The first time I ever had hands-on experience with a computer was for a math class I was taking. I had always hated math, and avoided math classes. However, in order to complete my B.A., I had to take one.
Fortunately, I had a wonderful teacher for this class, which he had designed specifically for liberal arts students. I finally realized that I didn't hate math, but I had always had terrible teachers for math. With this class, I became very interested in the subject.
This teacher gave us an assignment that absolutely required using a calculator. The school had a math lab, with desktop calculators. I seldom had an opportunity to use Don's pocket calculator, because he needed it for work.
The teacher also gave us an assignment for which we had to use a computer. This computer was a minicomputer, which was much smaller (and cheaper) than a mainframe. We didn't have to program it or anything complex like that. We simply had to log in and work on our assignment, which our teacher had programmed.
Even though the computer had a keyboard like a typewriter, using it seemed very different from typing on a typewriter. It felt different, and looking at a display on a CRT seemed very different from looking at a sheet of paper. Nevertheless, I managed to complete the assignment. And that was my introduction to using a computer.
Fortunately, I had a wonderful teacher for this class, which he had designed specifically for liberal arts students. I finally realized that I didn't hate math, but I had always had terrible teachers for math. With this class, I became very interested in the subject.
This teacher gave us an assignment that absolutely required using a calculator. The school had a math lab, with desktop calculators. I seldom had an opportunity to use Don's pocket calculator, because he needed it for work.
The teacher also gave us an assignment for which we had to use a computer. This computer was a minicomputer, which was much smaller (and cheaper) than a mainframe. We didn't have to program it or anything complex like that. We simply had to log in and work on our assignment, which our teacher had programmed.
Even though the computer had a keyboard like a typewriter, using it seemed very different from typing on a typewriter. It felt different, and looking at a display on a CRT seemed very different from looking at a sheet of paper. Nevertheless, I managed to complete the assignment. And that was my introduction to using a computer.
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