Re: QED & Marshall McLuhan

In a message dated 6/10/99 11:23:51 AM, bbailey@clark.net writes:

<< Setting up a computer so that it can be operated
independently on a day-to-day basis by an illiterate person requires
sophistication well beyond the average teacher or parent. >>

Then we must be an extraordinary family. We have done nothing to the 
interface of the OS to make it easier for my son to use. At one point we used 
passwords to prohibit my son's use of the computer and lock him out of moving 
and saving files. If anything, we have made it harder for him to use. 

<< ...segment where the computer guides a girl with profound mental 
retardation
through baking a surprise birthday cake for her mother. It remains a work of 
science fiction. >>

Betty Crocker and the Pillsbury Dough Boy must be very sophisticated 
extra-terrestrials. I guess you could say they dumbed down the cooking 
process intended for adults.
My son makes cakes and cooks other foods by looking at the pictures on the 
back of the box or from observing me cooking. 
He has never needed a video or a specially interfaced stove. 
He was not encouraged to cook - he was hungry.
All he asked of me was to help get the hot pans out of the oven, and I helped 
him get the cakes out of the pans. Until recently we took the knobs off the 
stove to keep him from cooking in the middle of the night while we slept. 
We are constantly disabling devices to keep our DD child from using them. 
(Hide the power tools and car keys)
Never underestimate anyone. 
I emphasize again - a non-reader could be an adult who has had a stroke or a 
traumatic brain injury. And as for computer-literate non-readers - these 
"children" are growing up and many are already adults.
They want to use the internet now - just like my son - they are not being 
encouraged - they are hungry for more than we are willing to dish out to them.
As always,
With kindest regards,
LK

Received on Friday, 11 June 1999 09:48:57 UTC