lxskllr
No Lifer
- Nov 30, 2004
- 60,002
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I find it hard to compare what I would be like as a kid today instead of the 80's. Would I be interested in learning how to create my own computer programs on a typical PC of today as I was on a C64? Would I be completely distracted by the millions of things to play with on the internet?
you could use the 64 just fine without having to learn to code, you just loaded programs and off you went. What was the spark then? At the time, home PC's were still emerging from the hobbyist space and into the consumer space. So a lot more of the literature around computers revolved around DIY type projects.
But even away from the PC, I was the kind of kid who took things apart, modified them, fixed them, or broke them even worse. Surely kids today who are the take-it-apart mindset look at a computer and think "how can I make something of my own?", "what's under the hood?", or simply just "how does it work?"
I don't think a lot of people realize they can make their computers do tricks. Computers are sold as appliances, and that thought process is encouraged by just about every online service, and proprietary software dev. It isn't magic, and even basic skills can make your life easier, but people should be made aware that it's possible.