Several weeks ago Low End Mac publisher Dan Knight graciously agreed
to my request that we put View From the
Classroom on hiatus at least for the summer. I'd told Dan that I
wasn't really happy with the quality of my writing of late and thought
it was time for me to chill out for a few months.
Actually, the column wasn't the whole problem. Spillover from my day
job as a special education teacher had left me ready for something
different. It seemed that I spent most of the month of May watching
school psychologists and special education administrators creatively
interpret federal and state laws and regulations to hide their
programming deficiencies and effectively deny students their guaranteed
"Free Appropriate Public Education." (If you're not a special educator,
FAPE is a bit of special ed lingo established by court case that
legally defines what must be done for students with disabilities.)
I found myself becoming cynical about the whole special education
process. In addition, I found that when I sat to write a column, that
cynicism permeated my writing about Macs! So, now that the dust has
settled a bit, I'll post a last column until fall about some positive
things in Macintosh computing.
Frequently, when I've done some minor "Macintosh magic" on one of
our teacher's machines, they profusely thank me, saying something like,
"How do you do it?" While the praise is nice for something as easy as
junking a corrupted preference file or running a utility program, it
also says a lot about the state of computing today.
Computers can quickly become intimidating, aggravating, unproductive
beasts to both the computing novice and the seasoned user at times.
Even on the Macintosh, where things are generally considered to be
easier, Murphy's Law seems to work overtime.
On the first day of my summer vacation, I received an urgent call
from our school's "Evil NT techie." He'd needed an AV capable Mac for a
computer workshop, so I'd loaned him my G3/7500. The workshop was to begin
in a few minutes, and the Mac's monitor was blank, but the desktop was
visible through the projector they'd attached. After a few minutes of
fruitless, long distance tech support, I realized that I couldn't help
from home, as I couldn't simulate the setup at school.
I hustled to school to find that the profile for the Sony monitor
had been replaced by a generic setting. Regardless of what any of the
three computer professionals present had done, the display refused to
come to life. Apparently, in the process of connecting the projector to
the monitor cabling, a neat task since the G3/7500's video runs through
a Orange Micro PC card, something bad happened. In just mucking about
with the setup, a screen appeared saying the resolution selected for
the monitor was beyond its refresh rate. On a whim, I got to look like
a slightly flawed Mac magician by changing the colors setting from
millions to 256 colors - and the monitor returned to life. The Sony
display profile was still absent, however, leaving a choice of just a
single somewhat undesirable screen resolution.
The workshop went on, and I did some paperwork. Afterwards, I took
the 7500 home. Upon connecting and firing up the reluctant computer,
the initial splash screen was still tuned to the undesirable generic
RGB settings, but during startup it snapped back to the correct
settings. When I fired up the Windows side using the Orange Micro card,
much the same thing happened after a bit of manual tweaking. It
occurred to me that I'd read that the Sony 17" CPD-200ES display, the
best I've ever owned, only held two sets of video settings in its
memory. Possibly the addition of a third set, the projection unit used
at school, caused the problem. There also may not have been enough VRAM
to power two outputs. I still don't know what happened, but to further
complicate things, the problem has also occurred one time at home!
When computer learners watch experienced computer users and techies
fumble around, as we did at school, it certainly doesn't engender any
aura of ease-of-use for them. Most of the folks at the workshop were
beyond the novice stage, but the experience brought me back to an issue
I've had to address repeatedly in the last year - that of how one
learns to become proficient on a computer on any platform.
When the currently inactive MacSimple site began its short run last
year, Low End Mac columnist Charles Moore had written the following in
an early column:
Computers, despite their technological sophistication,
are not a mature technology. A good analogy is the automobile early in
this century. Computers, even Macs - which are the best of the lot -
are still at about the stage of sophistication as cars were when you
had to manually crank the engine to start them, fiddle with manual
spark advance and carburetor mixture controls to keep them running, use
a clutch to get underway, and wrestle with a non-synchromesh manual
gearbox that required double-clutching for downshifting. Computers will
get easier to use, but meanwhile, like people who wanted to drive in
the age of the Model T Ford, you have to work around the machine's
shortcomings.
Computers should be about as reliable and easy to use as your coffee
pot, refrigerator, or television.
They aren't!
The technology of today in its best form is still incredibly
complex, buggy and unstable. Add to this situation a segment of new
users who just want the thing to turn on and do Instant Messenger,
Quicken, run a game for the kids, type a quick letter to grandma, or
provide email without getting into any system stuff, and you can see
that there will be some disappointed, frustrated new users. The result
is a general computer using populace unaware of, unwilling, or scared
to death to run Disk First Aid or ScanDisk. (Well, sometimes ScanDisk
scares the heck out of me, too!) My wife practically has to do
handsprings to get Windows users in her new job as a WAN specialist and
troubleshooter to just reboot their machines when weird stuff begins to
happen.
I've recently gone through a bit of the computing novice experience
with three members of our family and a friend. Sometimes I feel that
I'm on a personal quest to help Apple regain its lost market share by
buying everyone I know a Macintosh. When I look at my MasterCard bill,
I'm almost sure of it. Actually, our family largess has been limited to
an iMac for my son and
daughter-in-law, Scott and Michele; a Mac
IIcx for my instructional assistant; a Power Mac 7200/90 for my parents (aged 87
and 84, but that's another whole series of columns); and finally,
another iMac for our latest college bound daughter, Samantha.
Each of these users brought various levels of computing skills and
expectations to their "new" machine. My parents had never used a
computer! At the other extreme, Sam has had lots of Mac (and Windows)
computing experience here at home and at school.
We got started down the Macintosh missionary road of saving souls
from that other operating system when the most logical wedding present
for our eldest seemed to be an iMac bundle. Interestingly, my oldest
son's affinity for the Macintosh platform had been engendered by his
use of iMacs at cyber cafes while in port from his job as an
entertainer on a cruise ship. He needed no help in setting up or using
his new iMac until his father-in-law bought him a computer top camera
and the stock RAM deficiency of his revision D iMac became
apparent.
We had made Sam save every cent required for her first car, save for
many of her own clothes, and often borrow stuff she needed for her
recent foray into the world of Junior Miss. When graduation time rolled
around, Annie and I knew Sam would need a computer for college. Sam had
been working as her high school newspaper editor all year on an iMac.
She'd expressed a clear preference for computing on the Mac platform
several times, and often casts envious eyes at my G3 minitower (and no, I don't
often share). Even so, she usually completes themes and such, under
protest at times, on our 150 MHz Acer Aspire, rather than the
gracefully aging Power Mac 575
(a.k.a. Performa 575) she and her sister share.
Samantha only needed our ISP info before we were merrily competing
nightly for phone line time. Her blueberry iMac was an instant joy
right out of the box. Apple definitely seems to have gotten that part
of the new computer user experience right. Sam instantly noticed the
glaring absence of any internal removable storage device. She'll
probably start with an external Zip drive. The infamous iMac hockey
puck mouse didn't seem to bother her at all, although I found it a
constant annoyance. The touch and feel of the iMac keyboard was
surprisingly good.
Interestingly, Indiana University's Computer Buying Guide for Fall,
2000 is surprisingly Mac friendly!
Both Windows and Macintosh computers are well
supported at IUB (Indiana University Bloomington), and both easily
accommodate most general purpose software. Academic programs that rely
heavily on business-oriented software are often better served by
Windows, while academic programs requiring specialized graphics and
multimedia software typically recommend Macintosh.
Wow! In a time when Macs are being pooh-poohed by many schools, IU's
statement gave me hope. As I read IU's computer recommendations, both
Windows and Mac minimum and advanced configurations were listed. The
guide also clearly noted the deficiency of no internal removable media
for Macs, but also gave good recommendations for external Zip,
SuperDisk, and USB floppy drives. Their available software
also clearly supports both platforms, although they need to cut a deal
with Adobe to compliment their bargain software from Microsoft and
Corel.
My teaching assistant received an antique Mac IIcx for general use.
(She also does a lot of my grades at home on it!) Since both she and
her children already had used Macs at school for years, their biggest
problem was finding enough room for the IIcx without totally displacing
the little-used screwdriver shop PC they'd purchased a year ago. They
also didn't want Internet access for the machine, which was a relief,
because I'm not sure I could configure MacTCP again without finding my
old notes on it. After a couple of months of use, the IIcx has cranked
out word processing documents regularly, but probably gets more use
from the array of freeware and shareware games I'd installed on it.
My parents presented several special challenges and requirements for
a computer. I may yet do a column solely devoted to their initial
computing experiences, but for now I'll summarize their first time ever
computing initiation.
Had we been able to get my parents an iMac with a large screen, I
suspect their initial computing experiences would have been easier. Due
to their age and physical needs, a large display with large icons and
an oversized
mouse were all requirements for them. The screen requirement ruled
out an iMac. I settled on a Power Mac 7200/90 bundle I found on
eBay for them. It included an Apple 1705 17" display and an Epson
printer.
Their first attempts with the 7200 emphasized to me how much better
the user experience has become with improvements in the Mac operating
system. The machine was equipped with Mac OS 8.1, which is still one of
my favorite versions. However, until my dad got well into the Macintosh
manual, he spent many days going through the basics step-by-step with
either my brother or me at his side. Even so, once we got past the
initial, "How do I turn it on?" I could see he had a fire in his belly
to learn computing!
The main thing my Dad wanted from the computer was the ability to
send and receive email. My brother is currently home from his missionary posting in Kenya, but
will return there in August. Kenya is both a beautiful and troubled
country, but there is Internet access in between the scheduled daily
power blackouts in Nairobi! Dad wanted to be able to communicate with
my brother and his family in Kenya via email. He also wanted to be able
to receive pictures via email. He was a made-to-order prospective Mac
user.
One of the most frustrating problems we faced was just connecting
Dad to his ISP. Via long distance, I wasn't able to figure out why the
computer I'd carefully set up, tested, and got Dad started on suddenly
refused to connect. Although my brother is a Windows user, on his
weekly "carom" night visit, he quickly noticed a space before the
username in PPP. Somewhere along the line, Dad had bumped the spacebar,
added a space before his username, and saved the change in
configuration! Along the line through all of this, I could see an
emerging understanding and respect for the Mac OS in my brother.
The really neat part of all of this is that once again there
actually is a sizable group of new Macintosh users. Not so long ago, we
Mac users wondered if there'd even be a Mac platform in the near
future. The challenge for experienced Mac users who end up helping the
newcomers to the platform becomes one of supplying the needed answers
without overwhelming the new user with features and advice.
Missing from the new Mac user experience is the old printed
Macintosh User's Guide. When I started Mac computing, I found it a good
first volume for one starting computing. While I'm a big supporter of
PDF documents, it's just about impossible to take a PDF doc to the
"reading room." I hope Apple someday sees fit to again provide a
complete printed manual with their new computers. Beyond that, I
ignored the volumes that had rocketed me into mainstream Mac computing,
such as The
Macintosh Bible and Macworld
Macintosh Secrets,
and sight unseen sent Dad a copy of Gene Steinberg's new book, How to
Use Your Mac. So far, Dad finds it very helpful. There are a wealth
of other good titles on Macintosh computing available, but I find
Gene's writing style easy to follow and thought Dad might find it
helpful.
I'm always surprised when a friend says, "I just bought my first
computer." There are still a significant amount of people who haven't
bought into the computer revolution. As regular computer users, we
often think everyone uses one and are surprised at the newbies. All too
often, they tell of their Pentium III with...blah, blah, blah. More
often of late, a friend will tell of having purchased an iMac. What I
don't hear is of new Mac users starting with a high end Mac! That, of
course, begs the question, "Without adequate PCI slots and with current
PowerPC chip speeds, is there such a thing as a high end Mac?" Having
taken my cheap shot of the day at Apple, we can go on with the current
discussion.
While MacSimple has passed the way of many other stillborn Mac
sites, I still think there is a place for a Mac web site totally
devoted to the new Mac user. There is an opportunity to serve the Mac
newbies, either first time computer users or those that have chosen to
"forward migrate" to the Mac platform.
Speaking of "newbies," I find that even as a computer "expert" of
sorts, I'm somewhat intimidated with all of the impending major
operating system changes. On the Windows side, it will soon be time to
say good-bye to the DOS based Windows 9x OS and begin learning the NT
based Windows 2000 Millennium edition operating system. Linux is still
a mystery to me, although I do regularly wear my PowerPC Linux T-shirt.
When I finally have a free drive I can dedicate to the penguin, I may
be able to format it so I can run Linux off something other than the
installer CD!
In the Macintosh world, we're soon to be swept into the Unix-based
world of Aqua and Mac OS X. At this writing, I've still not played with
any of the developer releases, as I've been unwilling to buy access
through Apple's Developer World and was unceremoniously dumped from
Apple's OS beta test team after Bride of Buster (Mac OS 8.1). While my
summer job jar is overflowing, I hope the public beta of OS X comes out
in time that I can really wring it out before school begins.
Along with the summer chores generated by a 90-year-old house, I
have a piece of vaporware
to convert to a new shareware "workbook" in the coming months, a personal web site to update
and transfer to a new server, a new grandson to spoil, a great creek a
hundred yards from my house that I haven't fished in a year, and a host
of family and church activities that figure to productively consume my
leisure time to the exclusion of writing a weekly column.
At any rate, while mulling things over before talking to Dan, I'd
written the following:
The fertile soil crumbled under my rake as I prepared
a seed bed for sweet corn. A strong breeze swept across the field that
abuts my garden plot, foretelling an imminent rain to help the seed
germinate. Perspiration flowed in healthy exercise.
I asked myself, "Why on earth am I hurrying this
pleasant task?" The answer, of course, was to get back to my Mac and
finish writing a column!
Duh!
What slop! Obviously, I've lost the edge and it's time for a break!
See you next fall.
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