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What attracted you to computer science? Put another way, why do you think it is that when your penpal showed you the website she built your reaction was "cool"

What attracted you to computer science? Put another way, why do you think it is that when your penpal showed you the website she built your reaction was "cool" instead of "lame...." (especially in 98 when the web technologies were much more primitive)?

WoodenChair 13y ago
The second thought is not really attached to the first question. Having a desire to make a website/making a website has little to do with computer science.
- dzink 13y ago
  The desire to learn CS came with the need to do more on the web - the more I tinkered the more I wanted to learn. I got Flash for design but then realized I could animate with code, so I started borrowing trigonometry books from my high-school math teacher in order to make flash animations that move by trig functions. After doing 4-5 years of self-learning how to do cooler, more fun things I wanted to get a degree in it because I thought it would accelerate my learning and reduce the friction of having to manually find materials and approaches for things I wanted to make.
- logn 13y ago
  Telescopes can make people interested in physics, right?
dzink 13y ago
I liked math and physics because they allowed me to predict or affect future events. I also loved design because it allowed me create things that might have never existed otherwise. CS was the perfect combination of both - you can create things, solve problems, and distribute them to the rest of the world for free (I couldn't afford to buy even books at that time). I started with HTML and flash because the computer my mother (a brick-and-mortar entrepreneur) eventually got was an IBM 486 machine with 20megs of space and only Flash 4 would fit on it for graphics.
- tootie 13y ago
  Have you read any of the Foundation series by Asimov? The action is driven by a group of scientists who are able to predict the future using mathematical models.
  - dzink 13y ago
    Of his work, I think the The Last Question has stuck with me the most http://filer.case.edu/dts8/thelastq.htm http://filer.case.edu/dts8/thelastq.htm

WoodenChair 13y ago

The second thought is not really attached to the first question. Having a desire to make a website/making a website has little to do with computer science.

dzink 13y ago
The desire to learn CS came with the need to do more on the web - the more I tinkered the more I wanted to learn. I got Flash for design but then realized I could animate with code, so I started borrowing trigonometry books from my high-school math teacher in order to make flash animations that move by trig functions. After doing 4-5 years of self-learning how to do cooler, more fun things I wanted to get a degree in it because I thought it would accelerate my learning and reduce the friction of having to manually find materials and approaches for things I wanted to make.
logn 13y ago
Telescopes can make people interested in physics, right?

dzink 13y ago

I liked math and physics because they allowed me to predict or affect future events. I also loved design because it allowed me create things that might have never existed otherwise. CS was the perfect combination of both - you can create things, solve problems, and distribute them to the rest of the world for free (I couldn't afford to buy even books at that time). I started with HTML and flash because the computer my mother (a brick-and-mortar entrepreneur) eventually got was an IBM 486 machine with 20megs of space and only Flash 4 would fit on it for graphics.

tootie 13y ago
Have you read any of the Foundation series by Asimov? The action is driven by a group of scientists who are able to predict the future using mathematical models.
- dzink 13y ago
  Of his work, I think the The Last Question has stuck with me the most http://filer.case.edu/dts8/thelastq.htm http://filer.case.edu/dts8/thelastq.htm