Baby Boomer college students, only a couple of generations removed from the arranged marriages of the past, had every expectation of marrying in their early 20s--and perfect faith that modern science could do no wrong.
Astonishingly, the concept of computer dating originated at the pinnacle of America's intellectual establishment. In 1965, Harvard University was one of the few institutions with access to an IBM 7090, a $3 million room-filling machine intended to "speed the design of missiles, jet engines, nuclear reactors and supersonic aircraft."
"Operation Match," as the program was named, was created by a few undergraduates who realized that Cold War technology could be harnessed for love. College students nationwide were invited to fill out a questionnaire and mail it with a $3 fee to Harvard, where the computer would provide five or more "compatible matches" within the student's geographical area. Men received the names of five or more women whom they were most compatible while women waited for compatible men to contact them. Despite the advanced technology, traditional dating customs persisted. Curfew-abiding "co-eds" were not expected to phone strange men.
What determined one's romantic "compatibility" in 1965?
Many of the program's questions are familiar, though some choice-categories for answers are startling. For its time, the program was quite progressive in asking not only for the participant's race ("Caucasian, Negro or Oriental") but also what race or races he or she would consider dating. Other aspects were less progressive: Women were asked how old they would like their dates to be; men were asked how young.
But what makes Operation Match seem quaint today was the absolute faith with which the computer's results were received. The wildly popular service processed more than a million questionnaires from students nationwide within three years. Some services today, like eHarmony and Chemistry, employ elaborate compatibility questionnaires in the spirit of Operation Match--often building on psychological testing developed in the 1960s.
Operation Match's slogan, "You're one in a million!" reveals a beautiful optimism that today's singles would do well to remember. It suggests that love is a strong possibility, something for which the computer-generated odds are surprisingly high.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, March 6, 2009