Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!henry From: henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) Newsgroups: net.micro,net.research,net.cse Subject: Re: First Summary of PC's in Education Survey Message-ID: <3611@utzoo.UUCP> Date: Wed, 7-Mar-84 17:51:59 EST Article-I.D.: utzoo.3611 Posted: Wed Mar 7 17:51:59 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 7-Mar-84 17:51:59 EST References: <3604@utzoo.UUCP>, <3466@utcsrgv.UUCP> Organization: U of Toronto Zoology Lines: 47 Steve Perelgut observes, in defence of the IBM PC and clones: - The 80186 is arguably as good as a 68000 and anyone with talent can create software to run on the 80186 and 8088 and all the other family members I think Mark Mendell answered this one well. In no way is a collection of 16-bit address spaces as good as a single big contiguous one. Sure, there are many things that will run quite well in 16 bits, but when you run out of address space, you're really stuck. I can create software that will run on a PDP-8 -- that doesn't mean that it's a good idea or a worthwhile use of my time. - 8088 based micros are the most popular. It isn't fair to students to force them to buy another machine. This may change with the Macintosh-madness. (If the happens, the CSRG is capable of making the switch with little pain.) By this argument, you ought to be teaching the students Microsoft BASIC as their first language. Universities should be buying the equipment that will be right for tomorrow, not yesterday. As for making the switch with little pain: after you've bought a huge pile of 8088 machines? No way that investment is going to be written off without pain, screaming, madness, committee inquiries, etc. etc. When this much money is involved, there is a very high premium on getting it right the first time. Buying a 16-bit-address-space machine is clearly a major mistake. Aside from this, th "7 M's" are true for Brown's "animated algorithms" scheme, but they aren't essential for the simple task of introductory computer programming courses. Introductory computer programming courses are among the things Brown uses their fancy lab for. It is quite possible that an 8088 is adequate for the introductory courses DCS teaches today, taught the way they are taught today. The availability of the new technology is likely to change the way courses are taught. It is a mistake to view the introduction of per-student workstations as just new hardware for the same old purposes. Maybe DCS is not interested in things like "animated algorithms" now; in a few years they will be. But by then it will be too late, if the short-sighted advocates of the cheapest hardware available have their way right now. U of T will once again find itself stuck with antiquated equipment and a second-rate teaching environment while everyone else forges ahead. How many years will it take to fix it THIS TIME? Much better to think ahead a bit now, and invest a bit of money in the future. -- Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry