The past and future of laboratory information systems.

The general public has developed a lovehate relationship with computers. More time is wasted trying to make them work than is saved using them. To operate them, there is a depen­ dency on a cadre of individuals who speak strange languages and are not particularly responsive to the user’s needs. The prevail­ ing opinion is tha t this situation is ready for change. Com puters are becoming smaller, faster, cheaper and more powerful. Mainframe com­ puters of a decade ago are being supplanted by desktop models, and these in tu rn will be superseded by handheld devices which are linked by effective networks. As well as serving as repositories of data and coordinators of activity, computers will help thinkers think. This paper examines these developm ents, describes current examples of the use of small computers to enhance the pathologist’s work and looks forward to technologic discoveries th a t w ill a ffe c t p a th o lo g y an d la b o ra ­ tory medicine. Try to imagine making predictions in 1898 about 20th century pathology and laboratory medicine. Most of the field as it is known today did not exist. The transistor would not be