> Children have the unique ability to assimilate technology in ways us > adults never considered. They make it their own then find new uses > for it. We need that innovation. The sooner they're exposed to it, > the better.
I feel that that's partially true at best. People can't innovate very effectively if they can't learn effectively. Their ideas will also have minimal impact if they can't express them well to other people. I remember reading about Woz's early days in the Homebrew Computer Club. He was a pretty shy guy with some incredible ideas. But he wasn't very good at expressing those ideas; he had to sit back and let the technology speak for itself. Jobs was the "pitch man" part of the team known as The Two Steves. As amazing as Woz's ideas were, it took Jobs to express those ideas in such a way that the venture capitalists wanted to give them enough money to make it possible to produce that technology on a scale to change the world. A lot of what I see on the 'Net reminds me of this same situation. There are a lot of folks out there with good ideas. But if I can't organize my thoughts and express them well, then frankly, it doesn't matter if I use a blackboard, a computer, or a PDA...I'm going to express myself badly and people are more than likely going to lose interest in my ideas because they have to work too hard to understand what I'm trying to tell them. I saw this on a micro-scale when I worked in an HR department (don't ask). Some of the skillsets I saw were *incredible.* But all too often, I really had to plow through the resume to get to "the good part." But I did plow through (at first). Then, I did what most other people who screen resumes for a living do: if I didn't see what I wanted in 30 seconds (or less), the resume went "on file," never to be seen by mortal eyes again (unless we had to pull them out for an audit, of course). I weep when I think of how many kick-butt engineers were probably denied jobs because they simply couldn't get down how good they were on the page effectively. Instead, the jobs went to people who may have been mediocre engineers, but who _were_ able to tell us what they *could* do with a minimum of time and effort on our part. I know it sounds terrible, but when you have a diaperload of managers telling you they need people, now, that's the way things work. > Times are bad. > Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book. > -- Marcus Tellius Cicero ...and nicking quotes off the Internet to support their position! <laughs> Here's my own favorite that I think is appropos of the belief that technology will help us to compensate for basic deficiencies (just substitute the word "computer" for "book"): A book is a mirror; if an ass peers into it, you can't expect an apostle to look out. - G. C. Lichtenberg > Cool daddio! You have totally missed the point of the l33t. :) I hope I'm not guilty of misunderstanding why l33t is used: BBS days aside, it's an exclusionary language, used to keep the nOObs ignorant of what you're saying. And to allow you to look cool. I am guilty, however, of using a bad example. Damn. <blushes> What I meant to say was: if you type in incomplete sentences, make a lot of spelling/grammar mistakes, and lack an adequate vocabulary, I'm far less likely to take you seriously. I don't think you'll find many employers who'll be impressed if you do your resume in l33t. And, um, as far as I know, it's "daddy-o," not "daddio." I'm genuinely embarrassed to point that out, but the anal-retentive in me just can't let it go. <blushes again> Don't worry, though; an anal-retentive's lot is not a happy one and I'm confident this email is littered with my own deficiencies. > Countries with older infrastructure are often dramatically surpassed by > countries with newer infrastructure. If you're building anew, you don't have > to upgrade or pander to the old and its (financial) interests. True, but it should also be said that lack of rules and regulations go a long way toward making things work better, quicker. In the case of Somalia, I may not have, say, an Attorney General to go to if I'm a consumer and something goes awry. But with a wide variety of choices of where to spend my money, do I really need one? If I'm in a business and I don't give people what they want, I will go *out* of business quickly as word spreads that my product or service is no good. There are no subsidies to be had there. > I'm eagerly anticipating the re-birth of the local ISPs > with 802.16a - 70Mbps wireless over a 30 miles range. That's right: WiMAX. "Popular Mechanics" did a write-up this month. That particular article stated that it's going to roll out on a broad scale by the end of next year. Of course, if there's money to be made, you can bet it will roll out as soon as they can do it. Intel's already shipped WiMax-capable chips to OEMs. What really excited me about the article was the fact that it expressed great optimism for the future of this technology. Not because of subsidies or any other form of handout, but because it's something that industry believes that consumers will want to spend money on: http://www.wimaxforum.org/home > There are technologies arising that will enable the construction of > much faster last-mile infrastructure. The Bells and Cables are > already moving to crush it, so they can keep their profits. The telcos are indeed pooping their pants over a technology that makes that tricky "last mile" of wiring suddenly irrelevant. The thing about WiMAX is that it will allow providers to offer phone service along with your Internet access. Another angle would be, say, Lingo subscribers taking their VOIP service on the road with them and abandoning their current cellular service provider. Cool, huh? But it seems that right now there is a broadband initiative underway: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4609864/ http://www.heritage.org/Research/Regulation/hl852.cfm According to the first article, the government wants to "make sure that as soon as possible thereafter [that] consumers have plenty of choices� when it comes to broadband access. Speaking for myself, whenever I hear there is a new government "initiative" to do _anything_,* I wet my drawers. I hope that, for once, the government does the right thing with WiMAX, VOIP, and any other emerging broadband technology...by doing nothing. Based on their past performance, I think that nothing is the best we can hope for from them. Best, James Fraser -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... 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