The 640 MEG Shareware Studio 2/The 640 Meg Shareware Studio CD-ROM Volume II (Data Express)(1993).ISO/info/io1192.zip/COLUM01.TXT

Text File | 1992-10-28 | 6KB | 105 lines

                     THE ELECTRONIC IDENTITY
                                by
                          Robert Parson

                Binary-- It's only ones and zeros
       "That does not compute."-- Robot from Lost in Space

     We've been struggling with technology since the beginning of
time.  Imagine prehistoric man trying to explain the wheel to his
friend.
     "Well, you see, it goes around and around and around."
     "So, what's it good for?"
     (Scratching head) "I don't know.  I'm sure we can make it do
something.  But it will make our lives easier."
     I don't know how many times I've sat in front of the monitor
looking at an extraordinary piece of software or watching some new
gadget do it's thing and thinking "it goes around and around and
around, but what's it good for?"
     Very often in the computerworld, something comes along which
is similar to the first wheel: hardware or software waiting for
something to do.
     Computers are suppose to make our lives easier, aren't they?
     Many of our problems in dealing with computers can be traced
to the conflict between logic and intuition.
     Logic tells us that in order to get from Point A to Point D,
we must start at A, move to B, go to C and end up at D.
     Our intuition tells us that if A is here and B is there, then
D must be over there, and we'll skip C.
     Computers know only what they can see.  If they don't see it,
then it must not exist until it can be seen.  Despite that, we've
been trying our best to beat these infernal machines into
something that remotely resembles our way of thinking.
     The first real success was the WordStar Command Set.  Even
though it's a fairly complicated series of commands to learn, they
do resemble the way a touch typist would want to set up the
keyboard for fast efficient entry.
     Then we got mice and icons.  We were just one or two clicks
away from doing what we wanted to do.  But to do that, we needed a
graphic interface.  Unfortunately, most graphic interfaces are slow
and clunky.  In addition, an icon isn't worth a thousand words;
graphic interfaces don't make sense when editing text.
      But where are we going?  What are we doing to make computers
more easier to use?
     The answer is: There is no answer.
     I think differently than you do.  How can I expect something
that works for me to work in the same way for you?  Most everyone
I know that uses a text editor (as opposed to a word processor)
uses QEDIT.  But I use VDE.
     Those of you who use ProComm or Q-Modem raise your hands.
I'm not in that group, either.  I use Telix.
     There is absolutely nothing wrong with those programs.  I just
prefer the ones I use because they are closer to the way I think
and work than those others do.
     Meanwhile over in the Interface Wars:
     Microsoft and IBM are battling over Windows and OS/2.
Microsoft is fending off a moderately successful version of DOS
from Digital Research.  Apple is giving us System 7.  And
Commodore is in there somewhere with the latest operating system
for the Amiga.
     Our favorite interfaces are being defended quite vigorously.
Which one is best?  All of them.
     There is no reason at all for a DOS user to turn his or her
nose up at the Amiga.  It's a perfectly valid platform and
interface.  The person using an Amiga is no less computer
literate than a DR DOS user.
     He just prefers the Amiga because it's logic is closer to his
way of thinking.
     There's room for all of the current interfaces and then some.
Many of them will fall to the wayside because there aren't enough
people that think in the same manner.
     The important matter is that work is being done and in the
most efficient manner possible for that person.
_______

     I'm sure we all agree that the future involves a high degree
of computer literacy.  It's important that our children learn how
to use them (in fact I hardly get to use mine anymore: my four
year old uses it more than I do).  Computers belong in the
classroom.
     Many grocery stores offer programs in which they will donate
a computer to the local school district when X-number of that
grocery store's receipts are saved and turned in.  This is a fine
start but at the same time I personally find it insulting.
     In the past couple years my community (population 75,000) has
received TWO computers from the grocery chain that offers this
program.  This chain is making several million dollars a year in
my town alone and they think donating one computer a year makes
them good corporate citizens.  They're spending more money on
ADVERTISING the program than they are in actually carrying it out.
     If they want to be REALLY good corporate citizens and help
the next generation learn how to compute they can do any number of
things, all at a fairly low cost.  Here are my suggestions:
     Donate 2% of gross profit to the schools to purchase computer
equipment.  Makes for a nice tax break as well.  This particular
chain spends much more than that on advertising and marketing
already (they could use only two colors in newspaper ads instead
of three)
     Donate all their old equipment when they upgrade to new.
     Encourage employees to donate time to teach Lotus 1-2-3 or
WordPerfect or whatever.
     I'm sure there are other good ideas out there.  But those are
just a start.


                                          (C) 1992 Robert Parson