Farming has changed with the rest of the world. The simple image of a farmer in a field is outdated. Farming is a business, and agribusiness is a huge industry. It takes complicated equipment and larger and larger acreages to farm today.

The tools of farming have changed, too. Almost all farms today use computers to plan and keep records. The Internet is also important because farmers check markets, weather, and crop conditions online.

Farming equipment is changing with the times.

Some tractor models include air-conditioned operator stations, self-steering ability, and a global positioning satellite system (GPS) to guide the machines.

Probably the biggest change in society in the last 25 years has been the growth of the personal computer. PCs were once not much more than toys. Now they help us do everything. Networks link computers to other computers and help people share information freely.

Technology can come with a price, though. All that information is stored on other computers. Anything you enter on a search engine, any Web site you visit on the Internet, or any data about you creates a record somewhere. If someone uses a computer to hack into a database, your personal information could be stolen. Although technology can solve problems, it also creates new ones.