On 9 Jan 2002, Kai Henningsen wrote:
> Actually, I agree with every example you mentioned: people should in fact
> actually know these things. (Well ok, change "change a fuse" to "reset a
> breaker", I haven't ever seen a real fuse for an electric light in all my
> life, all of them were on electronic gadgets ... and a lightbulb is
> practically a fuse that nearly everyone knows how to change anyway.)
You clearly aren't old enough. :-) I'm talking fuse-wire here, not
plug-in things.
While I have some sympathy for your view, I am resigned to the fact that
it doesn't happen in practice.
> My personal variant is "every programmer should have learned at least one
> assembly or machine language".
Although I agree, that's exactly like learning to change a fuse!!!
> People may demand idiot-proof technology, but I know of not a single case
> where they actually got it.
With that I agree.
--
Philip Hazel University of Cambridge Computing Service,
ph10@??? Cambridge, England. Phone: +44 1223 334714.