairman and chief executive officer Jeff Bezos, and Amazon's influence on the digital publishing industry. Topics include Amazon's exploitation of the Internet and its increasing popularity as a business tool, editor and publisher Jason Epstein's vision for online bookselling, and the reduction of physical book stores in the U.S. Additional information is presented on Amazon's sale of electronic books and tablet computers such as the Kindle.

This article is a series of charts ranking American companies in order of their prominence in their specific industries, based on the opinions of their peers. Divisions include sections on the financial industry, consumer products, service industries, shelter, retailers and distributors, natural resources, computers and communications, utilities and power, media and entertainment, precision electronics and transportation.

This article presents the annual report of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). ACM is an international scientific and educational organization dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences, and applications of information technology. The U.S. Public Policy Committee of ACM continues to assist policymakers and courts in understanding the broad implications of information technology policies and laws that concern the computing community. The committee played an instrumental role in educating legislators, the judiciary and the public at large as to the damaging impact of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. ACM's Career Resource Centre (CRC), a unique career site for professionals and students debuted this year. The CRC features a Job Centre where academic and corporate employers can post jobs online and job seekers can view lists of postings and post their curriculum vitae. In the coming fiscal year ACM will make a major initiative to take a fundamental look at ACM'S models of membership with the objective to test and implement real change.

The article reveals that the potential of technology has not been realized in primary and secondary classrooms in the U.S. as of August 1, 2002 and examines conditions that inhibit full utilization of technology in classrooms. There is ample empirical data from the past 25 years that suggests when certain conditions are met, computing technology has a positive effect on learning and teaching in the primary and secondary grades in the U.S. school system. In fact, there is a range of effects like increased time on task, higher test scores, lower cost, and increased motivation. For full utilization of technology, conditions like sufficient access to technology, adequate teacher preparation, effective curriculum, relevant assessment, supportive school administration should be met. A survey of educators revealed that only 42% of teachers reported their students use computers less than 15 minutes per week. Approximately, 65% of teachers report their students use the Internet less than 15 minutes per week.

The article reports on the penetration of computer revolution to the U.S. publishing industry in 1981. It notes the proliferation of magazines and newspapers and that over 175 publications cover some computer aspects. It points out that many more businesses install several computers due to the decline of computer cost. Meanwhile, trade publishers look into the fast-growing market for personal computers.

Describes the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star program. Efforts to cut the nation's electric bill through the use of energy-efficient personal computers (PC); Predictions regarding future developments in this vein; Additional information.

Reports on the April 5, 2004 debut of the computerized Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Exam, a multi-year collaboration between the American Institute of CPA, the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy and Thomson Prometric. Comments from Barry Melancon, president of the American Institute of CPA; Components of the computerized exam; Fee difference between the computerized and the paper exam.

The article profiles various American entrepreneurs who succeeded in their businesses. It features the endeavor of Frederick W. Smith in establishing the Memphis, Tennessee-based carrier company Federal Express Corp. Nike Inc. founder Phil Knight and Personal Software founder Daniel Fylstra are also profiled.

The article focuses on growing trend of using computer technology in office work. It states that several firms in the U.S. have installed data-processing computers to manage their business activities including processing of payrolls, sales information, teleconferences and banking. It states that the use of computer technology in corporate world has resulted in an increase in productivity of employees.

The article focuses on the emergence of microelectronics in the U.S. It cites the uses of microelectronics, such as on the conduct of public education, the household and the delivery of important transactions, including financial transactions. It emphasizes that microelectronics are instrumental to the development of home computer systems and other devices usable at home. Moreover, the article mentions the future of microelectronics through the statement of several experts, including the statement of Michael Dertouzos, director of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.T.T.s) computer science laboratory. Also noted are the impact of microelectronics to the young people.

Reports on the Association for Computing MemberNet97 Awards Ceremony in San Jose, California. Presentation of the A.M. Turing Award; Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award; Outstanding contribution to ACM Award.

The article focuses on the Fourth annual computer bowl, a quiz competition presented by the Association for Computing machines (ACM) at the Park Plaza Castle in Boston, Massachusetts. This quiz is devoted to raising funds for the Computer Museum's educational programs. Half of the questions were contributed by ACM members. The quiz comprises of eight rounds. Some of the questions asked in the quiz are: In the movie 2001: Space Odyssey the HAL 9000 computer indicated when it first started operating. According to the movie, would HAL be operational right now?; Toy company giant MatteI tried to enter the personal computer business many years ago but its entry died an early death. What was the name of the Mattel computer?; C ++ has become a popular programming language. Where was C ++ first developed?; What is the name of the DOS command that finds logical errors in the file system?; A well known computer industry personality stated famous software development law as follows: "Adding manpower to a software project makes it later." Who said that?

Focuses on the report "High Performance Computing and Communications: Investing in American Competitiveness" commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy. Study's aim of estimating the economic impact of the High Performance Computing and Communication (HPCC) initiative; Effort to convince U.S. Congress that HPCC is a worthwhile program; Issue of parallelism versus vector supercomputers.

Reports on the use of televisions and computers as strategic tools for election forecasting in the United States. Growth of market niches in computer applications like public opinion polling and direct mail fund-raising; Impact of information processing in politics.

Presents a chronology of the Association for Computing Machinery's (ACM) last 15 years from 1972 to 1987 which cites award winners, long-range planning, publications and the staff and volunteer members who have shaped the United States-based association. ACM boards; ACM management; Responsibility for curriculum and professional development; Conferences and symposia; Publications.

Comments on the trends, happenings, events and accomplishments of the Association for Computing Machinery in the United States from 1972 to 1987 as related by a longtime member. Growth in size and importance in the computing field; Shifts and changes in ACM; Financial crises; Long-range planning; Publications; Special Interest Groups.

Examines the potentiality of computers on making contributions to the improvement of air travels in the United States. Review of aviation safety by the National Transportation Safety Board; Accident rate of air carriers; Creation of Aviation Safety Reporting System by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Institute.

Presents several letters concerning the computer industry in the United States as of August 1985. Initiative of Association for Computing Machinery on responsible computer use; Examination on computer-technical issues; Benefits of software maintenance.

Reports on scientific freedom and human rights violations on computer professionals as of 1982 prepared by the Association for Computing Machinery in New York, New York. List of countries that have violated the rights of computer professionals; List of groups and individuals who contributed to the report; Statistics on computer professionals jailed.

A panel discussion was held during the third biennial meeting of chairmen of Ph.D.-granting computer science departments in June, 1978 at Snowbird, Utah, a meeting sponsored by the Computer Science Board. Invitees from industry and government were also present. A report was prepared from tapes made of the discussion (Department of Computer Science, Carnegie-Mellon University: Report #CMU-CS-80-127, June 1980). It contained all the prepared statements of the panelists, lightly edited, and the panelists, discussion in its entirety. A selection of the audience discussion was also included, rather heavily edited. The following presentation is derived from that report. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the financial decline and recovery prospects for U.S. computer services provider International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) as of June 1980. Topics discussed include the company's financial and stock market performance, market share and prices of central processor units and minicomputers, and the growing significance of data processing systems. Special attention is paid to the government aid to U.S. and Japanese computer industries. INSET: The competition.

Examines the extent to which computerization improves efficiency. Example of new computers for New York Presbyterian Health Care; Labor and the impact of computers on the United States economy; Business implications of these issues; Ways computers improve life; Troubles quantifying computers' benefits; Four goals executives have for their investments in computer power; Undermeasuring productivity gains; Other reasons to computerize.

The article reports on the appointments of members of the Nominating Committee of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in the U.S. It requests the members to suggest nominees to the Committee for regional representatives for several regions that includes Allegheny, Capitol and Southern California. It mentions that the recommended nominees should completely represent their regions. It presents a format of job description that is to be followed while nominating a regional representative. It presents a summary defining the role of ACM Regional Representative. A list of criteria that the regional representative will have to follow is presented.

This section offers news briefs concerning the U.S. business sector. Computer firm IBM launched a computer prototype called Model 195. The National Mediation Board withdrew its efforts to resolve a contract dispute between four labor unions and railroad companies. Textile producer Burlington Industries, Inc. decided to enter the retail industry by launching the division Burlington Drapery Shops.

Focuses on the effort of innovator Roger Fidler to create a mobile, magazine-size tablet computer in the U.S. Effect of technology on newspapers; Help of Fidler at the Knight Ridder company; Establishment of the Information Design Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado.

This article examines whether paper-based voting should be eliminated in favor of electronic voting in the U.S. Replacing error-prone punch-card voting-machines with touch-screen kiosks, at least in their current form, seems in some ways like jumping from the frying pan to the fire. Most importantly, these direct-recording electronic systems raise questions about whether elections should be digitized at all. At first sight, doing away with paper and letting computers register votes seems an attractive proposition. Computers are unlikely to produce anything like the chads that plagued Florida's 2000 presidential election.

Provides tips to improve services of libraries in the U.S. Use of desktop patterns for geography lessons; Details on the proper shelving of books in the library; Importance of computers in providing proper library services.

Reports on the move of the New York State Workers' Compensation Board to use Electronic Case Folder in the processing of case related data. Transformation of paper case files into accessible computer images; Installation of a high-speed wide area network; Availability of personal computers to Board staff and constituents.

Provides tips on minimizing computer consumption of energy in the U.S. Energy bill; Disadvantages of screensavers; Web sites on minimizing computer consumption of energy. INSET: HOW-TO TIPS.

The article focuses on the electronics industry of U.S. in 1957 relative to the dangers the industry could face. It mentions that the growth of the electronics industry which could lead to the second industrial revolution is observed throughout the U.S. It states that growth of the electronic companies is impressive, in which the fastest growing company is the Ramo-Wooldridge (R-W) Corp. It states that R-W is managed by president Dean E. Wooldridge with executive vice president Simon Ramo.

The article focuses on the significance of electronic desk-top consoles or electronic inquiry terminals to stockbrokers at the American Stock Exchange (Amex) in 1967. The introduction of the terminals is said to reflect the transformative effect of computers on the investment community. More than 30 million dollars are expected to be spent by brokers, banks and mutual funds in terminals. According to majority of brokers, their business have increased due to the device.

The article reports on the state of the manufacture and sale of computers and electronic data processing (EDP) equipment in the U.S. as of March 1962. Based on estimates, EDP manufacturers have spent roughly over a billion dollars, but majority of them failed to get an early return on their investment. On the other hand, EDP sales grew to over 1-billion U.S. dollars in 1961. A chart is presented showing sales and orders of second-generation, transistorized computers for EDP.

The article presents information on the Association for Computing Machinery's (ACM) annual conference to be held from September 1-3, 1970 at the New York Hilton. The conference theme is "Computers Meeting the Challenges of Man." According to Sam Matsa, general chairman of ACM 70, the conference will be totally user oriented, and aimed at pinpointing viable solutions to current and future problems associated with the more efficient use of computers. The intent and spirit of this unconventional convention are explained in Matsa's message on the facing page. The conference will be subdivided into the seventeen sectors that most affect man in his day-today activities. In each area, experts from outside the data processing industry will present issues and problems that must be faced in the next ten years. Data processing professionals will participate, contributing information on relevant, currently available technological aspects, on technically oriented potential pitfalls and on the intercommunication between disciplines that is needed for future progress in computer applications.

The article presents news about computers related developments in the U.S. A National Advisory Commission on Libraries, which would study the nation's entire library system and make recommendations for modernizing it, was appointed by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $627,641 contract to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for development of a computer-based unconventional library catalog by the staff of MIT's Project Intrex (Information Transfer Experiments). The Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Defense Department is contributing $100,000 of the total through NSF. The Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, D.C. established an information Clearinghouse for Linguistics under contract with the United States Office of Education. The Clearinghouse was a part of a nationwide network consisting of twelve information clearinghouses coordinated by the Educational Research Information Center, a unit in the Division of Research Training and Dissemination, Bureau of Research, United States Office of Education.

The article presents various news briefs related to computers in the U.S. According to an announcement by Judge Sam Johnson, case assignments and background information on indigent defendents are being handled on a computer by the Houston Legal Foundation director. With this operation, Houston claims to be the first city ever to assign attorneys by computer. For his pioneering contributions to the scientific application of electronic computers and to the theory of the motion of the moon, Wallace J. Eckert, director of the Watson laboratory of the International Business Machines Corp. at Columbia University and professor of celestial mechanics at Columbia, has been awarded the James Craig Watson Medal of the National Academy of Sciences. At the Kaiser Foundation Medical Center, in Oakland, California, an IBM 1410 is helping doctors detect a wider range and a greater number of unsuspected diseases among apparently healthy people. After registering at a station, a Health Plan member proceeds through 19 other stations within an automated laboratory for a multitest examination.

This article presents news related to computing. West Germany's recently enacted law, allowing the use of microfilm as a substitute for original documents, is believed to make the Federal Republic the first nation in the world to enact such a statute. Previously, the government required that originals be saved for period of seven years. The law is expected to affect industry and government agencies alike. Weekly number and football lotteries, for example, will be affected, with space and handling requirements cut sharply. Banks too will have storage problems eased. One West German bank, for instance, formerly required 500,000 files for documents. With microfilm, this space load has been cut to less than one cubic meter, or the equivalent of 12,500 packages of cigarettes. It is estimated that, nationwide, filing space requirements alone will be reduced 98 percent. In a precedent-making decision, the Comptroller General of the U.S. has authorized Federal agencies to use purchase-leaseback method to reduce rentals on automatic data processing system (ADP). In essence. Federal departments are now permitted to purchase ADP equipment from the manufacturer, sell it to a leasing company and rent it back from the leasing outfit.

Deals with establishment of the Repository of the Association for Computing Machinery at the Moore School of Engineering of the University of Pennsylvania. Main features of the information system; Important principles in the provision of information services; Easy accessibility to the information files by user unfamiliar with file organization; Value of service exceeding user costs.

This article is based on wide experience in the application of high-speed automatic computers to the solution of scientific, engineering, and operations research problems, and on extensive consideration of the use of computers in business and industry. It should be stressed, however, that many of the applications discussed in this article do not belong to the category of examples which have already been worked through to completion. Thus the conclusions set forth here represent extrapolations from a broad base of experience into the future. The author--who is Chief, Computing Services Section, Raytheon Manufacturing Company--would have preferred to wait three to five years and then draw conclusions from accomplished facts, but there has been substantial demand for a more specific prediction of fields and methods of application and detailed requirements of personnel and cost. It is hoped that these objectives are met in this article, even though there is risk of oversimplification and consequent misinterpretation. For example, the reader may be startled at the magnitude of effort required to realize the full potential of the automatic computer. He is urged therefore to observe how large this potential is and to bear in mind that a modest expenditure will suffice to get started on a paying basis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article reports on the newest weapons of war being made in the U.S. as of May 1951. It highlights "guided missiles" which is the military phrase in every U.S. aircraft factory, every technical institute and every electronics laboratory. It offers information on guided missiles' source of power and their capability. They include surface-to-air missiles, air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, and surface-to-surface missiles.

The article reports on the robotic machine or computing machine called Bessie that is constructed by International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and presented to Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It claims that Bessie is a descendant of the calculating machines that were developed earlier, including the mechanical calculator that was designed by French mathematician Blaise Pascal. The operation of Bessie is also discussed.

The article focuses on the antitrust suit battle between the U.S. Department of Justice and International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) in the U.S. District Court that the Foley Square in New York City. It states that IBM was accused by the Department of Justice of violating the Sherman Act because they said that the computermaker monopolized the market for general-purpose digital computers. Meanwhile, it mentions that Judge David N. Edelstein has assigned himself in the case.