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Desk Set EMERAC arrives
by ccManagerCommentary summary:
The EMERAC computer arrives in the research department of a large corporation, prompting anxieties among the workers.
Text Commentary:
The gender dynamics of first generation corporate computing is in evidence in this clip from the IBM sponsored Desk Set from 1957. Katherine Hepburn's character, Bunny Watson (transparently named after IBM founder and CEO Thomas J. Watson), plays the head of the research department in a large, unnamed corporation where two computer systems are being installed to manage the accounting and research efforts of the company. This scene reflects the anxieties of workers who feared being "replaced" by machines - exacerbated when the computer installed in the accounting office "mistakenly" sends pink slips to all employees.
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ccManager. (2011, January 24). Desk Set EMERAC arrives. Retrieved May 17, 2012, from Critical Commons Web site: http://criticalcommons.org/Members/ccManager/commentaries/desk-set-emerac-arrives.
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