The Fuuuutuuuure

My earliest computing memory is of a cold Christmas morning in '82. That was the year I got my first computer, a Commodore Vic-20. To be honest, I was a little fearful of it. This was no bout of infant technophobia, but genuine concern for my soul. You see due to poor spelling my Christmas list had accidently been sent to Satan. Although I desperately wanted the machine I was more than a little reluctant to trade my living soul and consequently condeming myself to an eternity of suffering at the hand of the cloven one, in exchange for this electronic trinket. Well, I mean, it only had 3.5KB of RAM. However, it didn't take me long to overcome my concerns and begin a long and happy career in computing. And I wasn't alone. Many of todays computing professionals cut their teeth on machines that were little more than pocket calculators that you couldn't use when Coronation Street was on. However, it was this simplicity, this unembelished physical implemetation of the very essence of what makes a computer that allowed school children across the world to experience, understand and quickly master the technology. As a result many of the leading software packages and top games were the output of one individual. From their bedroom. Written in the time between the end of 'Willow The Wisp' and trying to sneak downstairs unnoticed to see the start of The Sweeney (sorry to anyone not versed in late 1970's/early 1980's British TV)

Fast-forward a couple of decades to find my four year old daughter interacting with CBeebies characters, rendered almost indistiguishable from their TV counterparts. All this done on a home computer whose performance is several orders of magnitude greater than the machines on which her father did a numerically intensive, computing PhD. How will her generation cut their teeth? I can't believe this will be a father-daughter shared experience. What I can believe is that open source software projects will have a part to play in developing their appreciation, knowledge and most importantly their interest. Both technically, in terms of the tools and software available as well as culturally. I just hope the hardware doesn't cost me an arm and a leg.

Still, if I need the extra money, I could always market my idea for a 'Top-Trumps Computing Components' series. You may well laugh, but I'm convinced that the 400GB Hitachi Deskstar 7K400 (in the Hard Disk pack) would gain the same legendary status as the Silver Surfer in the original Marvel Heroes edition. Probably.