How Programmable Calculators and a Sci-Fi Story Brought Soviet Teens Into the Digital

[Garth Wilson]

I myself was not interested in computers at all until I wanted to do calculations that involved thousands of iterations in loops to figure out something; and then a programmable calculator was in order. The slide rule was not up to the task. First I got a TI-58c, then a 59, then I wanted to be able to control things on the workbench, so I got an HP-41cx with HPIL, XIO, and Advantage, and later other modules, then a 71. Then I started wanting far more speed than I could get from either of these, and got into what became my workbench computer.

The article says,

Quote:Meanwhile, the move sparked an international debate among computer experts over the very definition of “computer literacy.” The U.S. computer scientist and entrepreneur Edward Fredkin argued that his country’s experience should inform the Soviets:

Quote:We now understand that computer literacy is not knowing how to program. It is not understanding how [a] computer works. It is not knowing about bits and bytes and flip-flops and gates.... We now know that true computer literacy means having the skills to use the advanced application programs, such as word processing and spreadsheet systems.

I might agree with that part about computer literacy, but not about computer science, and definitely not about computer engineering. I occasionally get email from people who are involved in teaching kids about "coding" who want to partner with me because of my website; but I have to tell them that when they're giving the kids GUIs with drag-and-drop programming components (the word "programming" being used quite loosely), the student is not given any understanding whatsoever about what goes on under the hood, and that I don't want to be involved in that kind of "education."