[00:06.02]1994 Passage2

[00:08.34]One hundred and thirteen million Americans

[00:11.66]have at least one bank-issued credit card.

[00:15.00]They give their owners automatic credit in stores,

[00:18.73]restaurants, and hotels, at home, across the country,

[00:23.26]and even abroad, and they make

[00:25.88]many banking services available as well.

[00:29.84]More and more of these credit cards

[00:31.88]can be read automatically,

[00:34.60]making it possible to withdraw

[00:36.92]or deposit money in scattered locations,

[00:40.13]whether or not the local branch bank is open.

[00:43.96]For many of us, the "cashless society"

[00:46.78]is not on the horizon

[00:49.00]--it's already here.

[00:51.61]While computers offer these conveniences to consumers,

[00:55.35]they have many advantages for sellers too.

[00:58.97]Electronic cash registers can do much more than

[01:02.20]simply ring up sales.

[01:04.22]They can keep a wide range of records,

[01:07.05]including who sold what, when, and to whom.

[01:11.68]This information allows businessmen to keep track

[01:14.97]of their list of goods by showing

[01:17.19]which items are being sold

[01:19.00]and how fast they are moving. Decisions to reorder

[01:23.17]or return goods to suppliers can then be made.

[01:27.41]At the same time these computers record

[01:30.33]which hours are busiest

[01:32.35]and which employees are the most efficient,

[01:35.18]allowing personnel and staffing assignments to

[01:38.10]be made accordingly.

[01:39.92]And they also identify preferred customers for

[01:42.85]promotional campaigns.

[01:45.28]Computers are relied on by manufacturers

[01:48.72]for similar reasons.

[01:51.24]Computer-analyzed marketing reports

[01:53.34]can help to decide

[01:54.54]which products to emphasize now,

[01:57.07]which to develop for the future,

[01:58.99]and which to drop.

[02:01.10]Computers keep track of goods in stock,

[02:04.22]of raw materials on hand,

[02:06.34]and even of the production process itself.

[02:10.48]Numerous other commercial enterprises,

[02:13.00]from theaters to magazine publishers,

[02:15.63]from gas and electric utilities to milk processors,

[02:19.66]bring better and more efficient services to

[02:22.25]consumers through the use of computers.