(FORTUNE Magazine) – THE HONORABLE Chester Cadaver, a character in the Firesign Theatre comedy troupe, once said that trying to figure out the complex world of the future is ''a little like having bees live in your head.'' In FORTUNE's first annual Information Technology Guide, our object is to silence the intracranial buzz that bedevils laymen when they try to make sense of that crowded hive of hardware, software, and the communications links that computers use to talk to one another. Though ''cyberpunk'' and FORTUNE don't often appear in the same sentence, we have been acquainting readers for years with such once arcane subjects as virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Most information technology publications speak to wonks whose flesh goes goosy at the mention of bytes and bits and bauds. This one is for anybody who deals with information technology in the office, at home, or on the road, and wants some knowledgeable help with using it effectively. To start, we ask: What has information technology done for you lately? Probably not as much as it could, writes Strat Sherman, whose story ''How to Bolster the Bottom Line'' begins on page 14. He profiles five FORTUNE 500 companies that have measurably made information technology pay. What makes these exceptions so exceptional? Among Sherman's findings: Not one got richer merely by adding computing power. Each used that power to launch business- building initiatives that would have been impossible without it -- reengineering, for example. In ''The Payoff From 3-D Computing,'' Gene Bylinsky observes that the quickest way for people to grasp complex information is to see it displayed graphically in three dimensions. Want to learn how simulations are helping brokers pick stocks and automakers crash-test cars? Turn to page 32. There's no way new technology can raise productivity if your employees won't use it. David Kirkpatrick explains how to make information technology worker- friendly (page 44): Involve employees in designing the computing tools they will use, and explain clearly how the technology will help them do their jobs better. Then comes 15 pages' worth of cool companies -- companies with attitude, companies that in Strat Sherman's words are ''hanging ten over technology's leading edge,'' taking risks, breaking rules -- and winning. That's the kind of buzz we like. We've selected 25. Each brings something exciting and different to the party. Next, three wise men, a.k.a. guest columnists, take up such questions as Should you become a beta site? If you're wondering what that is, don't fret. Bro Uttal explains, starting on page 108. Beta sites can be hosts to parasites, and you'd best hold a plebiscite before you volunteer. Fans of FORTUNE's regular Keeping Up column will not be surprised to learn that its author, Daniel Seligman, suffers from a serious modem dependency. He comes clean here, explaining what he finds during the more than ten hours a week he rummages around in databases -- including the answer to a question you've no doubt asked yourself: Was George Bernard Shaw ever a member of the ( Fabian Society? Marveling at the information available at his modem-tip, Seligman says, ''You get the sense that literally anything can be found.'' He should know. On the eight pages following, we sample the neatest, newest hardware and software for the mobile executive. One hand-held device called a GPS (global positioning system) tells you exactly where you are, anywhere in the world. But where are you going? On page 153, Tom Stewart squints at the horizon and discerns what's ahead. What kind of companies will be taming infotech's wild frontier? He tells you. He even peers into your wallet in the year 2000 and finds you'll be carrying just four cards: one each for credit, cash, health care, and driver's license. An end to pocket bulge! Truly the bees' knees.