>
>>
>> A lot of discussion here on college educations, my 0.02.
>>
>> 1) I don't expect New College Grads (NCG's) to know a lot, I expect
them to
Don't. They're here to make the college money, not to get ahead in the
real world. This is already starting to bite back, and will get worse.
>I would also expect them to have some practical knowledge as well. And
>how to make order-of-magnitude calculations/reliable guesses for
results in
>their subject.
>
>Please note that the 2 people I was moaning about earlier (one wanted a
>362.83 Ohm resistor for his LED, the other couldn't grasp '5V across
>4.7kOhms is a little more than a milliamp') were EEs. It's reasonable
>that a chemistry student, or a classics student, or something like that
>wouldn't have a clue about resistor values, but for an EE? It worries
me.
>It wories me a lot.
But, why? Most of them will be getting a job in which they either
follow flowcharts, or in which they figure out the prettiest way
to put U1-49 on a PCB and attach a 6-pin connector to pins 1-6 of each
U. If the world is unlucky enough to have one at a real circuit
without a manual, the few comptetent engineers will find a way to make
this guy's function unnecessary. At the end, of course, this raises
unemployment and decreases skill. It's clear a crisis will occur <100y
>Oh, IMHO all CS students should have some idea as to what the
'computer'
>they are writing programs for actually is. And that means having some
>idea of digital electronics and assembly language. I find using tools
>that you don't fully understand is a darn good way to produce poor code
>(or whatever).
The thing that annoys me terribly is that people think they can do
'interesting' things on a computer, like web pages, and graphics, and
so forth. IMHO, an artist should play with Photoshop and POVRay, while
a person interested in computers should learn assembly. It's not
mutually exclusive, of course, but I think there are too many people
who could contribute a lot to technical stuff, while they sit lazily
clicking away at the canvas.
>Of course. Things you've taught yourself are rarely forgotten. If you
>want to understand something then you will. Unlike the student who
learnt
>the book to pass the exam and has no real clue as to what it means.
>
Here's something I read in a ham radio book: "There are two ways to
prepare for any test. One way is to study to learn the material, and
the other is to pass the test. I suggest you study to pass the test"
He was, of course, talking about the Amateur Radio certification test.
Clearly, this book was made not for people interested in radio, but
those who want to send messages about their private life all over the
universe.
>
>> One of the things that struck me about a 'dead' PC I was attempting
to fix
>> was that the BIOS flash had been zorched and a) Not only was their no
way
>> to recover the bios but b) the chipset used was both non-standard and
made
>> by a now non-existent company who left behind no records. Talk about
>
>Thankfully the BIOS on this PC is in OTP EPROMs, and I have the
official
>source listings anyway. Ditto schematics of everything but the hard
disk.
>This machine can be repaired.
>
>> unfixable! When my PDP-8 breaks I can always go back to first
principles
>
>Exactly. I've fixed my 8/e, 11s and PERQs to component level when
necessary.
>
>> and get it working again, when the engine computer on your car
breaks, your
With a car, it's not that bad. You could order replacement chips
sometimes, or you could try bypassing the messed-up function.
>Why do you think that when I get a car I am _not_ having any
electronics
>anywhere enar the engine :-). Mechanical stuff I can understand and
>repair. Electronics I can understand, but there's no way I could make a
>custom chip at home.
>
>> Graphics card? "I'm sorry Mr. McManis but that information is only
>> available under NDA to qualified customers who can prove a market of
at
>> least 1K units/month." Talk about self defeating!
>
>More people should insist on proper documentation. On a couple of
>occasions I've returned a device to the shop that sold it under the UK
>sale of goods act. The reason? It was not fit for the purpose that I
>bought it for because important documentation (register maps, connector
>pinouts, etc) was not available. Alas I doubt if the company ever
>realised or cared...
The thing is, the documents often don't exist. My father once worked
for a HV PSU manufacturing firm, where the blueprints were just barely
enough to manufacture the device.
>
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Received on Wed Oct 21 1998 - 20:37:42 BST