3 ms·

At least it wasn't just cardboard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CARDboard_Illustrative_Aid_to_Computation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CARDboard_Illustrative_

• vic-traill 11y ago
  Not related directly to computers, but related to the use of cardboard representations in learning models: I took piano lessons on lunch hour once a week in elementary school. For those students without a piano at home, they distributed a fold-out cardboard piano keyboard. The kid was supposed to practice on the cardboard keyboard all week, and then play an actual piano once a week during the lesson. We were fortunate and had an upright piano at home. I tried out a friend's cardboard keyboard a couple of times out of curiousity - pretty unsatisfactory feedback loop, to say the least. Looking at the link for CARDIAC provided above, I think that approach might have actually worked not badly. You could learn all the core concepts, hand assemble a program, and then 'execute' it by moving the values through the cells. Not the most glitzy experience, but the fundamentals are there. I can't say the same for the cardboard keyboard; not hearing what you're 'playing' is a pretty big obstacle.
  • SixSigma 11y ago
    This is a tragic tale. I think I would have enjoyed a Cardiac to learn machine code. I first learned code from copying listings on Teletext, they called it Telesoftware [1] into a book. I had no access to any computers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telesoftware https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telesoftware