> Lynn Fredricks wrote: > > He laments the lack of availability of BASIC, but software > > preinstalled does not an education make, nor has it ever :-) > > By itself, no, but it does increase the odds of having > programming tools in the hands of people who might take a > shine to learning how to use them. > > Anecdotally, it seems that when Apple bundled HyperCard for > free a greater percentage of Mac folks taught themselves > programming than any period before or since.
That is true. But also the market has changed significantly in that time as well - which David Brin does acknowledge to a point - where the "computer user base" is now huge but it isnt driven by an enthusiast mentality. When you first got HyperCard or a freebie BASIC (who will admit tapping in irritating little programs on the TRS-80's at Radio Shack or on the old Apple II's), you got it with a built in enthusiasts desire to make this machine you spent $$$$$ on to do more and more. Bundling with hardware is as good a strategy now as it ever was of course, but it's a business now, all unto itself. But Brin's article refers much to his own experience as a parent. He cant find a good BASIC and laments the loss of BASIC in schools. There are things parents can do about that if they really care (at least for their own). > FWIW, I did a search in that SlashDot discussion and found no > mention of Revolution. Did I miss a post? I couldn't find it either. Best regards, Lynn Fredricks Worldwide Business Operations Runtime Revolution, Ltd _______________________________________________ use-revolution mailing list [email protected] Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution
