[OT] HyperCard and the Interactive Web

[Bob Sneidar]

ALL technology/ tools are a "crutch" in some sense. It's just that with simple tools we don't give up much in the way of understanding to use them, in fact we may even understand things better. Also, without certain tools, some things become impossible to accomplish. The real question is where along the line of advancing technology do we begin to trade understanding for ease of use. 

I say that nothing is free. You always trade one thing for another, and in the case of technology, we seem to be willing to trade pains we were made to cope with for pains we were not. At the root of it all is the reprehensible notion that "newer" ALWAYS means "better". It's why some can use the word "change" and almost everyone not trained to think things through hear "change for the better". 

Bob


On Feb 26, 2012, at 9:18 AM, Geoff Canyon wrote:

> We're wandering a bit here, but I disagree completely, so of course I
> should reply ;-)
> 
> Some 100 years ago, it was considered necessary to memorize log tables.
> That skill is now useless.
> 
> I remember (near 50 here as well) learning how to derive a square root.
> That skill is also useless.
> 
> I agree with you that "It is far more IMPORTANT that kids learn to think
> logically and coherently," but that doesn't at all mean that they learn a
> particular file structure, or machine UI. Kids today don't need to know
> what a command line is because the vast majority of them will never see one
> in their lives. Kids should learn how to think, but in the context of the
> environment they are/will operate in. A calculator is no more a crutch than
> is an automobile. People who drive (or fly) from New York to Los Angeles
> should not be first required to learn how to drive a horse and wagon across
> the country.
> 
> On Sun, Feb 26, 2012 at 2:15 AM, Richmond <richmondmathewson at gmail.com>wrote:
> 
>> Speaking as a reactionary 50 year old; I think:
>> 
>> 1. No child under the age of 14 should be allowed any mathematical crutch
>> apart from a slide-rule.
>> 
>> I find, in my "EFL" school, that kids find sliderules rather interesting,
>> and they are able to SEE how numbers
>> work; something one cannot do with a pocket calculator.
>> 
>> 2. At 14 children should all be given something like a Pentium 2 with
>> FreeDOS and taught
>>   how to navigate themselves around a system with no GUI.
>> 
>> 3. At 14 children should be given a course in something like BASIC or LISP
>> on that GUI-less computer.
>> 
>> 3.1. Probably preceded by a few weeks "doing programming" on paper, and
>> messing around with buttons in cups.
>> 
>> 4. At 17-18 children should all be given a PC with an operating system
>> with a WIMP-GUI on it after
>>   they have passed a test to demonstrate their familiarity with a
>> Terminal emulator.
>> 
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