Is the Internet overhyped?

Is the Internet overhyped?
Melvyn D. Magree
Originally published in
Northland Reader
now
Reader Weekly
May 25, 2000

“We know we must connect all our classrooms to the Internet...”  (Pres. William J. Clinton, State of the Union Address, January 27, 2000) (1)

Really?  The band room?  The wood shop?  The English class?

Does the band room need Internet access to provide music?  Or would the money be better spent on buying sheet music and acquiring and maintaining instruments?

Does the wood shop need Internet access to provide project plans?  Or would the money be better spent on acquiring and maintaining tools?

Does the English class need Internet access to provide copies of Shakespeare?  Or would the money be better spent on buying hardcover copies of Shakespeare, Richard Wright, and Ursula K. Le Guin?

Clinton’s statement and similar statements by many others are indicative more of a mania to adopt the “latest and greatest” without thinking through all the consequences.  This mania is seen both in government and private organizations.  Sometimes it comes from the top down, sometimes from the bottom up.

“OK, Mr. Author, if the Internet is such a mania, how come you make so much use of it for your articles?  And if you use it, shouldn’t school kids learn to use it?”  Yes and no.

Yes, the Internet can be a wonderful tool, but it can also be a great waste of time.  “A library is where you go to find facts. The web is more like a garage sale: it's possible you'll find what you want, but only with a lot of digging, searching, and wading through things that smell funny.” (2)

I found out just how true this was in researching this article.  I’ll come back to this later.

No, school children can learn to use the Internet at anytime in their lives.  I am active in the University for Seniors at UMD.  Many of the members are using computers for a wide variety of tasks.  Many of them first used a personal computer within the last ten years.  The successful users among them have two common traits: a love of learning and an ability to type.

“Even some usually pro-technology types, like Apple Computer Co. founder Steven Jobs, have expressed doubts [about computers in schools], suggesting that what students need is more classroom focus on basics like writing and mathematics and higher-level skills such as critical thinking.”  (3)

Because Frank James paraphrased Steve Jobs, I wanted to find Jobs’ own words.  I did a search with Alta Vista for “critical thinking”, “steve jobs” “apple”, and “education”.  Alta Vista found 39 web pages.  The first page was an Apple page of “Hot News”.  I searched it for “critical thinking”, but it had changed!  It was the only Apple page of the thirty-nine.

I checked a few other pages, but most of them “smelled funny”.  So, I decided to start with Apple’s home page and search within Apple’s own site.  I did a search of “critical thinking, steve jobs”, but my browser (Internet Explorer 4.5 for the Macintosh) wouldn’t load the page!  The URL (or address) that Apple’s search feature created was so long that it wouldn’t even fit in the error message window!  I couldn’t even search for “Jobs”!!!

One of the Internet success stories is Amazon.com, a bookseller!  In fact, if you do a search for something on the internet, you are quite likely to find reviews of books on the subject rather than the text as written by the original authors.  Of course, you can search the Internet for free because the search site depends heavily on revenues from booksellers who want to sell you books on the subject of your choice.

One of the most optimistic works on the future of technology is Bill Gates’ The Road Ahead.  It is available in good old-fashioned paper form.  The only way to get the electronic form (a CD-ROM) is to buy the book.  I searched for “the road ahead” on the internet, and no Microsoft page was in the first 10 pages of the 3,997 found.  I went to Microsoft’s home page and did a search for “the road ahead”.  The first 10 pages of the 67 found were not the text of the book.  I did find that the CD-ROM might have an error!  (However, on August 2, 2007, the page describing the error is no longer available.) (

Should computers be in schools at all?  Of course computers should be in schools, in appropriate places.  The first is in typing, sorry, keyboarding.  Who wants to learn to type on a big heavy mechanical typewriter like I did over 40 years ago?  But we don’t need to have the latest, biggest, fastest computers to teach typing.  Even a Commodore 64 can do that.  The second is in the library as an addition to a great, humongous collection of books.

For it is from books and great mentors that we learn writing, mathematics, and critical thinking.  Let us make sure we have well-stocked libraries and highly-respected teachers.  When we have achieved those two goals, then maybe we can think about adding computers.

(1)I accessed this quote May 4, 2000 at http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/SOTU00/sotu-text.html.  That page is no longer available.  I imagine each President deletes his predecessor's records after the National Archives has copied them.  However, the Clinton library's copy of the speech does not have that phrase or any other mention of connecting classrooms to the Internet!  After an exchange of emails with an archivist I learned that there is a briefing copy and a transcript.  My search had only turned up the briefing copy.  The archivist gave me the link to The American Presidency Project's copy. and the correct link in the Clinton library.  I couldn't find the latter because I searched on the date of the speech, but the speech was indexed under the date of inclusion into the web site!  Searching the web is not always a solo endeavour.

(2) “Kev's Collection of Cool Quotes”, Kevin Killion, accessed August 2, 2007.  Kevin moved from the URL that I originally had.

(3) “Plan to wire all schools to Internet falls behind”, Chicago Tribune Online, Frank James, Chicago Tribune Washington Bureau, June 22, 1999,  file available in Chicago Tribune paid archive.

©2000, 2007 Melvyn D. Magree

Heritage is culture, ancestry is lineage

I am always bothered by the loose use of heritage in place of ancestry.

Some of my ancestors were from England and some were from Germany.  When I went to England, I was called a Yank.  When I went to Germany, I was called an Ausländer (foreigner).

It always amazes me when people call themselves Swedish or Italian or ... but can't speak a word of Swedish or Italian.  Having lived in both Sweden and Italy I facetiously call my self more Swedish or Italian than many in the U.S.  I not only learned the languages, but I read the local newspapers and many books.

My nationality: American.  My heritage: lower middle class Clevelander.

Published at
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/28/science/dna-tests-ancestry.html?comments#permid=23901670.

Amazing!  As of this posting, my comment received 30 recommends.  Generally, my comments receive 0 to 3 recommends.

A Belated Christmas Letter (to most who sent me letters and to some who didn't)

Oh, the momentous choices!  What font to use!  I didn’t want to use my usual Helvetica or one that was fancy but hard to read.  So I chose Kailasa, mostly because I tired of looking at all the choices. (Blogger doesn't give me this choice.)

Here I sit on Christmas Day having procrastinated for one reason or another.  The last reason took over two days before I gave up.

The reason: having already put this off, I thought I had the perfect photo.  It was a waist-high stump at our cabin that was coated with snow and was topped with snow that had slid to one side, giving the impression of a head.  I was going to put under the picture:

I am not the grouch that stole Christmas;
I just procrastinate too much!

Problem is: I can’t find the picture!  I spent two days looking at all my devices for the picture.  I looked at some folders two or three times.  NADA!  Why do I have such a clear memory of a picture I can’t find?  I am sure I saw it in front of the printer two weeks ago.

To make up for this procrastination, I am sending this by email.  Otherwise, I might not get the envelopes done until next year!

So, here we sit in Duluth, wimping out on going to our cabin because of a predicted snow storm.  Also we are getting leery of driving in the dark (now at five in the afternoon).  About six weeks ago Jan hit a deer, in daylight but heavy shade.  She looked for the deer but never found it. Her car was drivable, but it took a few days of body work.

Otherwise, it has been a usual year: fitness center, cabin, meetings, plays, concerts, and family visits: in person, by telephone, or FaceTime.

We are slowly growing older, sometimes feeling it, sometimes doing things better than we ever did before!

May your coming year be one of good health and interesting activities, even if it is only lots of good books.

P.S. A sister-in-law has already responded.  She misses my fruitcake of yore.  I replied that the recipe is at  http://magree.blogspot.com/2014/12/fruitcake-doorstop-or-holiday-treat.html.

Liberal/conservative misnaming

Ross Douthat gave a long selection of books for “liberals” to read given that Donald Trump “won” the election.

Boy!  Did readers take him on, including the false dichotomy of liberal vs. conservative, or even it the labels are accurate.

My own contribution was:

The problem is not the division between "liberalism" and "conservatism". They are both misleading labels. For example, "liberals" can be very conservative about reigning in corporate power and "conservatives" can be very liberal about increasing corporate power. The real problem is the disinterest of too many people in voting at all. Lost in all the hoopla of Trump's "victory" is that he came in third to a de facto "none of the above”.

See http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/21/opinion/books-for-the-trump-era.html?comments&_r=0#permid=20874252.

So you wanna a be a writer!

I intended to write about writing this week, but before I even started I looked for an old column that I wrote.  It was in January 2005 and I really don’t have much new advice. I have cut some to fit in my usual 900 or so words; and I have updated a few paragraphs.

If you want to be a writer, you have to write.  If you don’t write, then being a writer will only remain a dream.  That is what I told myself over fifteen years ago.  Then I submitted my “Bear Stories” to the Northland Reader, a month or so later “Tech Staff Shortage”, then “Berlin Wall”, and before I knew it I was writing for almost every bi-weekly issue.  When the Northland Reader went weekly as the Reader Weekly, I soon started writing weekly.  Every so often the muse left me and I didn’t submit a column, but now it is hard not to write a column.

One way to start writing more is to keep a journal or a notebook, not necessarily a “What did I do today” but a collection of your ideas, no matter how fragmentary.  I have a small collection of hard-back blank books in which I jotted ideas about what I did or felt or saw for years.  One of these years I might transcribe them to my computer

You can also use little spiral bound notebooks that fit in pocket or purse.  Don’t forget to carry a pen or pencil.  Or you can use scraps of paper.  The problem with scraps of paper is that they pile up and don’t get organized.  It is fun to unbury them and read what you wrote a month or a year ago.  I posted a few of these on my blog last week. Now you can put your ideas in your smart phone or tablet, but just like the scraps of paper, you may bury them among all your other info.

The really best place to start serious writing, that is writing that other people read, is to write letters or emails to your friends and relatives.  Before putting your letter in an envelope or clicking the send button, reread what you wrote.  Does it give information clearly, does it convey your mood, and does it encourage a response from your reader?

Write in sentences and paragraphs. Each sentence should give a single idea, and a paragraph should give a set of related ideas.  I have a relative who sent emails as one big run-on paragraph; we found his messages very hard to read because we couldn’t focus on his thoughts.

Another good place to do serious writing is letters to the editor.  Why not write a letter to the Reader Weekly about this column?  Or to the News Tribune or the Star Tribune about what you think on an issue.  I must be getting stale because my letters are not published as frequently as a few years ago.  I try to follow the TUT principle; that is, a letter to the editor should be Timely, Unique, and Terse.  If you wait two or three weeks to write, if you write a letter similar to all the others, and you ramble on like this column, you probably won’t get published.  But if you email your letter as soon as you read an article, if you state an idea that is not given in the article, and you write in sentences and paragraphs and keep it to the size the newspaper wants, you greatly increase your chances of having your letter published.

The best basis for writing is lots of reading.  Read newspapers, magazines, and books. Unless you want to write about TV, turn it off and read instead.  Read novels, biographies, and histories.  Read books about writers.  One I particularly enjoyed is “It’s Been a Good Life” about Isaac Asimov.  If you read it you will sense the joy of expressing your thoughts to others.

Every good writer has an editor.  Pick up any book and read the acknowledgments; not only have many people contributed with ideas, but others have read the book and given the author comments, not only the publisher’s editor, but friends and colleagues. Before you dash off that important letter to the editor, ask someone else to read it.  You might be surprised at what familiarity with your letter lets you overlook.  My wife often reads these columns before I email them.  Although I complain that she can be too picky, very often she finds either a blatant error or suggests a better phrasing.  She’s out of town this November 2014 weekend, and so any mistakes are wholly my fault.

If you would like to meet and talk with other writers, contact Lake Superior Writers – www.lakesuperiorwriters.org or 1301 Rice Lake Road, Suite 129, Duluth MN 55811.

Finally, what do you do about the dreaded writer’s block?  Generally, just go do something else for a while and try again later.  The humor writer James Thurber discussed this at a party with other writers.  One said he typed “The” in his typewriter and then words started coming.  Thurber tried it the next time he had writer’s block. He typed “The” and just stared at it.  After awhile he typed “hell with it” and went back to bed.

Or you rewrite an old article:)

This article was published in the Reader Weekly, 2014-11-06 and can be found at  http://duluthreader.com/articles/2014/11/06/4303_so_you_wanna_a_be_a_writer.

A more thoughtful blog than this blog

Maria Popova is the "curator" of the blog "Brain Pickings".  If you are interested in books, this is a go-to-site for thoughtful commentary on books of many genres.  See "She's Got Some Big Ideas", , Bruce Feiler, New York Times, 2012-11-30.

From the article I added Albert Einstein's "Ideas and opinion" to my reading list.  Popova is quoted in the article with:

“In times of turmoil, I often turn to one of my existential pillars of comfort: Albert Einstein’s ‘Ideas and Opinion.’ ” She ended with this thought: “There is a way to critique intelligently and respectfully, without eroding the validity of your disagreement. It boils down to manners.”

Her latest entry as of 2012-12-06 is "The 10 Best Psychology and Philosophy Books of 2012"
By: Maria Popova 2012-12-04, "From Buddhism to the relationship between creativity and dishonesty, by way of storytelling and habit".

From the sidebar, I went to "Isaac Asimov on Science and Creativity in Education"
by Maria Popova, 2011-01-28 "What vintage science fiction has to do with the future of self-directed learning."

It includes some snippets of Bill Moyers' interview with Isaac Asimov.  From this article, I added Asimov's "The Roving Mind" to my reading list.

My booklist from suggestions on the web is getting so long, maybe I should turn my computer off, sit in an easy chair, and start reading the books on my list (plus a few I would like to reread).  Maybe I'll be halfway through my list be next Christmas?  Maybe by the time you make your way through all of Popova's blog entry you'll visit my blog again next Christmas.

Happy reading.  May you always find something not only interesting but something you find is more interesting than anything else for the moment.

Why Read?

Fact: Reading can make you a better conversationalist.

Fact: Neighbors will never complain that your book is too loud.

Fact: Knowledge by osmosis has not yet been perfected. You'd better read.

Fact: Books have stopped bullets - reading might save your life.

Fact: Dinosaurs didn't read. Look what happened to them.

From an email from ABE Books.

Quote of the day – Learning

"Learning isn't a set of things that we know but a world that we enter."
– Adam Gopnik, "Broken Kingdom, Fifty Years of 'The Phantom Tollbooth'", The New Yorker, 2011-10-17

"The Phantom Tollbooth" is a children's book written by Norton Juster and illustrated by Jules Feiffer. It has sold over four million copies.

The article itself was a world that I entered by serendipity. I was cleaning my desk and The New Yorker was open to an article about Fukushima. As I closed the magazine, I saw the above article. Now I have to read the next article, "History: The Customer Reviews" by Patricia Pearson.

If you want to lead you need to read

"I'm a leader, not a reader.' - Herman Cain, Nashua NH, 2011-11-17, quoted in Union Leader. This is probably a swipe at Barack Obama who reads a lot. Cain went on to say that he would surround himself with "good people" who we can rely on for good advice. Excuse me, Mr. Cain, but how are you going to know they are giving good advice if you are not somewhat conversant with the subject matter?

Some of our best leaders have been voracious readers. Teddy Roosevelt, the second good Republican president, sometimes read several books a day. Thomas Jefferson had a very large library. Even leaders that are disparaged by some as anti-intellectual read lots of books - Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush. Richard Nixon said, "I am not educated, but I do read books." See "For Obama and past presidents, the book they read shape policies and perceptions", Tevi Troy, Washington Post, 2010-04-18.