Another ~1960 computer kit

From: Marvin <marvin_at_rain.org>
Date: Sun Dec 20 19:20:58 1998

Tony Duell wrote:
>
> And, of course, safety rules haven't helped. I mean, children can't do
> anything that could possibly be dangerous, right? I was lucky in that I
> was shown how to do all sorts of things that could have harmed me
> (working with mains, using a soldering iron, using cutting tools), and
> shown safe ways to do them.

There is a wonderful song in the Musical "The King and I" where the King
does a soliloquy and one of the lines is "If my allies are strong enough to
protect me, might they not protect me out of all I own." Great line, and the
"protection" being applied in the guise of safety *does* protect the kids
out of what they might learn!

It would be interesting to see how the computer industry would have
developed under such safety constraints that are present today. What would
the Altair, IMSAI, and others have been like? An even better question is
would a damper have been put on the budding interest for many of us in these
new fangled devices.
Received on Sun Dec 20 1998 - 19:20:58 GMT