This is a study of the effect of new information technologies on a traditional working-class society in the north of England. Focusing on the complex interplay between technology and society"s ideas on work and labour, the authors examine how these impulses are expressed in the computer-related jobs of the service and manufacturing sectors. The people of Sheffield offer an opportunity to understand the processes of modernization and change in the integration of society and technology affecting us all. The book is intended for anthropologists and sociologists, and all scholars interested in the effect of computers on our lives.