I thought I'd blogged on this before, but it seems not (at least not here!)..
When I were a nipper, I had a book on BASIC for the Acorn (BBC). Actually I had 2 books. Both very similar books, both started with something like:
10 print "hello world"
20 goto 10
But both by page 20 had started relatively advanced data-types and had all the cool programming structures of the day (gosub, etc). Both introduced peeking and poking and had simplified schematics for the 6502 and the Z80. One went off into more complex data-driven programming and the other into creating a simpl robot driven through an RS232 port. These were books for 10yr olds. I have yet to see anything similar today.
Smalltalk is kinda close, but there's something I don't like about it. Too simplified, too direct, too scripty, too much like a toy. The literature I've seen was either too condescending or too adult... in all it's designed for the classroom, not for exploration alone.
So what next? If one was to write a book, what technology? Something real, so Java or .Net based. Something with either a framework (yuck) or set of libraries to make things easier. Something accessible to kids but also something very techie. Games programming? This would be very hard to get the balance right.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Monday, September 18, 2006
Computing Paradigm
In the last few entries, I have been inexpertly trying to describe something which could represent a new(ish) paradigm in computer interaction. I kind of symbiosis of personal computing and network computing.
I feel the word 'computing' is wrong here, but I will take it to represent all things related to the layman's interpretation of what 'computing' means. So: wordprocessing is computing, email is computing, blogging is computing, M$ vs Apple is computing, memory-sticks are computing. It's a very broad term to symbolise all the things you do with the box of tricks we call a computer (including laptops, PDA's, printers, broadband, etc etc).
Personal computing is what we do with a computer when we're not on the net. We word process, store documents, edit pictures, listen to MP3's, play games (against the computer), use spreadsheets. Basically, the 1980's view of the IBM PC. It was stand-alone, operated by one person, smaller amounts of processing power, but given over to an individual.
Network computing is email, IM, surfing, blogging, VNC/WTS, SMB/file sharing. It is viewed as the modern multiple-user space where we share stuff with eachother. More than that, we share with ourselves too! It means you can have access to your personal space from anywhere in the world (for example you may keep an inbox with web-mail in it). The last thing is important - it talks about having the same information and interface available to you wherever you log into a computer. Security here is an issue, of course, but there is intrinsic value in having familiarity of interface and data.
Now, to combine the two means that personal computing should become more networky and network computing should become more personal. Some bits of technology are getting there (MySpace, MSN, Yahoo and Google have offerings that start to come close). But what I see is a method by which information and interface associated with an individual is all available from everywhere. Furthermore that information is (where appropriate) accessible regardless of where it resides. So, if I log into my computer at work, I have access to all the relevant stuff for me - personal and work related. I have access using an interface which is associated with me (why should I need to learn a new interface because my new employer decides we will all use M$ Windows 2023 with the Wibble skin and the Blahsoft document mgt system?). The same should be true when I login from home, or in an internet cafe, or wherever. Home servers should connect to intrenet-based servers and work servers seamlessly. Security would have to be cooler than cool, of course, but I'm positive that all of this is fundamentally possible.
I feel the word 'computing' is wrong here, but I will take it to represent all things related to the layman's interpretation of what 'computing' means. So: wordprocessing is computing, email is computing, blogging is computing, M$ vs Apple is computing, memory-sticks are computing. It's a very broad term to symbolise all the things you do with the box of tricks we call a computer (including laptops, PDA's, printers, broadband, etc etc).
Personal computing is what we do with a computer when we're not on the net. We word process, store documents, edit pictures, listen to MP3's, play games (against the computer), use spreadsheets. Basically, the 1980's view of the IBM PC. It was stand-alone, operated by one person, smaller amounts of processing power, but given over to an individual.
Network computing is email, IM, surfing, blogging, VNC/WTS, SMB/file sharing. It is viewed as the modern multiple-user space where we share stuff with eachother. More than that, we share with ourselves too! It means you can have access to your personal space from anywhere in the world (for example you may keep an inbox with web-mail in it). The last thing is important - it talks about having the same information and interface available to you wherever you log into a computer. Security here is an issue, of course, but there is intrinsic value in having familiarity of interface and data.
Now, to combine the two means that personal computing should become more networky and network computing should become more personal. Some bits of technology are getting there (MySpace, MSN, Yahoo and Google have offerings that start to come close). But what I see is a method by which information and interface associated with an individual is all available from everywhere. Furthermore that information is (where appropriate) accessible regardless of where it resides. So, if I log into my computer at work, I have access to all the relevant stuff for me - personal and work related. I have access using an interface which is associated with me (why should I need to learn a new interface because my new employer decides we will all use M$ Windows 2023 with the Wibble skin and the Blahsoft document mgt system?). The same should be true when I login from home, or in an internet cafe, or wherever. Home servers should connect to intrenet-based servers and work servers seamlessly. Security would have to be cooler than cool, of course, but I'm positive that all of this is fundamentally possible.
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