Computer ''literate''

paulwiggins · **Posted:** Sun Jun 27, 2004 8:01 pm

This has just crossed my desk ... Kindergarten
students .... are quickly becoming
computer literate thanks to their
older buddies. The words ''battered ornament'' and cliche corner'' spring to mind. no reflection on the fine author of piece.

jjmoney62 · **Posted:** Sun Jun 27, 2004 10:31 pm

I ran that through babelfish, and I still don't understand it.

pzicari · **Posted:** Sun Jun 27, 2004 10:44 pm

I suppose it's a metaphor that bites. In more ways than one. It's kind of absurd to assert that kids who aren't literate are "computer literate," unless computers truly are for dummies. Maybe "computer literate" only means that they know better than to pee on the keyboards.

paulwiggins · **Posted:** Sun Jun 27, 2004 11:01 pm

A slight misuse on my part of a phrase in Fowler's Modern English usage. By battered ornament I meant a turn of phrase that has been used too often, not quite what the estimable Fowler's meant. Cliche corner is the name and shame corner used by a number of magazines to ridicule poor writing.

DominEditrix · **Posted:** Mon Jun 28, 2004 12:49 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Pete Zicari:
It's kind of absurd to assert that kids who aren't literate are "computer literate," unless computers truly are for dummies. <hr></blockquote> Take it as a metaphor. If "read" and "write" are read with the connotations of "able to comprehend what they see on the screen" and "able to communicate commands to the program", then, yes, there are "computer literate" kindergarten students. D.

genebec · **Posted:** Tue Jun 29, 2004 1:34 am

Two points in defense of the kids. First, I could type commands into my dad's computer before I could read to use certain programs. Secondly, I was reading by kindergarten.

Dyslexic · **Posted:** Tue Jun 29, 2004 4:09 pm

In the early 80s, being "computer literate" meant that one understood the basics of how microcomputers worked. Knowing what the CPU, ALU, bus, i/o ports and RAM are for, and being able write simple programs in a high-level language like BASIC made one "computer literate."Today, those people with that rudimentary understanding of computers are called "engineers," and anyone who can manage to point to a picture of an envelope on the display when AOL says, "You have mail!" is "computer literate."

DominEditrix · **Posted:** Tue Jun 29, 2004 7:08 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Dyslexic:
In the early 80s, being "computer literate" meant that one understood the basics of how microcomputers worked. Knowing what the CPU, ALU, bus, i/o ports and RAM are for, and being able write simple programs in a high-level language like BASIC made one "computer literate."<hr></blockquote>Which nowadays some kids grasp by age 10. I've run into a number of preteens who are quite "computer literate" by those standards. My offspring was fooling around with BASIC by 8 or so, but he had the advantage of growing up in a techno-geek household and a high-end computer lab at his school. He started playing on a conputer when he was about 18 mos. [Note: he was recognising words at that age.]Old baby tee:10 IF (A$ = TIRED) OR (A$ = CRANKY) THEN GOTO 20
20 GOTO bedD.

SusanV · **Posted:** Tue Jun 29, 2004 7:31 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by DominEditrix:
Old baby tee:10 IF (A$ = TIRED) OR (A$ = CRANKY) THEN GOTO 20
20 GOTO bedD.<hr></blockquote>
I love it!

Phillip Blanchard · **Posted:** Tue Jun 29, 2004 8:45 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by DominEditrix:

My offspring was fooling around with BASIC by 8 or so, but he had the advantage of growing up in a techno-geek household and a high-end computer lab at his school. He started playing on a conputer when he was about 18 mos. [Note: he was recognising words at that age.]
<hr></blockquote>Oh yeah? My son started tapping the keys when he was eight days old and by age 3 had mastered C++.

DominEditrix · **Posted:** Tue Jun 29, 2004 8:57 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by blanp:
Oh yeah? My son started tapping the keys when he was eight days old and by age 3 had mastered C++.<hr></blockquote>And by 10 had taken over Microsoft? [chuckle] The Kid has a reading disability called hyperlexia. Typically, sufferers recognise written words at a very early age, some younger than my son did. As they get older, however, and their vocabularies increase, the ability to attach meanings to written words becomes problematic. The Kid has to read text four or five times to get it straight. He still can't grasp the difference between the words "sweater" and "sweatshirt"; for some reason, his brain refuses to distinguish the two.Strangely, his "the best book I ever read" is The Great Gatsby.D.

Oeditpus Rex · **Posted:** Wed Jun 30, 2004 2:24 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by blanp:
Oh yeah? My son started tapping the keys when he was eight days old and by age 3 had mastered C++.<hr></blockquote>Harumph. My kid developed COBOL and FORTRAN while he was still in the womb.

DominEditrix · **Posted:** Wed Jun 30, 2004 2:44 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Oeditpus Rex:
Harumph. My kid developed COBOL and FORTRAN while he was still in the womb.<hr></blockquote>
Yeah, but I invented the Internet before Al Gore did.

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