This is Gene Rochlin's book about the unanticipated consequences of computerisation. The widespread adoption of computers and networked systems has moved beyond the introduction of more capable tools to a fundamental reconstruction of social, organizational, and economic structures. This computer trap consists of an initial lure: the promise of power and connectivity, followed by a snare of irreversible dependency and high long-term costs. Rather than simply augmenting human capability, computerisation is increasingly substituting data-scanning for information-gathering, rules for learning, and models for judgment.

The computer industry has become self-pollinating, driven by an internal logic of hardware/software development that is uncoupled from user demand or organisational learning. Modern networking allows for a decentralised centralisation where managerial control is exerted through technical compliance and standardisation rather than visible hierarchy. In financial sectors, the move toward cyberspace trading has decoupled markets from real-world economic activity, leading to systemic instability and the devaluation of professional expertise. In safety-critical environments like aviation and nuclear power, automation threatens the experiential knowledge required for humans to intervene during unforeseen system failures.

1. The Dynamics of the Computer Trap

The integration of computers into modern life is characterized by a specific progression from tool adoption to structural dependency.

* The Lure: The promise of increasing computing power, connectivity, and human-centered interfaces at decreasing costs.
* The Snare: Once individuals and organizations invest in computers for central tasks, they become irreversibly committed to the new capacities, creating institutional dependencies on hardware and software manufacturers.
* The Costs: Beyond the financial investment, computerization incurs "secondary effects" such as the loss of occupational skills, diminished operational safety, and the "replacement of art with artifice."
* Structural Transformation: Business and personal rules are being altered to comply with the formalities of information systems. As the author notes: "Increasingly, business, social, and even personal rules and structures are being altered to better comply with the formalities and restrictions of computers and information systems."

2. Autogamous Technology and the Hegemony of Design

Technological progress in computing is no longer driven by the needs of the user community but by an "autogamous" (self-fertilizing) internal dynamic.

The Industry Feedback Loop

* The Hardware-Software Race: Faster hardware enables bigger, feature-heavy software, which in turn consumes the new power and forces users to upgrade again.
* Technology Push: Most applications are designed by programmers who have little contact with end-users and understand almost nothing about the actual work being performed.
* Saturation without Maturity: Markets are numerically saturated but stay in a state of "perpetual replacement" without ever reaching the stability seen in traditional industries like automobiles or electricity.

The Designer-User Gulf

* Asymmetric Dependency: Designers hold a privileged position, specifying how and where computers are used. Users are forced to "stay current" with new versions or face obsolescence.
* Compliance over Choice: Users often accept nonproductive "embellishments" as progress due to a collective social fear of losing a competitive edge, even when existing tools are adequate for the task.

3. Taylorism Redux: Control through Connectivity

The introduction of networked personal computers was initially marketed as an instrument of democratization and decentralization. However, it has facilitated a more rigorous form of centralized control.

From Mainframes to Networks

* Decentralized Centralization: Firms use their authority over network protocols and standards to create an "embedded spider web of control." This allows for the appearance of "empowerment" while strictly bounding individual discretion through technical requirements.
* The Role of MIS: Management Information Systems (MIS) departments have reclaimed the power of the old mainframe computer centers by managing the standardized LANs and "Intranets" that modern offices depend on.

The "Informated" Workplace

* Abstraction of Work: Workers are moved from "acting on" processes to "acting with" symbols. This "textualization" of the workplace can deprive operators and managers of the context and meaning of their actions.
* Defunctionalization: As computers take over execution, humans become "dial watchers" without a clear purpose. The author warns of the emergence of "manageroids"—managers with no real autonomy to deviate from pre-programmed models.

4. Global Markets and the Matrix of "Cyberspace"

Financial markets have moved faster than any other sector into a state where trading occurs in an interactive electronic universe, or "cyberspace."

The Deconstruction of the Exchange

* Delocalization: Trading has shifted from physical floors (like the London Stock Exchange) to computer screens, allowing firms to operate from remote locations like Bermuda or Belize.
* Program Trading: Near-instantaneous automated trading has replaced professional "feel" for the market. This has increased volatility, as seen in the 1987 market crash where the Dow Jones fell 508 points in a single day, driven by automated "sell" programs.

The Risks of Derivative Trading

* Decoupling: Financial flows are increasingly decoupled from primary economic activity. Trading in "symbols and promises" (derivatives and futures) now generates trillions in daily transactions.
* Institutional Vulnerability: The collapse of Barings P.L.C. due to Nicholas Leeson’s $1 billion loss illustrates how a single individual with direct network access can destroy a centuries-old institution.
* Regulatory Arbitrage: As markets become global, they evade national regulations. This leads to "regulatory arbitrage," where supervision is driven down to the level of the least regulated market.

5. The Erosion of Experiential Expertise

In safety-critical systems, the replacement of human judgment with computerized models poses significant long-term risks.

"Having the Bubble"

* Cognitive Integration: Expert operators (pilots, air traffic controllers, nuclear plant workers) develop a mental map known as "having the bubble"—the ability to integrate diverse inputs into a coherent situational picture.
* Loss of Feel: Automation interferes with the "tactile and direct" involvement needed to build expertise. As one chemical plant operator stated: "The computer can't feel what's going on out there... The new operators will only learn what the computers tell them."

The "Glass Cockpit" Syndrome

* Representational Failures: In modern aircraft like the Airbus 320, pilots become "system managers" rather than flyers. This has led to accidents where crews were overconfident in automated protections or set up incorrect computerized modes.
* Skill Atrophy: There is growing concern that younger pilots, trained primarily on automated systems, will lack the "hand-flying" experience needed to recover an aircraft during a sudden technical failure.

Air Traffic Control and Manual Aids

* The Flight Progress Strip (FPS): Controllers insist that manual tools, like paper strips, are essential for maintaining cognitive integration. Attempts to automate these tools risk creating a traffic pattern too dense for a human to manage if the computer system fails.

Some nice quotes from the book:

"The replacement of data-scanning for information-gathering, of rules and procedures for learning, and of models and calculations for judgment and expertise. In short, the replacement of art with artifice."

"We are caught in the computer trap... if and when organizations and systems of every type can no longer function effectively if the computer or network goes down."

"The units of work are becoming 'operatons' and 'manageroids'—looking human, acting human, but having no real autonomy or control."

"In the airliner of the future, the cockpit will be staffed by a crew of two—a pilot and a dog. The pilot will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to bite the pilot if he tries to touch anything." 

Source:

Rochlin, G. (1997), Trapped in the net - The unanticipated consequences of computerisation, Princeton University Press.