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On Tue, 4 Jul 1995, the nasty girl wrote:

> On Tue, 4 Jul 1995, Robert Rosenberg wrote:
> 
> > Ben Compaine from Temple University wrote:
> > "There is also reason to ask if we are on the threshold of a paradigm shift.
> > As interactivity, of which this list is a primative prototype, becomes
> > standard for our kids (anyone under 15 or 20, and certainly kids like my 5
> > year old) information seeking behavior may be more the norm than today. In he

The young kids - My son is 12, my daughter is 9, love to get on the the 
internet and other areas and exchange notes with "pen pals".  My son was 
playing with computers in Kindergarten.  My daughter was "keyboarding" 
before she could read.  Both use their computer to play "adventure" type 
games, and browze encyclopedias.  This is more the norm than the unusual.


> > meantime, even a small fraction of our generation (everyone over 25) may be a
> > large enough number to create the economically viable forerunners of the New
> > Literacy generation.
> > Not a prediction--just grist for the thought mill."
> 
> What percentage of kids under 15 or 20 can afford the equipment for 
> electronic information seeking? A question relevant to this list, seeing 
> how so many seem to think significant amounts of our news is going to be 
> culled from online.

These days, I can buy surplus 386DX machines for under $300 (even in New 
Jersey :-).  Many corporations declare even the 486 to be obsolete and
dump them through "refurbishers".  Often all these refurbashers do is 
replace the keyboard and wipe down the monitor.

I have talked to a few kids in their early Teens who talk about 
"rebuilding" PCs the way their Grandparents used to talk about rebuilding 
Cars.  I've talked to several teens-20's who have already put up Linux.

Unfortunately for Mr. Gates, this generation's computers, often purchased 
by parents with limited budgets, will be unable to run Windows-95.

> Or is it irrelevant that a large portion of our society might well be 
> unwired and, therefore, at a disadvantage to compete in the marketplace? 

The "Bottom line" price on many of these systems is dropping rapidly.  A 
486 with floppy and hard drive (No CD-Rom) can run as low as $600.  For 
an additional $200, they can "Hot-Rod" a high speed CD-Rom and audio card 
and avoid the extra $600 charge for the Microsoft "BundleWare".

Most of these kids have learned that it is not cool to pass around 
copyrighted material, but will pass around share-ware.  The schools have 
been more inclined to include "computer ethics" and "responsible use" into
the cirriculum.  They are told that copying a $400 "Office" package is 
like stealing $400.  In many cases, they couldn't fit office on to their 
little machines anyway.

> What percentage of elementary public schools provide 
> Internet access to the entire student body?
Many public schools, libraries, and newspapers provide access at very low 
cost.  AOL offers free access to public school students in cities like 
Newark, Detroit, and South Bronx (Or did).

More and more, parents and young people are seeing computer literacy, the 
ability to use the computer to gather and share information quickly and 
efficiently, as a critical factor in economic opportunity.

While a computer and internet access will never amount to being a 
substitute for a College education, it can go a long way toward fostering 
legitimate opportunities.

	Rex Ballard
	Standard & Poor's/McGraw-Hill
	Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect
	the Management of the McGraw-Hill Companies.





From rballard@cnj.digex.net Thu Jul 13 01:50:35 1995
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