Recent and expected developments in the computer industry are discussed in this 628-page yearbook, successor to "The Punched Card Annual." The first section of the report is an overview of current computer hardware and software and includes articles about future applications of mainframes, an analysis of the software industry, and a summary of the outlook for the optical character reader. The second section reviews computer applications in 13 fields, including accounting, banking, communications, education, government, medicine and transportation. The subsection on computer applications in education asserts that "many men of authentic vision are exuberantly optimistic" about the prospects, and describes several projects including computer-aided instruction at Stanford University and in Appalachia, and computer-aided attendance-taking for some 63,000 school children in Pontiac, Michigan. The third section of the book consists of observations and predictions by industry executives, the fourth discusses employment opportunities, and the last is a summary of information about the major computer languages. (MG)