"Structuring the Information Age provides insight into the largely unexplored evolution of information processing in the commercial sector and the underrated influence of corporate users in shaping the history of modern technology." "JoAnne Yates examines how life insurance firms - where good record keeping and repeated use of massive amounts of data were crucial - adopted and shaped information processing technology through most of the twentieth century. The book analyzes this evolution, beginning with tabulating technology, the most immediate predecessor of the computer, and continuing through the 1970s with early computers."--Jacket.