Re: Computing Editorial (please read)

[mjmahon@aol.com (Michael J. Mahon)]

Eric Smith wrote:

>Lee Hart <leeahart@earthlink.net> writes:
>> My first concern is that there aren't any MCUs designed for beginning
>> hobbyists.
>
>Yeah, and I went down to the local hardware store and tried to buy a
>router designed for beginning hobbyists, but they didn't have any of
>those either.

Interesting analogy, Eric.

I remember recently hearing how low-cost, low-quality power tools
have saturated the "do it yourself" stores, and that this presents an
interesting problem vis-a-vis skill levels.

It was noted that a skilled user can make a low-quality tool produce
good results, because he knows how to correct for its faults, while
a beginner, being inexperienced, will get bad results unless he uses
a high-quality machine.

Although it's a bit indirect, I think there is a principle at work here
that might apply to computers and computer languages, as well.  ;-)

-michael

Check out amazing quality 8-bit Apple sound on my
Home page:  http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/