Re: Make it Illegal
I have a better idea. Make it illegal for any *parent* to have any internet service if they have children under 18.
5893 publicly visible posts • joined 8 Sep 2007
In the 1960s I went to one of the (new) big comprehensive schools. What I, and my peers gained more than anything else was that we actually had a taste of a wide range of languages, arts and engineering. Within one term we all pretty much knew what our interests were and were streamed accordingly.
This is where I would like to see programming fit in, not as a must-do separate entity, which will be slow enough to frustrate those with natural talent and esoteric enough to bore the rest out of their skulls.
Python is in fact a very flexible language and easy to learn. It can be used straight from the command line or as a program and in a procedural or OO style or a combination of both.
Add pygame to the mix and you're off and flying - and not just for games. Based on SDL it's pretty neat for HMI stuff.
About 3 years ago I was repairing such a machine :)
Not only was the program stored on 'high speed' cassette, but you then had to remove it and load another cassette with the job data.
The machine had a 'program' mode where you manually moved the cutting heads, dialed in the speed etc... rinse and repeat, then saved the lot to a new data tape. I don't know how many steps it had - quite a lot I think.
The company was mooting the idea of a tape recorder emulator, but thanks to our wonderful economy and unbelievable support for small business, they went out of business and all the machinery was broken up for scrap.
If I was being made redundant and told to train my outsourced replacement I'd refuse, in writing, stating that I wasn't prepared to risk being accused of sabotage when the inevitable screw up occurred due to comprehension/language 'errors'.
Finally I'd advise them that if they didn't find this acceptable I would be quite happy for the matter to be referred to an industrial tribunal.
I know of one situation where none of this applied. Guy had fully paid up mortgage, a couple of investments due to mature and more than ready to retire from a job where they'd paid him progressively less in real terms while piling on more work. Faced with yet another pointy headed manager droid he finally snapped.
His leaving was remembered with smiles from those at the coalface for years.
People like having something physical they can hold in their hands, and place collections of onto shelves. Unless you find a way of changing that, CDs etc. will always be in demand.
Mind you, the industry would make a lot more money if they actually gave people what they wanted (in any format) including their back catalogue.
I really can't understand this obsession with high capacity high speed drives. My 'office' machine that is stuffed full of audio files, images, work projects etc. is only 120G, and actually I lie, It's not stuffed full, I've only used about half the space. I'm not aware of any speed issues at all when using this system. It totally keeps up with me.
There is no way I'd even think about spending all this dosh on something that won't show any return.