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Can't really take the 'kids did perfectly well without computers' lines seriously b/c I lived through the introduction of computers in both education & entertainment, and we fell like rabid hounds upon every scrap we could get. We LOVED that stuff.
Kids who had handheld electronic games became temporary royalty. An Atari 2600 was like a shrine. We WERE the kids who 'did fine without computers' but the thing is, we really didn't want to if we could help it.
There were crowds around the Commodore PETs in the school computer room at lunchtime. Even the beefy older lads would come in and ask 'how do you get it to do Space Invaders?'
I used to spend hours writing text adventures of the go-north-get-lamp kind in BASIC. I wrote them longhand on lined paper so I could type them in when I got a chance.
Can't easily explain the excitement this gave us.
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZOWNT MINOTAUR JUST FRIED HIMSELF
YOU WIN, YOU LUCKY SCAB
YOU WIN, YOU LUCKY SCAB
The point isn't what we didn't do because of computers. The point is what we learned to do with the resources we had.
And that applies just as much today. The technology kids have access to, astounding though it is, has limitations.
And that applies just as much today. The technology kids have access to, astounding though it is, has limitations.
And they are being INCREDIBLY creative within those limitations.
If you don't understand that, you've probably never been called over to watch a homemade Drag Race finale enacted entirely in Roblox.
If you don't understand that, you've probably never been called over to watch a homemade Drag Race finale enacted entirely in Roblox.
