Large and in color?

To be fair, I bet at least 20% of "Opera Crashes" involve musical related accidents.

Oh absolutely computers have gotten simpler. If they hadn't putting them in the classroom wouldn't be an issue. But as they have gotten to where any user can come up and get going, and any educational facility can get a hold of software that is capable of being used in a classroom environment, why wouldn't you use that?

We stopped using chisels for a reason.

Well yeah... I mean, you gotta make sure the BIOS is set to boot from the optical drive. And that disk is slippery! You drop it and it could crack. Then what're you gonna do?

True. I did exchange the meaning of "essential" with "valuable."

Perhaps a better way to phrase it would be that we learn faster at a younger age. I have users in the mid twenties that are stumped about logging into their computer if their names isn't already in the username field.

Maybe I was just lucky to be in this kind of school, but in elementary school I was spending time on the computer picking the verbs out of sentences and taking reading comprehension tests. And I can't be the only one whose basic math skills were greatly enhanced by playing Number Munchers.

The proper, supervised use of a computer is a great tool and just because a child is going to use it without knowing and understanding the machine inside and out is no reason to discredit it.

That's exactly my point though. I couldn't play a game on my dad's computer until I could successfully navigate around DOS.

By no means would I say that we should just dump PCs with internet access in every classroom and let kids go wild. But there's a valuable lesson in learning how to install the game, what can happen if you aren't careful with what you download/install and how to use the operating system to do what you want to do.

Of course I'll admit I'm describing an ideal situation more than a realistic one. :D

The IT job I have now I have is a direct result of being exposed to computers throughout my entire childhood and developing a skill set that few people had at that age. You're going to waste years of a child's life that could be used to learn essential skills for today's world by restricting access to computers like that.

Yes, I agree that computers should be more of a research tool than anything at that age, but if you don't know how to use it, how can you learn from it?

Passion is good. But the ability to learn and problem solve is better.

Passionate people go all out on everything. Successes are huge successes and mistakes are huge mistakes.

If you can't keep in touch with your friends on the web, you may seriously need to re-evaluate your friendships.

There's nothing like a game of scrabulous with your friend on the other coast. Later on we even show each other pictures of our real life kids!

Social Networking sites - They're all great! Unless you're frequently described as "crotchety."

And to those that say "but, but, but...you just call a bunch of people friends and you don't even know them" - how about letting people use the services they want to, and you can choose not to use them. Problem solved.

The web is a great way to organize with local friend, and have a hub to constantly keep in touch with distant friends.

-stevens

Can you PLEASE pursue a career in writing novels? The rest of the world thanks you.