As I sit here in front of my computer thinking about all I've done and seen over the years I being to wonder if anyone ever teaches the basics about computers anymore. Schools have a class on computer literacy that kids are required to take in order to graduate, but do they teach the basics on how a computer works.



Over the years, I've been on computers since 1973, I've fielded calls from my computer won't come up to my operators asking why if they lose power isn't the information on the disk drive to be recovered. In the first case of the computer not coming up, the computer was up and running, the monitor wasn't powered on. As I think of this instance and others, I wonder what happened to computer basics.

In taking numerous classes, at the local college, over the years I'm always amazed at how much time is spent on the simple basics just to get to the topic of the class. I once took an advanced MS Access class; the whole first day was wasted on what I consider the basics even though basics were a prerequisite for the class. We had to go through how to open windows explorer and how to copy and paste from one directory to another.

Don't get me wrong, I love the GUI interfaces now built into programs but having worked through the entire evolution of PCs, I find it amazing that most people do not know the basic principals behind how these GUI interfaces work. This leads me to ask are we trying to make things so simple that the average person does not know how computers really work.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think the average person should have to learn what a mother board is and how to replace it, but they should know that there's an on/off switch for the monitor as well as the computer. They should know how to open windows explorer to manipulate the files on their computer. They should know it is possible to open multiple copies of the same program and click and drag things from one copy to the other. I sometimes wonder if the average user shouldn't also know that everything they do on a computer happens in the memory of the machine, that's why it's not there if they turn off the machine without saving.

Just like the basics seem to be taking a backseat to teach for the standardized testing in our schools, it seems that the basics of computers are taking a backseat to the specific programs. Know a word processor is important but knowing how to search for a specific file is also important. The modern help desk is very important but they can get bogged down with calls for things that the average user should know how to do on their own. Isn't more cost effective to train people on the basics than pay for more help desk employees to answer questions and help on things that people should know.

This is one programmer that is in favor of getting back to basics. If it's a computer literacy class, the basics are part of being literate. Aren't they?