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> Having taught some introductory CS courses a few years ago, the amount of struggling with basic things like file naming, directory hierarchies, and even simpl
by bostik 9y ago
> Having taught some introductory CS courses a few years ago, the amount of struggling with basic things like file naming, directory hierarchies, and even simple hardware use was a constant distraction.
Or to put it the other way: users (future would-be programmers) are being distanced[sic] from how the machines work. Even at the most rudimentary level.
Frankly, I'm not surprised. Interfaces are systematically being dumbed down in the name of usability. Users may be buying powerful computers, but they are using appliances. Pieces of shiny machinery that, to all intents and purposes, work with magic. [Queue A.C. Clarke quote here.]
The immediate downside is that when the interface is dumbed down to the level of non-confusion for the large masses, the features that power users would find appealing are being stripped off.
Curiosity may have killed the cat, but what happens when curiosity itself is being killed?
- mirimir 9y agoFamiliarity with how computers work arguably peaked during the early-mid PC era. The first computer that I used was an IBM 360. Basically, someone showed me how to punch cards, and how to enter my data. After submitting the job, I'd find out the next day whether it crashed, or completed properly. And after a few tries, I got my results. But nowhere in that process did I know anything about IBM 360s, or how to program or run them. I more-or-less understood the mathematics involved in the data processing. And I could somewhat parse the Fortran. But I had no concept of anything like a directory hierarchy. With an IBM XT 286, on the other hand, it was all in my face.
- veddox 9y ago> Familiarity with how computers work arguably peaked during the early-mid PC era. Now there's an interesting observation. I'm not quite sure whether you're right, but quite possibly. Looking around my local libraries and bookstores, most of the books that deal with using personal computers do seem to be from the 90s/early 2000s era. The question is whether the decline in these books indicate that they are not needed any more, or that they are not wanted anymore (due to "hidden complexity")?
- josteink 9y ago> With an IBM XT 286, on the other hand, it was all in my face. Earlier in the pre-PC age, for the hobbyists you had similar experiences with home computers like Tandy RadioShack, ZX spectrum, Commodore Vic-20 or 64, not to mention the Amigas and Ataris (and all the others I’m old enough to have forgotten). Early Macs also let you mess around (and mess up) your system too. It was an exciting time in computing indeed, but it did in no way start with the PC.