Bot and I went to lunch at a cafe about 2 blocks from the house. Lovely day. We really like the place. Local feel.
Whilst dining, we had a fun conversation. Yesterday I went to Microsoft for a usability research thingy. I was the user. It was fun. It really made me think about the problem at hand that the designers had with the product.
And as a corollary to that thought, in class today we discussed a question that had to do with keyboard design. One of the guys in class said that when he was working on the IBM Selectric, they kept in mind that the keyboard should be designed to slow typists down a bit. Just to help with accuracy in the pre-computer era, when it was a bigger deal to correct errors. I remember it well. And not always with fondness.
What was interesting was that we were talking about how the generations before ours are the last ones that won't be predominately computer literate. When they die off, there will be no one (unless they are from a country without computer access, or kept in some kind of Luddite hole in the ground) who doesn't have computer acumen on some level. And yes, some of my generation probably have missed the trend- but I would be willing to bet that they are a tiny minority.
My Mom came to mind while I was talking about computer literacy, because even though she has one, and fires it up for several hours a week, she's deathly afraid of doing something to break it (with good cause, actually). She isn't comfortable with it. She doesn't really like it. And from what the research engineer said yesterday, it's a common reaction amongst women of a certain age. Since my Step-dad is even more computer-hostile, I don't think it's a function of sex. My Dad, on the other hand is amazingly tecchie. He would've been a Microsoftie in another incarnation. Like a fish to water.
So it's an interesting proposition- think about it- what other kind of technological revolution has or will keep a generation of people out of the loop? The car came to mind- I know that plenty of people back in the day didn't embrace it, never learned how to drive, and probably died never driving. But modes of transportation now are basically variations on a theme. Ditto communication. Better, stronger, faster, cheaper- but same old, same old. Maybe we'll see drastic changes in more obscure fields like medicine, etc. But I don't know how it would shake out in the more overt areas.
And older people are on occasion, embracing the tecchie thing. My Grandfather (see the last post) was on the net and writing emails at the age of 91. I'm not sure, however, that my Grandmother knows what a computer is exactly. She doesn't understand what the hell I do for a living. Not a clue. Nope. The TV remote is a stretch for her. And I'm not trying to be mean. Just accurate.
So, unless science and medicine erase death- or prolong life in a huge way, I don't see much coming that will be as drastic as what has already happened. Despite what SF writers have been throwing at us for decades. I'll certainly be happy to be surprised though.
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You just need to step out of the first world to see how many people actually don't have a drop of computer savvy. Computer literacy implies literacy, and even in relatively advanced societies like Turkey, a full 20% of people can't read. Head a couple of thousand miles east to somewhere like Laos, the number jumps to 50% or so. I met people there, who though fluent in speaking half a dozen languages, couldn't read one. Even if one were fluent in written Hmong, for example, I doubt there are many computers that are. I wonder how many of the 6 billion (is that the right number -- I think I learned 3 billion in school) people in the world could actually use a computer if given the chance. On a global scale, is having "some degree of computer acumen" the exception or the rule? I don't know, but it's an interesting question.
Yeah- I had thought of that. Which raises the question of whether or not such literacy creates a permanent global underclass- can these people ever be brought up to speed, and is there any incentive amongst the powerful and rich to do so? Such the conundrum.
Good to hear from you, my friend! I'll email later to get details of what's up wit you!
but you've forgotten an interesting off-shoot of all this computer literacy mumbo-jumbo. how many kids will learn to write long-hand? how many kids still do?
Funny you should mention that- in my class yesterday, a young guy was all freaked out about having to write part of the LSAT in cursive. REALLY freaked out. Whoda thunk?
It's not necessary to write the argument portion of the LSAT in cursive.
No- not the argument- but the writing sample has to be handwritten, as does the statement that you write prior to finishing. So the kid who is in my class was all traumatized about having to do any handwriting- cursive or otherwise. My first grade teacher wouldn't be pleased at all.
I write/have written all my stuff (including the 224 page novel) in pencil in a Moleskine notebook, first. The subsequent drafts are written on the laptop. And still...STILL to this day I have blisters/callouses on my fingers. But I think that's more due to the volume of writing not the lack of practice in handwriting. Love the story of the kid freaking out over handwriting part of the LSAT. That's brilliant.
"Whatchu mean...HAND write?"
CALLIGRAPHY, mofo...calligraphy.
They should make him write with a feckin' feather dipped in ink. Old school stylee, mon.
I do the handwritten thing too. All papers in grad school and secondary degrees went through that filter, then were transferred to computer. It was all in the process. It really meant something to slow my brain down enough to deliberately write it out. That helped keep me on track.
Kids these days. I say a stylus and a clay tablet for him! Let him wait while it's fired before letting him loose. That's Old Schoole Stylee!
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