Re: What's the point of these low powered devices?
>I'm really unsure why we're coming out with all these low powered devices
>in some kind of hope that it will teach kids fundamentals of computing or programming?
The devices exist already. They are widely used. Teaching the people who, with any luck, will be wiping our butts for us in a few years time to use them is surely a good idea?
It's nothing to do with "computing or programming", whatever that means. There has been a gradual shift since the end of the 1960's from hard-wired electronic control to software electronic control of devices we use. Along with this has come an incredible increase in the number of devices that use electronic control. I used to use a stick with petrochemical bristles stuck to it to clean my teeth, today I use a microprocessor that is significantly more powerful than those I programmed in the 1980's.
There was a moment around 1981 or 1982 that still sticks in my mind; a coworker who I shall call Hugo Tyson for the purposes of this posting came into my office where I was doing whatever we did in the 80's, probably looking at low-res bitmapped images, and observed that the future of the company we worked for was, "one in every washing machine".
I've spent the rest of my life looking at bitmapped images and, yes, there is one in every washing machine. Indeed, far beyond Hugo's expectations (maybe) there are actually more than 10 on every desktop; remember there is one in every micro-SD card and there are countless numbers in every desktop PC (not that anyone would be seen dead with one of those these days.)
So it's like the Physics A level (before they started trying to teach people to remember class A or B amplifier design); it's utterly pointless, yet, if you understand it you might understand (global warming/why your toothbrush stopped working) and that might help.
John Bowler <jbowler@acm.org>
Biting the hand that feeds IT
