Chapter52-VisualDisplayUnitsOVERVIEWDianeBertheletteNewinformationtechnologiesarebeingintroducedinallindustrialsectors,albeittovaryingextents.Insomecases,thecostsofcomputerizingproductionprocessesmayconstituteanimpedimenttoinnovation,particularlyinsmallandmedium-sizedcompaniesandindevelopingcountries.Computersmakepossibletherapidcollection,storage,processinganddisseminationoflargequantitiesofinformation.Theirutilityisfurtherenhancedbytheirintegrationintocomputernetworks,whichallowresourcestobeshared(Young1993).Computerizationexertssignificanteffectsonthenatureofemploymentandonworkingconditions.Beginningaboutthemid-1980s,itwasrecognizedthatworkplacecomputerizationmayleadtochangesintaskstructureandworkorganization,andbyextensiontoworkrequirements,careerplanningandstresssufferedbyproductionandmanagementpersonnel.Computerizationmayexertpositiveornegativeeffectsonoccupationalhealthandsafety.Insomecases,theintroductionofcomputershasrenderedworkmoreinterestingandresultedinimprovementsintheworkenvironmentandreductionsofworkload.Inothers,however,theresultoftechnologicalinnovationhasbeenanincreaseintherepetitivenatureandintensityoftasks,areductionofthemarginforindividualinitiativeandtheisolationoftheworker.Furthermore,severalcompanieshavebeenreportedtoincreasethenumberofworkshiftsinanattempttoextractthelargestpossibleeconomicbenefitfromtheirfinancialinvestment(ILO1984).Asfaraswehavebeenabletodetermine,asof1994statisticsontheworldwideuseofcomputersareavailablefromonesourceonly—TheComputerIndustryAlmanac(JuliussenandPetska-Juliussen1994).Inadditiontostatisticsonthecurrentinternationaldistributionofcomputeruse,thispublicationalsoreportstheresultsofretrospectiveandprospectiveanalyses.Thefiguresreportedinthelatesteditionindicatethatthenumberofcomputersisincreasingexponentially,withtheincreasebecomingparticularlymarkedatthebeginningofthe1980s,thepointatwhichpersonalcomputersbegantoattaingreatpopularity.Since1987,totalcomputerprocessingpower,measuredintermsofthenumberofmillioninstructionspersecondexecuted(MIPS)hasincreased14-fold,thankstothedevelopmentofnewmicroprocessors(transistorcomponentsofmicrocomputerswhichperformarithmeticalandlogicalcalculations).Bytheendof1993,totalcomputingpowerattained357millionMIPS.Unfortunately,availablestatisticsdonotdifferentiatebetweencomputersusedforworkandpersonalpurposes,andstatisticsareunavailableforsomeindustrialsectors.Theseknowledgegapsaremostlikelyduetomethodologicalproblemsrelatedtothecollectionofvalidandreliabledata.However,reportsoftheInternationalLabourOrganization’stripartitesectoralcommitteescontainrelevantandcomprehensiveinformationonthenatureandextentofthepenetrationofnewtechnologiesinvariousindustrialsectors.In1986,66millioncomputerswereinusethroughouttheworld.Threeyearslater,thereweremorethan100million,andby1997,itisestimatedthat275–300millioncomputerswillbeinuse,withthisnumberreaching400millionby2000.Thesepredictionsassumethewidespreadadoptionofmultimedia,informationhighway,voicerecognitionandvirtualrealitytechnologies.TheAlmanac’sauthorsconsiderthatmosttelevisionswillbeequippedwithpersonalcomputerswithintenyearsofpublication,inordertosimplifyaccesstotheinformationhighway.AccordingtotheAlmanac,in1993theoverallcomputer:populationratioin43countriesin5continentswas3.1per100.ItshouldhoweverbenotedthatSouthAfricawastheonlyAfricancountry...
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