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On 10/17/06, Rob Beard <rob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > Reminds me of previous discussions on how IT should be taught using > > the Universal Computer - not the computer that happens to be on the > > desk today. The little 'experience' I had of computers at school was > > looking > > at the back of a Commodore Pet from a distance of about 20 feet (no > > pupils were allowed in the same room as 'it'), a BBC micro (excellent > > machine) that my mother obtained on loan as a teacher and the wonders > > of a ZX81. Variety, that's part of the answer. > > :-) > > > I try to show my kids what things were like when I was their age. Hence > having a Commodore VIC20 and Acorn Electron sitting upstairs. My > fiance's third eldest daughter was interested in the Electron and typing > Basic programs in. > > When I started secondary school (Teignmouth Community College) in 1989 > they had a few BBC Micro machines and a suite of 16 RM Nimbus PC's (with > 186 CPU's and about 1MB ram). We were taught Word Processing (RSA > training material) using Microsoft Word for DOS although it seemed to be > some sort of specific RM version for the Nimbus machines. We also > learned a bit on how to use WordWise on the BBC's too. Anything we > learned (i.e. the principals of using a Word Processor - document > editing, printing, saving, loading, cut/copy/paste etc) could and was > used on a variety of applications. My personal favorite package was > Microsoft Works for DOS back then. > > It was only about 1993/94 when I started using Word for Windows (Word 6 > and later on Word 95). I think before then businesses used a variety of > packages such as Wordstar, Wordperfect 5.1 (wasn't this the standard?) > and Lotus 1-2-3. Now it seems that every business I come across use > Windows & Office. > I saw an ad in a magazine yesterday saying that the Acorn name is back in business. Then I saw the following line on their web site: "Acorn recommends Microsoft (r) Windows(r) XP". To a diehard Acorn enthusiast like me that is like "The Church of England recommends tearing the living heart from a sacrificial victim at the high altar". Over reaction I suppose but even so... -- Martinus Scriblerus scripsit -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html