Our high school is currently discussing the possibility of joining the statewide laptop intitiative. The state would contribute one dollar for every dollar spent by the school to provide laptops for all high school students. This brings to mind a lot of discussions in the "past" over calculators, electric typewriters, and not so long ago the internet.
I have many reservations about providing computers for each student -- mainly concerning the cost versus amount of time they will be used. Another concern I have is that the computers will be used only for things that could be done with pencil, paper, and calculators. Granted the computers make these tasks much easier, but they have so much more potential.
I recently watched a video on www.teachertube.com called What If? It deals with some of the issues in the past and the intial responses. I also found these quotes on the web and thought they were quite applicable:
"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
- Popular Mechanics, 1949
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
"I have travelled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processings is a fad that won't last out the year."
- The editor in charge of business books for Prentice-Hall, 1957
"But what...is it good for?"
- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Co. 1977
from: http://ifaq.wap.org/computers/famousquotes.html
So what, if anything, do we learn from the past?????