On Tue, 2003-10-21 at 18:07, Sam Hart wrote: > * On 03-10-21, Ron Johnson wrote: > > Why expose children to computers at such a young age? Shouldn't > > they be running and jumping, playing with toys, coloring, cutting, > > riding bike/scooter, etc, instead? > > Ooo, dear, there's a can of worms ;-) > > I would like to say this on the subject, and then will try never to rant > again: > > I got my first computer experience when I was 4 years old (PDP-11, no > screen, teletype, and FORTRAN... I wrote a program that counted whee!) > Later, I got my first computer when I was approx. 5-6 (Atari 400, 16K and > membrane keyboard). > > I really attribute my knowledge and aptitute today to that early computer > experience. I had taught myself basic C by the time I was 8, and had > already exposed myself to what I would later discover to be Algebra > because of it. I think that computer experience very young is an > /exceptionally/ good thing. > > For one, it helps the child not to be afraid of technology (which is a > HUGE boon).
No it doesn't. How do I know? *I* wasn't scared of technology, and I didn't see a computer until 11th grade, and use one until 12th grade (way back in 1980). > For another, depending upon /what/ the child has experience with, it can > really help out with logic and problem solving. Heck, it can even help > teach creativity. So do coloring books, crayons, toy soldiers, books, etc. Basically, almost everything except TV. > I would also like to point out that some of the most bright persons I > currently know in the computer field are people who had such early > experience with computers (Bill Kendrick anyone? The guys a coding > machine... ;-) Humph. Yet again, that's just not true. Did Kernigan, Ritchie, Ken Thompson, Bill Joy, RMS, Steve Wozniak, Gary Kildall, shoot, *anyone* from the MIT AI Lab, the TMRC, Stanford AI Lab, Linux, Alan Cox, Donald Becker, or even the people who designed and program- med that PDP-11 or your Atari get exposed to computers at an early age? No. Thus, early exposure to computer technology is *not* necessary for someone to go on later and become a programmer. In fact, it's quite possible that you'd have become an accomplished programmer anyway. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ron Johnson, Jr. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jefferson, LA USA LUKE: Is Perl better than Python? YODA: No... no... no. Quicker, easier, more seductive. LUKE: But how will I know why Python is better than Perl? YODA: You will know. When your code you try to read six months from now.
