Re: Computing Editorial (please read)

[Lee Hart <leeahart@earthlink.net>]

>>> There have *never* been MCUs "designed for beginners"

Paul Schlyter replied:
>> Not quite true -- back when MCU's first appeared, nearly *everyone*
>> were beginners in that field....

Exactly!

and Michael Black replied:
> More important, in those early days, while they were new to computers,
> they were in a different space from the average person, often with
> a technical background, be it hobby or professional. In other
> words, they were in a better position to take on something new.

Certainly, most manufacturers intended their products for people with a
technical background. However, a very large number of people who bought
and used them were rank amateurs. I was a high school student, for
example.

> back then, the CPUs and computers weren't necessarily simple for
> beginners, they were simple because that was all there was.

There were microcomputers aimed squarely at beginners and non
professionals. For example, I have an RCA "VIP", an 1802-based
microcomputer sold in 1977. It was your classic naked PC board with a
hex keypad, cassette tape recorder for mass storage, and video output
for use with a home TV set. The manuals were all written for people with
no knowledge of computers or electronics at all.

> Take a KIM-1, really quite simple compared to today's computers.
> There were things in it helpful for someone trying to learn
> about such things.  But unless one was going to pay big money
> for all the extras (memory, video, ascii keyboard), you could
> only stick with something so simple.  And since you didn't have
> the hardware to run fancy programs, that too was out of the picture.
> It only incidentally was helpful in getting people under the hood.

The whole point of a small, simple computer is not to do "real" work.
For that, just buy a PC or Mac. You won't learn anything about computers
or electronics; but it will cruise the internet, write your doctorial
theses, or balance the company books.

The point of a small, simple computer is to LEARN on. It's a toy! It
isn't supposed to do real work; it's supposed to be fun!

Words fail me when I try to describe how much I learned, and how much
fun I had with these little old computers. And, when I watch my
7-year-old play with those same old computers (many of which I luckily
kept), I can see that the magic is still there! *HE* is learning and
having a lot of fun!

But if *your* son or daughter wants to learn about electronics and how
computers work; what do you buy them? The VIP, and KIM-1, and dozens of
similar simple little computers are gone. How do they get to the first
rung of the ladder? Wait until college? Or, do we tell them that nobody
needs to design hardware; the orientals will do it all. And that nobody
needs to write software any more; trust Microsoft.
-- 
Lee A. Hart                Ring the bells that still can ring
814 8th Ave. N.            Forget your perfect offering
Sartell, MN 56377 USA      There is a crack in everything
leeahart_at_earthlink.net  That's how the light gets in - Leonard Cohen