Perhaps input from a teacher is applicable to this topic. Computers are a tool. No different from paper, pencil or book. What is produced should be the focus of our taxpayers' money, not which tools we use.
If Johnny can't read, how will Windows help him? This same dilemma has been glazed over by politician after politician as the candidates grasp straws of the newest fad to get (re)elected. These people are not educators, they do not have a tendency to listen to those of us who are, and they do not understand the needs of the student population. (I am sure you understand this as most politicians understand even less about technology than they do about 16 year-olds)
We are failed time and time again. Our children are failed. We need not computers. We need human beings with the training and time to educate and listen.
Secondary rant: We are raising a generation of people who rely on information given to them via spell check and any moron's web site more than their own judgment, experience and ability. I am constantly amazed at how often my students will blindly trust spell check or will cite information from unverifiable sources whose cites disappear as quickly as their credibility.
Students do not need laptops. They need bullshit detectors, research skills, self confidence, imagination, and the ability to fuck up on their own so that they learn from their mistakes. The student who turned in the downloaded copy of a paper on Huck Finn didn't get to enjoy the wonderful characters created by Mark Twain, has no clue what local color is and isn't even bright enough to revamp his plagiarism so that I can't catch him in the act.
For the students' sake Maine should have spent its money on textbooks and support staff (teacher's aides, reading specialists, mentors, etc.).
With the newest technology, you're the pilgrim taking the arrows to see what quality control may have let slip (early adopter syndrome). P60's that double as hotplates, Zip dirives with the "click of death" come to mind. If you buy the cheapest available (most often the oldest), you run the risk of technical relevance and quality of support (why is it so darn cheap again?). I like sega, but if you don't own a Dreamcast, do you want to sink $49 into one at Xmas "just 'cause" when that could be a Playstation 2 or GameCube game?
I don't think Joe Average consumer goes wrong with any technology buying somewhere to either side (or on) the middle of the road. Taking the leading edge or the trailing edge is the sure way to get taken as a consumer.
NOTE: this is constructive criticism, not flamebait or trolling.
Don't get me wrong, I've been an avid slashdot
reader since Late 1997 but in recent years due to high volume of news and low availability of editorial clock cycles it seems that a number of patently false headlines have been posted. On any of these, best case scenario for a correction seems to be a small type oh-so-classic UPDATE: in bold letters at the bottom which is the only place corrections or retractions are mentioned.
So, Taco; how about it? Are you going to bite the "journalistic integrity" bullet and create a "Humble Pie" icon for the "Retractions" topic?
with C# we were able to start with a clean sheet of paper
Uh-huh. And for what "innovative" reason did they place the oh-so-elegant break; after each block in a case statement so as to break continued execution in the switch instead of each case simply executing on it's own?? If C# was so well thought out, the would they please explain what the hell this is doing here?
Yes, but you can't simply have standards when you're dealing with the the Microsoft. They will simply "embrace and extend" any technology they can't buy in order to destroy it. Sun is trying hard to keep Java best cross platform and as usual, Microsoft is looking out for Microsoft. Sun NEEDS to maintain control of Java in order for it to stand a snowball's chance in hell in a world inhabited by the likes of Bill Gates and feinds.
Bill Gates as "Chief Software Architect"?!?! Please. That's an insult to those of us who are serious about developing software and take pride in our work . I'm familiar with people holding honarary degrees, but an honarary company title? Bill "helped" do a shitty port of BASIC over 25 years ago (to what today wouldn't pass for a calculator) and he's qualified to be a "Chief Software Architect"? I put together a Linux box on my own from components: does that make me a "Hardware Manufacturer":)? I wonder if all 9 of the smart Software Developers at M$ will quit and sell off options & stock when Bill asks how to make changes to the source:)
It would be simple enough for the truth to leak in once in awhile. In case you hadn't heard it, most of what Microsoft produces does work pretty well.
You're right. Most of what Microsoft produces does work well. However, "most of what microsoft produces" amounts to market spin B.S., fluff, FUD, and Vaporware to support the foundation of lying, stealing, and backstabbing the company was built upon. Unfortunatly, yes, it does work pretty well.
That is what most Slashdot readers are so pissy about. It's not so much the fact Win9x is a crappy DOS hack, but the fact that the largest software company in the industry is built upon a great history of unethical business practices, NOT a history of great software. And yet the general public thinks they are so wonderfull.
If you don't believe me, take a look at any number of books about M$ that weren't blessed by thier PR department ("Barbarians led by Bill Gates" for example). Microsoft has earned every ounce of contempt Slashdot readers feel towards them. Even then, it probably doesn't make up for all they deserve considering how ignorant the general public is.
Slashdot Mirror
Perhaps input from a teacher is applicable to this topic. Computers are a tool. No different from paper, pencil or book. What is produced should be the focus of our taxpayers' money, not which tools we use.
If Johnny can't read, how will Windows help him? This same dilemma has been glazed over by politician after politician as the candidates grasp straws of the newest fad to get (re)elected. These people are not educators, they do not have a tendency to listen to those of us who are, and they do not understand the needs of the student population. (I am sure you understand this as most politicians understand even less about technology than they do about 16 year-olds)
We are failed time and time again. Our children are failed. We need not computers. We need human beings with the training and time to educate and listen.
Secondary rant: We are raising a generation of people who rely on information given to them via spell check and any moron's web site more than their own judgment, experience and ability. I am constantly amazed at how often my students will blindly trust spell check or will cite information from unverifiable sources whose cites disappear as quickly as their credibility.
Students do not need laptops. They need bullshit detectors, research skills, self confidence, imagination, and the ability to fuck up on their own so that they learn from their mistakes. The student who turned in the downloaded copy of a paper on Huck Finn didn't get to enjoy the wonderful characters created by Mark Twain, has no clue what local color is and isn't even bright enough to revamp his plagiarism so that I can't catch him in the act.
For the students' sake Maine should have spent its money on textbooks and support staff (teacher's aides, reading specialists, mentors, etc.).
With the newest technology, you're the pilgrim taking the arrows to see what quality control may have let slip (early adopter syndrome). P60's that double as hotplates, Zip dirives with the "click of death" come to mind. If you buy the cheapest available (most often the oldest), you run the risk of technical relevance and quality of support (why is it so darn cheap again?). I like sega, but if you don't own a Dreamcast, do you want to sink $49 into one at Xmas "just 'cause" when that could be a Playstation 2 or GameCube game?
I don't think Joe Average consumer goes wrong with any technology buying somewhere to either side (or on) the middle of the road. Taking the leading edge or the trailing edge is the sure way to get taken as a consumer.
Don't get me wrong, I've been an avid slashdot reader since Late 1997 but in recent years due to high volume of news and low availability of editorial clock cycles it seems that a number of patently false headlines have been posted. On any of these, best case scenario for a correction seems to be a small type oh-so-classic UPDATE: in bold letters at the bottom which is the only place corrections or retractions are mentioned.
So, Taco; how about it? Are you going to bite the "journalistic integrity" bullet and create a "Humble Pie" icon for the "Retractions" topic?
Uh-huh. And for what "innovative" reason did they place the oh-so-elegant break; after each block in a case statement so as to break continued execution in the switch instead of each case simply executing on it's own?? If C# was so well thought out, the would they please explain what the hell this is doing here?
Yes, but you can't simply have standards when you're dealing with the the Microsoft. They will simply "embrace and extend" any technology they can't buy in order to destroy it. Sun is trying hard to keep Java best cross platform and as usual, Microsoft is looking out for Microsoft. Sun NEEDS to maintain control of Java in order for it to stand a snowball's chance in hell in a world inhabited by the likes of Bill Gates and feinds.
Bill Gates as "Chief Software Architect"?!?! Please. That's an insult to those of us who are serious about developing software and take pride in our work . I'm familiar with people holding honarary degrees, but an honarary company title? Bill "helped" do a shitty port of BASIC over 25 years ago (to what today wouldn't pass for a calculator) and he's qualified to be a "Chief Software Architect"? I put together a Linux box on my own from components: does that make me a "Hardware Manufacturer":)? I wonder if all 9 of the smart Software Developers at M$ will quit and sell off options & stock when Bill asks how to make changes to the source:)
You're right. Most of what Microsoft produces does work well. However, "most of what microsoft produces" amounts to market spin B.S., fluff, FUD, and Vaporware to support the foundation of lying, stealing, and backstabbing the company was built upon. Unfortunatly, yes, it does work pretty well.
That is what most Slashdot readers are so pissy about. It's not so much the fact Win9x is a crappy DOS hack, but the fact that the largest software company in the industry is built upon a great history of unethical business practices, NOT a history of great software. And yet the general public thinks they are so wonderfull.
If you don't believe me, take a look at any number of books about M$ that weren't blessed by thier PR department ("Barbarians led by Bill Gates" for example). Microsoft has earned every ounce of contempt Slashdot readers feel towards them. Even then, it probably doesn't make up for all they deserve considering how ignorant the general public is.