During the past year or so, a great deal has been written and spoken about computers and the ways they are influencing our lives. Considerable hoopla has accompanied these pronouncements, and of course much of it has taken a distinctly commercial tone. After Time magazine proclaimed the computer "Man of the Year," one might conclude that anyone who doesn't own a computer and speak fluent BASIC is condemned to a life of social and intellectual deprivation. Conversely, the whole thing could be dismissed as a fad: most of the home computers purchased this year might well be gathering dust in the attics two years hence, when we're all immersed in the next national fascination.