The role of information technology in language education is explored. The computer's supposed impact on society is compared with that of the printing press; the common attribution of the Reformation to Gutenberg's technology is refuted, and the computer's power to transform society and education is questioned. Metaphors used to talk about and promote information technology are examined and found to reveal a positive stance toward computers, and at the same time conceal how technology reflects and affects society's current values and tensions. The metaphors of superhighway, desktop, branches, and webs influence thinking, not always benignly. Educators need to apply their knowledge about learning when they decide how to use computers in classrooms, and not be controlled by technology or its metaphors. (E. Taylor in LLBA 1999, vol. 33, n. 5)