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Re: Sketchpad and technology
Posted:
Jun 16, 1995 12:47 PM
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COVbECKERS@aol.com writes:
> My questions is, what do you do if the power goes out and you have
> to solve a problem to save your skin?
For most of us, that's a phony question--we'll never be in such a
position. Our skins, fortunately, don't depend on either our ability
to solve problems or the power supply. If they did, we'd damned well
know how to solve problems and we'd be well-prepared for power outages.
*Convenience* sometimes depends upon problem-solving ability and the
absence of power-outage. I recollect a visit to a local McDonald's
several years ago at lunchtime; their computers were down. Of course,
it was a horror show--the manager had just one hand-held calculator
on the premises, and you can guess how competent at arithmetic kids
of the kind you find working at McDonald's are. (McDonald's and
other fast food chains are victims of the Peanut Principle: If you
pay peanuts, you can only hire monkeys.)
I can think of circumstances where lives might depend upon ability to
do calculations without machines. The service academies come to mind:
If you're a naval officer driving a ship and the computer goes down,
you have to navigate with your own personal built-in hardware using
your very own software. Of course, if your computer is down under
these circumstances, you probably have a lot of other stuff on your
mind, too... And we aren't talking about skills everyone needs here,
but about particular skills necessary to a particular profession.
--Lou Talman
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