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Electronic linkups that let computers communicate with one another, known as networks in the U.S., are rare in the Soviet Union. In addition, Soviet computers are usually unable to exchange data by telephone because of poor- quality phone lines. Those conditions help the Soviets control the flow of information, but they stifle the free exchange of ideas that is crucial to the rapid advance of computer science. In the U.S., many refinements in programming techniques have been developed by computer buffs who trade tips through networks and electronic bulletin boards.
Technological progress and strong economic growth in such industrial nations as the U.S. and Japan have been spurred by the swift spread of information made possible by computers. If the Soviet Union maintains restrictions on their use, it might not come close to realizing the full economic potential of computers. Says Loren Graham, a professor of the history of science and a Soviet expert at M.I.T.: "We may be about to learn that the Soviet system is not designed for the information age. If that is the case, it is going to be increasingly difficult for the U.S.S.R. to maintain its pretensions as the world's second superpower in the decades ahead."